Hello, This morning a very cold night we had the astra was outside like it usually is the car was a bit hestitent to start.
I have noticed this over the last 2 weeks with it been cold,
I ran the car to the supermarket & back then left it for 3 hrs and tested the battery, the voltage was at 11.93v and started it up it's charging ok at around 14.44.
This is not a maintennance free battery so removed the caps and plenty of electrolite is present above the plates, but the green light is non existent?
Im a bit reluctant to put the drop tester over it im guessing this is still under a 3yr warranty? the car is a 56 reg, vx will know by the burn marks on the terminal somebody has been "playing"
Are these covered by warranty before i go moaning to vauxhall? is it a swap it and no charge to me?
Many thanks Tony.
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This is not a maintenance free battery
Has it been replaced at some point then?
That aside, if the car has mainly been used for short trips, then maybe the battery just needs recharging.
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Sounds like the battery is discharged. I always charge a battery if it reads less than 12.4 volts. It is not discharged at this voltage but degredation starts to set in and reduces its life.
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>> This is not a maintenance free battery Has it been replaced at some point then?
No it's never been replaced dave it's the same one from new noticed the green indicator light is not lit.
I do 8 miles to work then home and regular longer trips also do short ones too but this battery should be good for at least 3yrs?
Are these covered under warranty?
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How much would it cost you if the car failed to start one morning?
Compare this with the cost of a new battery.
For most, simply fitting a new battery before their ailing one fails makes sense.
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No it's never been replaced dave
I'm surprised it has removable caps for topping up. Usually these are 'sealed for life' batteries.
Are these covered under warranty?
New ones Vauxhall sell certainly used to be covered by a 3 yr warranty. Not sure if same applies to ones already fitted in the car though.
Shouldn't have failed in 2 years I would have thought. My dad's 51 reg Astra showed signs of a flat battery (original one) during the cold weather earlier in the year and the green indicator light was not showing. Vauxhall tested the battery and said it just needed charging. One charge up later and the green indicator was glowing, and has continued to do so.
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Number cruncher, yes i understand what your saying but i bought this car new and have never been back with owt under warranty if i can get a "free" battery that would be great but not a total loss if i don't.
Im gonna go and charge this up dave now, it's cold out there! lol..
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Whipped battery off and put drop tester on to it found no cell's bubbling and holding in the green for 9 sec's so battery ok,
Charged up for approx 3hrs to 13.55v put on car & fitted neg last found arc jump accross from neg lead to neg post suspect battery drain?
This maybe whats draining the charge overnight, so looks like it's off to vauxhall.
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A voltmeter is only an indication of a battery's charge level - and after it's stood, untouched, for two hours.
A spark on re-connecting is normal - everything permanently fed powers-up. It's not uncommon for the doors to lock either.
To check for a parasitic drain; connect a low-wattage bulb [2w] between post and earth terminal and then separate them. The bulb should stay out.
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Ok thanks screwloose i'll try that this week.
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arc jump accross from neg lead to neg post suspect battery drain?
No, this is normal as Screwloose says.
We had a battery on a new Fiesta 6 years ago fail after 6 months from new - was an OEM unit, so it can happen.
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Charged up for approx 3hrs to
Ideally the battery wants to be put on charge for approx 12 to 16 hours, unless you zapped it with a high current booster charger? (not advisable)
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It was not totally flat dave it started the car it's a high amp charger so works a little faster than the stuff you get from halfords.
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Car battery charged up ok went to it today totaly flat not been used for 24hrs,
AA came to it got it going said there is a 0.7 amp drain on the battery with his amp clamp.
Took it to vauxhall today for repair, anybody know any known faults for the battery to drain?
Checked boot/glovebox light radio, internal/external lights etc.
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You have to be wary of parasitic drains on later cars. It can take the CAN network up to 25 minutes to fully shut down.
Radios are the likeliest source of a 7 watt drain - haven't there been some issues with the CD switch on Vectras?
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haven't there been some issues with the CD switch on Vectras?
I think it was the CD30 stereo's rather fitted to any Vauxhall models, than actually car specific.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/12/2008 at 20:57
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Yes screwloose the guy from the AA said the same thing he left the clamp on for 25 mins still draining,
Radio not left on id see it lit up on drive etc.
When i find out the problem i'll post it back on here vx says 2 days to find and cure!
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Dave,
One of the reasons that it takes so long to find these drains, is that each time you open the door, or in some cases, even get near the car, is that the ECU's start to wake up ready to go to work. As Screwloose has said, it can then take some time before they shut back down. (Some cars can be as much as an hour.)
So, the poor technician can only check one circuit at a time, with a big wait in between.
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Vauxhall had the car for 2 days and have said the battery is faulty which they have replaced with a genuine vx one.
Also said my glove box light was sticking on with too much stuff in there! ermmm i don't think so i checked it at night no light seen around glove box or boot light.
So will see how it goes the test will come in the morning it's -2 here in leeds & walking to the train station is cold!! lol.......
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Also said my glove box light was sticking on with too much stuff in there!
If the Astra electrics are anything like my Vectra-C, then the interior lights, boot light and glovebox light automatically turn themselves off after approx 5 mins to save them from being accidentally left on and draining the battery.
EDIT: just looked at a 2007 Astra handbook and it says the following
"Battery discharge protection - To prevent the battery from becoming discharged, the courtesy light, reading lights, luggage compartment lighting and glove compartment lighting switch off automatically 10 minutes after the ignition is switched off."
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 04/12/2008 at 00:04
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