Semper Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 (edited) I have a new (ish) battery in my Pic up. I don't use it everyday, sometimes it's parked for 1 month or so. A couple of days ago I tried to start it up (well aware of that the battery would be down) and there was no power to turn the engine. So I borrowed a charger from my neighbour and charged it for about 15 hours. Quite sure this would do the trick, I turned the ignition key and to my horror, the same result, engine did not turn ower. So I checked the battery and it is fully charged acccording to the indicator in the battery. So my question is, can the battery indicator show a fully charged signal but still be "dead" ? Edited December 30, 2011 by Semper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve187 Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Do the lights work?, does the ignition lights come on?, if so is there are noises from anywhere when you try and start it?, could it be loose leads?, can you check the water level in the battery?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Do the lights work?, does the ignition lights come on?, if so is there are noises from anywhere when you try and start it?, could it be loose leads?, can you check the water level in the battery?. Yes to every questions. "could it be loose leads" Can't se them come loose by just being parked. About the noice thing. At the first attempt to start, the engine turned over 1 revolution then I tried again and there was this clattering sound from the starter solenoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSJ Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Do the lights work?, does the ignition lights come on?, if so is there are noises from anywhere when you try and start it?, could it be loose leads?, can you check the water level in the battery?. Yes to every questions. "could it be loose leads" Can't se them come loose by just being parked. About the noice thing. At the first attempt to start, the engine turned over 1 revolution then I tried again and there was this clattering sound from the starter solenoid. Your've found it. Problem solved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Do the lights work?, does the ignition lights come on?, if so is there are noises from anywhere when you try and start it?, could it be loose leads?, can you check the water level in the battery?. Yes to every questions. "could it be loose leads" Can't se them come loose by just being parked. About the noice thing. At the first attempt to start, the engine turned over 1 revolution then I tried again and there was this clattering sound from the starter solenoid. Your've found it. Problem solved! Probably. But I don't like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stefan2519 Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 If it's a manual put it in gear and rock it back and forth till the gears bite, then take out of gear and try to start. If it's an auto, not advised but if it was mine I'd tap the starter with a hammer. I hope it's just a starter issue, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 If it's a manual put it in gear and rock it back and forth till the gears bite, then take out of gear and try to start. If it's an auto, not advised but if it was mine I'd tap the starter with a hammer. I hope it's just a starter issue, good luck! Agreed. The bendix sping on the starter might have broken or daft as it may sound check the bolts holding the starter on. Other stuff, the solenoid on the starter could be naff, but the noise thing sounds like starter to ring gear prob. I have seen ring gear teeth stripped off which can cause lock up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 If it's a manual put it in gear and rock it back and forth till the gears bite, then take out of gear and try to start. If it's an auto, not advised but if it was mine I'd tap the starter with a hammer. I hope it's just a starter issue, good luck! Agreed. The bendix sping on the starter might have broken or daft as it may sound check the bolts holding the starter on. Other stuff, the solenoid on the starter could be naff, but the noise thing sounds like starter to ring gear prob. I have seen ring gear teeth stripped off which can cause lock up. humidity and temp is tough on any electric motor, including my f-cking pool pumps, a month without being used is unhealthy, a copuple of knocks with a hammer solves it most times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 If it's a manual put it in gear and rock it back and forth till the gears bite, then take out of gear and try to start. If it's an auto, not advised but if it was mine I'd tap the starter with a hammer. I hope it's just a starter issue, good luck! Agreed. The bendix sping on the starter might have broken or daft as it may sound check the bolts holding the starter on. Other stuff, the solenoid on the starter could be naff, but the noise thing sounds like starter to ring gear prob. I have seen ring gear teeth stripped off which can cause lock up. Understand, but the gears are actually engaging. But there is not enough power to turn the engine over (more than 1 revolution). So, I was thinking maybe eaven that the battery indicator (on the battery) indicates that it's fully charged (red dot in the middle and a blue ring around) that the battery is dead. I guess that I could borrow another battery or use jumpercables from another car to eliminate any starter/bad connection problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 If it's a manual put it in gear and rock it back and forth till the gears bite, then take out of gear and try to start. If it's an auto, not advised but if it was mine I'd tap the starter with a hammer. I hope it's just a starter issue, good luck! Agreed. The bendix sping on the starter might have broken or daft as it may sound check the bolts holding the starter on. Other stuff, the solenoid on the starter could be naff, but the noise thing sounds like starter to ring gear prob. I have seen ring gear teeth stripped off which can cause lock up. Understand, but the gears are actually engaging. But there is not enough power to turn the engine over (more than 1 revolution). So, I was thinking maybe eaven that the battery indicator (on the battery) indicates that it's fully charged (red dot in the middle and a blue ring around) that the battery is dead. I guess that I could borrow another battery or use jumpercables from another car to eliminate any starter/bad connection problems. Yep, good idea fitting a chums battery. for ''starters'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John 1 Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Semper, Check all the cell are good with a hydrometer if 1 cell is bad the battery is stuffed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Whilst you have the battery off clean the inside of the connectors with some glass cloth to ensure a good connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Semper, Check all the cell are good with a hydrometer if 1 cell is bad the battery is stuffed. Yes, this was my thoughts from the start, does the indicator on the battery work as a hydrometer, or is it just some sort of indicator that there is some sort of power in the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted December 30, 2011 Author Share Posted December 30, 2011 Whilst you have the battery off clean the inside of the connectors with some glass cloth to ensure a good connection. Checked and done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litlos Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 It sounds like a high resistance joint inside the battery. This gives the voltage, but severely limits the current. So the battery can appear charged, just has no capacity to supply a heavy load like a starter. Try another battery if you can and if this cranks the engine OK then you have a dead one. The sort of batteries installed in cars do not like sitting around gradually discharging and you will not get a very good service life from them. There are numerous threads in here on car batteries and which brands are any good. I think it is GS or something like that is about the best run of the mill product. Something I did for my car in Australia that would sit for up to six months between starts was to install a CTEK battery maintainer. The one I had was only 800mA and it is a lot smarter than the average battery charger. Is designed to be left connected and turned on whenever the vehicle is not in use. Specifically designed for leisure type vehicles that have off seasons and incorporates a plug connection to the battery for easy disconnect. They are available in Thailand and I saw them referenced in another thread as to where the shop was located. That thread does not wish to open for me though on my super slow connection. From memory CTEK is from one of the Scandinavian countries, so good quality. