Hi everyone

I have been the content driver of my 2010 1.6 Zetec for over a year now, but sadly I have a fault which is difficult to pinpoint and would appreciate advice.

My wife was driving the car for a few miles two days ago, stopped the car then after 5 minutes it wouldn't start, she left it, came back a few hours later and it started right away, drove it home about 5 miles no problem and the next morning, same problem, wouldn't start, called out the breakdown and they said it was the battery, (still original battery),took car to chemix garage and the guy tested the battery under load and said it had plenty of life left in it and said he didn't want to change it as wasting money and said no point changing battery, he said probably a sticking starter, I was convinced until last night, tried the car and it tried to start engine, but could see the panel lights dimming, decided to put the lights on and it got worse and worse, left it, got jumper leads and connected it up, still same thing, took them off and was going to give up, connected them directly to battery this time (previously I had connect the negative to the body earth), It started, left it for a minute, switched it off, put lights on again and it started, took the jumper leads off and tried it again with lights on, started easily!

Don't know what could be the problem, If it was the battery, it wouldn't recover after a minute of charge, or can failing batteries be intermitant? if so, why did the garage say battery was fine, they put a load on it and checked the alternator.

Would appreciate any suggestions, really struggling to think of what it would be.

Edited by ScottishJohn on 14/09/2018 at 10:42