Sealey engine starter

paultf

I have a 10 year old VW Golf 1.4 and with the cold weather my car doesn't start sometimes (battery is 2 years old). I was thinking of getting a Sealey engine starter http://www.sealeypower.com/item.asp?item_id=128283&prom_id=100133

Would this one suffice? Anyone use a Sealey one before - any opinion on them? Are enginer starters in general any good?

Alanstrainor

paultf wrote: »

I have a 10 year old VW Golf 1.4 and with the cold weather my car doesn't start sometimes (battery is 2 years old). I was thinking of getting a Sealey engine starter http://www.sealeypower.com/item.asp?item_id=128283&prom_id=100133

Would this one suffice? Anyone use a Sealey one before - any opinion on them? Are enginer starters in general any good?

Buy a new battery instead.

Muckie

For €50 you'd get a Multimeter and a jump/starter pack similar from

Maplin. Seen them in town last week. Always handy to have, but chances

are the extreme cold has killed off your present cars battery.

Irish Steve

paultf wrote: »

I have a 10 year old VW Golf 1.4 and with the cold weather my car doesn't start sometimes (battery is 2 years old). I was thinking of getting a Sealey engine starter http://www.sealeypower.com/item.asp?item_id=128283&prom_id=100133

Would this one suffice? Anyone use a Sealey one before - any opinion on them? Are enginer starters in general any good?

There is something more fundamental going on for you to have problems starting. The first suspect would be the battery, but 2 years is not old, so there have to be deeper checks before spending any money.

The first is the distance of each run. Are you doing very short runs, with lights, heater, rear screen heat and wipers on? Even modern alternators need some time to recharge the battery, and if the lights, heater, rear screen etc. are all on, which in this weather is very likely, and you only do a short run, you may not be putting enough back into the battery to keep it happy, especially if you do the same short run several times. Does the fan belt squeal shortly after starting? If it does, the belt may be slipping, and even if it's not squealing, it may not be running the alternator fast enough to correctly charge the battery.

Does it start OK most of the time, but is unhappy other times, and does the starter motor sound OK? It's possible that the starter motor may be failing, depending on the condition of things like brushes. The first start of the day in the present weather is always going to be harder, if that start is a problem, but others later in the day are Ok, it's possible that there is another problem, (assuming petrol), the automatic choke may not be working correctly, either because of a fault, or because it's out of adjustment, or needs a specific starting technique that you may need to check out in the manual. The other possibility is that the engine may just be in need of a good service, including a new set of spark plugs.

Has anyone checked that there are no loose connections on the battery, starter solenoid and starter motor, and is the earth strap from the battery to the bodywork, and from the bodywork to the engine in good condition?

Is the alternator OK? Best way to check is to start the engine, let it idle, and then put all the lights, heater, rear screen heater and other electrics on, then slowly increase the engine speed. Do the headlights get brighter? If they do, then the alternator is probably OK, if not, then it's possibly not charging correctly, and may be failing, and the fault may be nothing more than the brushes needing replacing, which is not an expensive job to do.

So, in a nutshell, there are a number of things to check before you spend any money, as you could end up not really getting to the bottom of the problem. The Sealey starter may alleviate the symptoms, a fix is likely to be cheaper.

Steve

paultf

First off, cheers for the replies.

Secondly don't know much about cars so....

My VW Golf 1.4 is 10 years old and I only have 47,000 miles on it (bought it new). I only do short trips around the town. I get the car serviced every Feb. I replaced the battery 2 years ago. Up till the cold weather this winter I had no problems starting the car.

When the first snow arrived a couple of weeks ago, the car was having problems starting - it was slow in starting but started eventually. I use to take the car for extra long spins cause I thought the battery was playing up. Then one night recently it wouldn't start. Bought it to the garage and the mechanic said it was the "bushings" (is that the correct term?) on the starter. This seemed to fix the problem. But then today the car wouldn't start again. The radio worked but it seemed like it was a battery problem. The miles counter for the last petrol refill got reset to zero. (The total mileage remained). The fuel indicator was 3/4 full but when I tried to start the engine, the indicator overshot the full fuel marker (if that makes sense!)

(I won't be able to jump the car till tomorrow to know if it is the battery for sure.)

So I thought if I got a good engine starter this would get the battery going during the cold spells as its an old under used car. I can get an engine starter for around €100 but some of the reviews on the net aren't great for basic ones. So would one at €150/200 be a better buy?

What do you think?

Alanstrainor

For 200 you could buy 2 batteries and have a good bit of change left over for Christmas presents!

It sounds like a battery problem alright, although there could be a couple of contributing factors involved.

It's worth mentioning, before starting the car, turn everything off, no lights, no radio, no heater, no a/c, nothing. And then try and turn it over. Although i'd say it's too late for that now, as it sounds like it no longer has enough charge to turn over the engine at all.

Irish Steve

paultf wrote: »

First off, cheers for the replies.

Secondly don't know much about cars so....

My VW Golf 1.4 is 10 years old and I only have 47,000 miles on it (bought it new). I only do short trips around the town. I get the car serviced every Feb. I replaced the battery 2 years ago. Up till the cold weather this winter I had no problems starting the car.

When the first snow arrived a couple of weeks ago, the car was having problems starting - it was slow in starting but started eventually. I use to take the car for extra long spins cause I thought the battery was playing up. Then one night recently it wouldn't start. Bought it to the garage and the mechanic said it was the "bushings" (is that the correct term?) on the starter. This seemed to fix the problem. But then today the car wouldn't start again. The radio worked but it seemed like it was a battery problem. The miles counter for the last petrol refill got reset to zero. (The total mileage remained). The fuel indicator was 3/4 full but when I tried to start the engine, the indicator overshot the full fuel marker (if that makes sense!)

(I won't be able to jump the car till tomorrow to know if it is the battery for sure.)

So I thought if I got a good engine starter this would get the battery going during the cold spells as its an old under used car. I can get an engine starter for around €100 but some of the reviews on the net aren't great for basic ones. So would one at €150/200 be a better buy?

What do you think?

From your description, there are 2 problems, one of which has probably been fixed, the starter brushes were worn. The other problem is more difficult, and is ongoing from the previous issue, the battery is not being charged enough. It needs some longer runs, or less load when it's running, so that the alternator is charging it up better. It's possible that the alternator is not doing it's job properly, as mentioned earlier, but I have to admit the description of short runs and low mileage does make me think that it's just not getting enough use in the right conditions, around town, if it's idling a lot as well, it's marginal to keep the battery charged, and present conditions it will for sure struggle.

Is the car kept in a garage or parked outdoors. If it's in a garage, do you have power in it, if you do, a cheap charger from somewhere like Lidl or Aldi will be well able to keep it up to requirement, and will be a lot cheaper than a booster unit.

Steve

Nissan doctor

It sounds, as has been said, that you simply aren't using the car car enough to kee the battery fully charged.

With regards to the sealey booster pack, I have a 900amp one for the last 2 years and in workshop use it has never let me down...

paultf

Jumped the car today and went for a long spin. Battery OK now.

Yea, I think ye are right - I am not using the car enough.

Not sure about getting an engine starter now. Reviews on the net for basic models aren't great. And if I was to buy a more expensive one, I could get a couple of new batteries instead.

I'll make sure I use each day i.e. no days where I don't use it esp. during the cold spell. And run it longer. If it gets to the point where I have to keep jumping it I'll get a new battery (last one only cost €50).

Cheers.