Diesel Van Wont Start

JonathanAnon

Van (Diesel 1.8 Citreon Berlingo) has been sitting up, unused for about 9 months, had been running fine and here was a new battery put in it about 15 months ago. Half tank of Diesel in it.

Got it started with a jumpstart last nite, and left it running for about 40 minutes. Turned over first time with the other car revved. Then tried to start it on it's own.. clicked the ignition to the middle position, (where you are meant to wait for the preheater light to go off usually have to wait a few seconds)... preheater light comes on for 1/4 second, click sound and it goes off immediately. Turning key to start position and nothing happens... no attempt from engine to start at all.

Any ideas.. Bear in mind that it had been running fine before I left it sitting up? Any help appreciated.

(Mods please delete duplicate thread started in error on modified cars.. I'm fkn dyslexic)

corktina

new battery needed by the sound of it....9 months idle wont help it at all

dirtydiesel

corktina wrote: »

new battery needed by the sound of it....9 months idle wont help it at all

Would agree, it does sound like the battery is fcuked.

glic83

leaving it running wont charge the battery you need to drive it for a bit to do that but sounds like the battery is gone

Saab Ed

Will it start again with the jump leads attached?Ifyes then it is more than likely the battery is knackered. If the answer is no then something might have got blown i.e a fuse or the like when you were jumping it. Try it with the jump leads again and see what happens.

dekbhoy

new battery required, even if ya give it a good run you can be sure when your least expecting it , it will let ya down and not a sign of a set of jump leads to be found

JonathanAnon

Thanks for the advice lads. The more I think about it, the more it seems like the battery. The battery I had was pretty much new when I left the van lying up, I mean do I have to throw it away now just cos I havent been using it??

Would just buy a new one if I could be sure, cos I live in the middle of nowhere and hate dragging people out here to try jump it.

JonathanAnon

Just to let ye know. Ran a multimeter across it today and it's only reading 11.6v. Here's a handy video for showing how to test your battery with a multimeter. Lad in the motor factors says that the battery should be at least 12v, and some of the ones are as high as 12.8v when fully charged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYaSoswR00E

JonathanAnon

Just to update, in case this thread is of any use to anybody else.. I brought the battery down to the motor factors, who said they would charge it for me. Only cost 7 euros. I brought it home, ran the multimeter across it again, and this time it read a full 13.05 volts.

macroman

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Just to update, in case this thread is of any use to anybody else.. I brought the battery down to the motor factors, who said they would charge it for me. Only cost 7 euros. I brought it home, ran the multimeter across it again, and this time it read a full 13.05 volts.

Should be enough to crank it over. When running it should read 13.5v-14v. If it still doesn't start then I'd bet it's one of the fuses under the steering column, had to sort one last week with a similar issue.

JonathanAnon

Actually, given that a jump start got it running before, does this mean that everything involved in starting the van (i.e. fuses, ignition, starter motor etc) are all working? I assume that if the fuses were gone, then the ignition wouldnt work (and I would not have been able to jump start it?)

There's a test for the alternator on that video as well. Very simple. The guy just runs the multimeter across the battery while the car is running and like you said, the voltage should read 13.5v-14v

JabbaTheHut

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Actually, given that a jump start got it running before, does this mean that everything involved in starting the van (i.e. fuses, ignition, starter motor etc) are all working? I assume that if the fuses were gone, then the ignition wouldnt work (and I would not have been able to jump start it?)

There's a test for the alternator on that video as well. Very simple. The guy just runs the multimeter across the battery while the car is running and like you said, the voltage should read 13.5v-14v

Yep. Once it started fine on a jump, it'd be a fair assumption to make

Row

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Just to update, in case this thread is of any use to anybody else.. I brought the battery down to the motor factors, who said they would charge it for me. Only cost 7 euros. I brought it home, ran the multimeter across it again, and this time it read a full 13.05 volts.

Have you tried the battery since it was charged...?? also check connections earths etc and maybe apply alittle grease to both the + & - terminals.
If it goes with a jump start fuses starter etc should be fine.

Rovi

OT: did anyone else glance at this thread title and think it was about a large shaven-headed actor?




Carry on...

Max Power1

Rovi wrote: »

OT: did anyone else glance at this thread title and think it was about a large shaven-headed actor?




Carry on...

Funnily enough, that never actually crossed my mind.

Call it a motors forum if you will :P

JonathanAnon

Rovi wrote: »

OT: did anyone else glance at this thread title and think it was about a large shaven-headed actor?

Got an email from him.. said he's pissed that this thread is coming up ahead of his official website in google searches.. he's gonna kick my ass.

Row wrote: »

Have you tried the battery since it was charged...?? also check connections earths etc and maybe apply alittle grease to both the + & - terminals. If it goes with a jump start fuses starter etc should be fine.

Van is up on jack/wooden support at the moment.. fupn coil spring broke when I turned the steering wheel. So I havent tried to start it yet.. Will the charge dissipate .. what's the formula for that?

JonathanAnon

Took it off the jack. Van started first time with the newly recharged battery. Will run multimeter across it later to test the alternator, but I think it's okay.. Now just to get off the broken coil spring..