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandrinstar Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 The indicator is stuck on O.K. Now you know how silly one liners get on "Yer Tits ". . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattayadingo Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 I had this problem with a battery getting run down due to a live running to earth somewhere. Charged the battery with a charger I brought with me to Thailand. Battery showed full charge and refused to turn the engine. New bigger battery on the car now and it is a lot better. The starter might simply be a quick fix if your carbon bushes are worn / sticking. I drove to Cha-Am. Stopped to fill up and car refused to turn over. Had a place check the battery and I saw it had almost full charge yet they told me it was fooxed. I got a jump from another car and the combined power turned the engine over. In Cha-Am I got a reliable mechanic to check the car and it was the carbon bushes in the starter. 400 Baht to fix. No problems in the year since he did that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 (edited) The indicator is stuck on O.K. Now you know how silly one liners get on "Yer Tits ". . " Semper " had it coming but I still don't believe him, his on a new years wind up, luv the 1 liner's. Get a New battery, Happy New Year. Edited December 30, 2011 by Kwasaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mafumo Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 K.i.s.s. principal ,,, borrow a battery and see what happens is the easiest and quickest way to prove is it bollo..sed or not . Move on from there if its a good known battery , then check connections , loose terminals etc . If the vehicle is fairly new i.e 3 to 4 years old it is unlikely in my book to be the starter . Hey thats my 2 bobs worth , guess others will argue that course of action , everyone is entitled to an opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarpSpeed Posted December 30, 2011 Share Posted December 30, 2011 Whilst you have the battery off clean the inside of the connectors with some glass cloth to ensure a good connection. Checked and done. T/A is onto something, check the starter bolts the ground may be loose even though it was sitting there is no guarantee it wasn't already loose when you parked it and then over time it developed more corrosion that is now preventing a good ground.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mafumo Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 So Semper , did you find the problem with your car's starting system yet or not ? If so fill us in on all the details . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandrinstar Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 He lost the Key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Hope he didn't crawl under it to check stuff using a cheap trolley jack, messy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve187 Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Sounds like the starter is jammed, turn your headlights on and then try to start, do the headlights dim. is it auto or manual? Edited January 2, 2012 by steve187 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 He lost the Key. Don't choke on your coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Update. Today I borrowed a battery and yes, as I suspected, it did start immediately. So one can't believe the indicator on the battery. So, tomorrow is shopping time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sysardman Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Update. Today I borrowed a battery and yes, as I suspected, it did start immediately. So one can't believe the indicator on the battery. So, tomorrow is shopping time. Just to add my twopenneth - if you're not sure about battery/starter motor etc a good check is to get an old screwdriver or similar (something you don't value 2 much). Locate the solenoid on the starter motor (like a piggyback cylinder) and short the two large screw terminals where the battery connects. I know it sounds dodgy but it's quite safe (wear your wife's rubber washing up gloves if you're unsure) if the battery is good there will be a few sparks on initial contact. This should tell you two things 1) solenoid is working and 2) if the battery has enough power to turn the engine. I've done this loads of times and I'm still walking around and have never caused damage to the cars I've done it to. Bet I still get flamed PS for the hard of thinking - make sure the car is not in gear when you do it Edited January 2, 2012 by sysardman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Update. Today I borrowed a battery and yes, as I suspected, it did start immediately. So one can't believe the indicator on the battery. So, tomorrow is shopping time. Just to add my twopenneth - if you're not sure about battery/starter motor etc a good check is to get an old screwdriver or similar (something you don't value 2 much). Locate the solenoid on the starter motor (like a piggyback cylinder) and short the two large screw terminals where the battery connects. I know it sounds dodgy but it's quite safe (wear your wife's rubber washing up gloves if you're unsure) if the battery is good there will be a few sparks on initial contact. This should tell you two things 1) solenoid is working and 2) if the battery has enough power to turn the engine. I've done this loads of times and I'm still walking around and have never caused damage to the cars I've done it to. Bet I still get flamed PS for the hard of thinking - make sure the car is not in gear when you do it No flame from me as l have done it a few times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Same, no flame. But, a starter solenoid just don't die in the blink of an eye. There is normaly some starting problems involved before it calls it a day. Anyway, any suggestions for the next candidate (battery)? The former was a GS 100 Amp. Edited January 2, 2012 by Semper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sysardman Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Same, no flame. But, a starter solenoid just don't die in the blink of an eye. There is normaly some starting problems involved before it calls it a day. Anyway, any suggestions for the next candidate (battery)? The former was a GS 100 Amp. I wasn't suggesting it dying but what I have found is over the years gunge builds up inside and if it's been stood a while, in possibly damp or humid conditions, the solenoid will stick. I've had great success rejuvenating starter motors by stripping the solenoid, cleaning the inside with WD 40 on a cloth and re-assembling. Of course the guys charging an arm and a leg for a new starter motor won't tell you that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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