Mis(t)ery problem

regedit

My wife owns this '97 Micra (Jap import). Everything was going fine until recently. I will try and explain what happened and someone might know more than my electrician and me.

About 5 months ago, out of the blue, the car wouldn't start. Jumps-starting helped and she was able to drive for the next few months. The problem occurred again. Jump started it and brought it tdown to the electrician in Blanch. The man said that the alternator has gone and the battery was flat and old (one of the cells not working) so I gave him the go-ahead to change the battery and repair the alternator. Took the car from the garage but had to bring it back again as the same problem occurred a few days later. The car stayed in the garage a few days and the electrician said he checked and double checked everything and was not able to find the source of the problem. Said to drive it and if it occurs again to call him. Well, it did 2day. He came out, checked the battery (flat) and started the car with one of those jump-starting devices. Then he checked something and said that the alternator was charging fine. He thinks there might be a power drain but does not know where it could be. The car does not have an alarm so that can not be the source. The inside ligfht does not stay on nor does anything else we are aware of. Bringing the car in on Mondayty for him to do some tests.
In the meantime, I was just wondering if anyone out there had any similar probblem with the Micra or any alike car? Do you have an ide what the source of the problem could be.

unkel

regedit wrote:

He thinks there might be a power drain

He's probably right. Could it be the radio? Faulty wiring? Does she ever play CDs or cassettes with the engine switched off? That would drain the battery pretty quick

Seth Brundle

As it is a hatchback it is unlikely to have a bootlight but if it does check that it goes out when the boot is closed.
Also check the radio system.

Alun

He thinks there might be a power drain but does not know where it could be.

Surely it's fairly easy to measure a power drain if there is one (Ammeter, anyone?). Figuring out where it's coming from if one is discovered might be a bit trickier though.

regedit

unkel wrote:

He's probably right. Could it be the radio? Faulty wiring? Does she ever play CDs or cassettes with the engine switched off? That would drain the battery pretty quick

She never does this. Basicaly starts the car, drives to Citywest, comes back and that's it. Even if the radio had a drain, I would tend to think trhat it wouldn't drain trhe battery in less thanless than 12 hours.

regedit

Alun wrote:

Surely it's fairly easy to measure a power drain if there is one (Ammeter, anyone?). Figuring out where it's coming from if one is discovered might be a bit trickier though.

She mentioned that even in the past, this (not being able to start the car) happened when she was driving for a long time (start and stop) in traffick jam. She said that on both occasions the ABS light came on and on the first occasion the Radio did actualy go of and then went on again!

stratos

If some device is draining the battery on the car, simply disconnecting the battery at night for a while should cure the problem, thus letting you know it's a parasitic drain problem.
I don't like the idea the battery and the alternator were diagnosed as the problem. Its one or the other.
If the alternator is faulty the battery will go flat quite quickly. the battery won't be damaged.
If the battery goes faulty it would show up over time, but not damage the alternator.
I.e. the battery would be dead long before it had time to damage the alternator. there are many faults that could cause these problems, it seems to me your guy just changed the big 2 without any real dignostic work.
why did he change the battery did he load test it or specific gravity test it what were the results. Did he bench test your alternator, again what were the results.

regedit

stratos wrote:

If some device is draining the battery on the car, simply disconnecting the battery at night for a while should cure the problem, thus letting you know it's a parasitic drain problem.
I don't like the idea the battery and the alternator were diagnosed as the problem. Its one or the other.
If the alternator is faulty the battery will go flat quite quickly. the battery won't be damaged.
If the battery goes faulty it would show up over time, but not damage the alternator.
I.e. the battery would be dead long before it had time to damage the alternator. there are many faults that could cause these problems, it seems to me your guy just changed the big 2 without any real dignostic work.
why did he change the battery did he load test it or specific gravity test it what were the results. Did he bench test your alternator, again what were the results.

The mechanic said that he did a bench test for the alternator and it wasn't doing the job properly. Than, he showed me with an ancient instrument that the battery was faulty. In simple words, he connected an irin liuke think to the + and - and removed the caps from the battery and water was "boiling" in one of the cells so he said it was faulty. T'was the original battery from 1997 so did not mind that (even though before the power drain started, never ever did the car hesitate to start-in fact the starter seemed better than in my new toyota.
Do you mean disconnecting the battery every night and than connecting it again in the morning. Sure if the battery is disconnected, any parasitic source could not use the electricity (at least that is what I understood).

Does anyone have an idea who the usual culprits in such case are. A few pointed out to the radio but as I said the car is never off for a long period. In fact, on onbe occasiuon, the car started, she drove to Spar to get milka and bread and when she came back 2 min's later, the car would not start-battery went flat. I think whatever is causing the drain, is doing it rapidly if this makes sense or if it is possible!

Seth Brundle

Are any lights being left on?

regedit

kbannon wrote:

Are any lights being left on?

No, none that we are aware of. She did not even have them on at all on the days when it occured the last time.