Old Car - New Battery - Won't Start on Cold Morning

Billy Davey

My wife’s car is a 2004 Almera. About two years ago we put a new battery into it because she was experiencing issues with having a flat battery reasonably often.

However, she still has the odd occasion where the car won’t start. We brought it back to the garage we got the battery from, within the first year of having the battery, and they checked it and said it was ok.

This morning the car would not start. The battery was not flat. Her lights worked etc and when we turned the ignition there was a reasonable amount of life there. But the car wouldn’t start. No lights or anything obvious had been left on.

What I’m wondering….is there anything else other than the battery that could be the problem? Particularly anything that is affected by the cold weather?

Cheers for any help.

Chippy01

Petrol or diesel?

mickdw

Is it actually turning the engine?
An almost flat battery with still switch on dash lights etc

Billy Davey

It's a petrol. The best way I can describe it is that it sort of sounds like it is about midway between a flat battery and the normal engine startup.

Apologies, my car knowledge is useless.

biko

It can still be the battery. Sometimes the battery has enough juice to start lights but not to crank the engine.
You still may have an issue somewhere in the system that will drain the battery. A new battery will also suffer from whatever the root cause is.
Do you have a volt meter?

Alanstrainor

If the alternator isn't charging the battery fully, then you will have such issues.

But cold kills batteries, best to make sure the right battery was put in also, have seen puny batteries put in cars that need a lot more, which result in such difficult starts.

Billy Davey

Don't have a voltmeter no. What would I do with one if I did have one?

Question: On a cold morning, does a car demand more from the battery to start it? I'm thinking that say there is a slight drain on the battery, maybe its only noticeable on a cold morning?

sparksfly

If the battery is running low, check for an electrical drain or your alternator. If it is ok it could be your starter motor.

Billy Davey

sparksfly wrote: »

If the battery is running low, check for an electrical drain or your alternator. If it is ok it could be your starter motor.

It starts fine most of the time. So unless the cold weather can affect a starter motor, I can't see that being the cause?

mickdw

It is possible the the battery installed is very marginal in terms of power - battery too small for car. Everything else being correct, it would then struggle in the cooler weather.

Chippy01

Check for a power drain; for example - is there a light in the boot that doesn't go out when the boot is closed? After a couple of days of standing idle that small drain would be enough to compromise the battery.
Turn the radio off at the fascia switch, rather than letting the ignition do it for you.

Check for a good spark - pull off a plug lead, attach a spare plug, rest it on the metal part of the engine and then crank the engine to see if the spark is good.
Could also have a leakage from your ignition system, spray with a good quality sealer.

Lidl had battery testers on sale last Thursday, if you're lucky there might be one left in your local branch; IIRC they were only about a fiver.

Fuel delivery problem? Is there an inline filter that's blocked/blocking?

Cold weather can kill an iffy battery, if your alternator is faulty and not charging properly, or if your journeys are just not long enough to top up the battery again after the strain of starting on a cold morning; it will all add up.

When was the last time the car was properly serviced?

Billy Davey

The car got a full bells and whistles service in Feb 2014. The "new" battery was installed about a year before that. The wife's mileage is quite low, only about 5000 miles since the last service.

It just passed the NCT and will be going in for a basic service in the next week or so. Will get them to have a look at the battery again.

Atlantic Dawn

She might not be doing enough mileage to charge the battery in the cold weather. If she has the heater, lights and rear window heater on the car on short runs may not be putting any charge in to the battery when the effort for starting the car is taken from the battery. Get her to only use the rear window heater when required and turn off otherwise.

*Kol*

The most painless thing to do is get a new battery from a motor factor. I bought one recently for €60. You will probably get another two years out of it.

Nekarsulm

Cold weather also leaves the oil a little thicker, and this can also slightly increase the power needed to turn the engine. If it suits your car, Halfords are selling 5/40 fully synthetic oil for 15 euro per 4 litre can.I would change the oil and use this, as its a bit "runnier" than semi synthetic oil. Its a year since your last service, so no harm to change it now.
If your battery is big enough for the job, and there still are mornings when it seems the battery is drained, check the earth lead where it is bolted to the bodywork, see if the connection is clean and tight.
Has your car central locking and electric windows? My dad had a Civic which suffered as yours is doing. Turned out to be a problem in the electric motor/switch in the drivers door. Pulling the relevant fuse at night, and seeing if it makes a difference next morning would be one route worth trying.

Billy Davey

Thanks for the advice everyone. Few things to look into there.

eringobragh

Had an issue with a parasitic drain when I first got the car heres how I solved it

eringobragh wrote:

I was using the bulb and not the multimeter however I reckon I didn't the siren disconnected long enough!

I wasn't using the multimeter in the 10a DC setting the other day : n00b

Anyway found out it was drawing 150ma...after disconnecting the faulty alarm siren its putting out 20ma...just an FYI for those who may have similar issue!

I'm looking for an alarm siren if anyone has one spare!

Yeah definately I think I got that multimeter about 5 years ago in maplin for 4 euro!

Anyway an FYI for anyone looking to do this - move the positive probe to 10ADC unfused link

Remove the earth from the battery - stick the multimeter to 10a (like below) and put the probes between the battery and the earth lead..remove fuses until it drops to a reasonable level 0.02 = 20ma...average consumption should be 20 - 50ma!

crosstownk

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

She might not be doing enough mileage to charge the battery in the cold weather. If she has the heater, lights and rear window heater on the car on short runs may not be putting any charge in to the battery when the effort for starting the car is taken from the battery. Get her to only use the rear window heater when required and turn off otherwise.

This may well be a factor. If the alternator isn't given enough time to replenish what starting, lights, wipers, heated rear window, etc takes out of the battery then inevitably the battery will go flat.

My wife's previous car suffered from this as she her trip to work was about 7km.

How often, how far and how log is the car used for per journey?

CountyHurler

And dont crank it or turn on heavy loads while you have the multimeter connected....