Urgent Help - Car is sitting outside needing quick fix!! Please Read!!

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pumpkinboy1991

pumpkinboy1991

Member
Posts
84
Location
Greenock, Scotland
Hi,
Just replaced the battery in the L322 with a good quality Bosch - followed correct procedure, waited 2 mins for nav light in boot to go out, everything electrical turned off inside, but when I went inside the Parking Gear light is flashing and there is a ticking sound - steering column has locked and wont unlock when key is put in ignition (and therefore cant turn key fully round in ignition). Have I missed something or should this not be happening? Quick reply would be great, got car sitting outside unlocked at the moment as the keyfob is not doing anything to the car when a button is pressed! Cheers!
 
Went back out to it and managed to get steering wheel unlocked and key can turn all the way, but seems like the (new) battery is flat - suppose it could have been on the shelf for a while, either that or the systems need to take time to restore all their power? Getting lights on the dash now but when i try to start the engine it's as if that is enough to sap any power there and all the lights go out again. Does it require sitting for a while to allow the new battery to get some volts through all the systems? Managed to lock it now aswell
 
you got a volt meter? you should be getting 12.8 or some place around that anyway, seems like its flat
 
Yeah I think it is flat - probably should have charged it before fitting it as knowing Halfrauds it'll have been sitting on the shelf for years. I'll jump it and run it for an hour, kick some life into it! Cheers Dopey :)
 
I would have thought even halfords would have checked a battery was fully charged before it left the shop!!

Are the lugs on the terminals done up good and tight?
 
Yeah I made sure I had a good tight connection on the terminals, cleaned them up beforehand aswell. Haha yeah, luckily I know a staff member so I get staff discount! Will go back out and try jumping it from my other car when it returns & leave it running for a while to give it some life. If still the same I will repost. Thank you!
 
Yeah it's from halfords, but bought a bosch s5 t20 - more than enough oomph, so i'm assuming it's just been sitting in stock for a while. Doubt many punters buy batteries that big often. The one I took out of the car was 85 Ah, which according to the manual is on the small side? Recommended was between 90-110Ah, and also it was only reading 11.7 V :/ I've had the HDC inactive light flash on when starting & transmission failsafe mode aswell, along with some intermittent sound issues - so these all pointed towards a dodgy battery. 11.7 surely confirms that lol!
 
Datatek said:
Guaranteed to last until you get it home:rolleyes: Seen more complaints obout Halfrauds betteries on here than any other make:eek:
Click to expand...

Keith they are con merchants. Son in law was quote £126.00 for a Bosch battery for a little Pug. With they said, a four year extended warranty. He asked me if that was ok. I said no, i'll get you one. Same battery from my supplier, but a Varta (Varta make Bosch) £65.00. With the standard four year manufacturers warranty. Con merchants through and through.
 
Just took the new battery out to try and charge it - stuck the charger on it and got a 0 amp charge reading - stuck the charger on the old battery that was in it - and got a normal 4 amp charge reading. Seems the new battery is gubbed!!
 
S5015 / 020 BOSCH SILVER PLUS Car Battery 12V 110Ah Bosch Car Batteries Free 24hr UK Delivery

That's the battery I've put in. I read the information wrong on the other battery for some reason, the older one was 110Ah 850CCA, the new one is 110Ah, 920CCA. The old was low with voltmeter reading of 11.7V and checked that it wasn't the alternator at fault, which it wasn't, so the battery couldn't quite take a full charge. The new battery reads bang on 12V, which is still low but probably to be expected if it's been on the shelf. It is taking a charge, as with the charger on, across the terminals I'm getting 16V, but it's obviously charging at a very slow rate in comparison to the older one. Will leave it overnight on trickle, hoping that will do the trick. Very strange considering the old battery had enough oomph to start the car, yet it had a lower voltage reading and the new one a higher voltage, but not enough to start it? Weird. Even had my golf running and linked up with the RR to jump it, but either the RR is just too power demanding or my jump leads can't carry enough load to give it the power it needs. Everything always has to be tricky ehh?!
 
pumpkinboy1991 said:
S5015 / 020 BOSCH SILVER PLUS Car Battery 12V 110Ah Bosch Car Batteries Free 24hr UK Delivery

That's the battery I've put in. I read the information wrong on the other battery for some reason, the older one was 110Ah 850CCA, the new one is 110Ah, 920CCA. The old was low with voltmeter reading of 11.7V and checked that it wasn't the alternator at fault, which it wasn't, so the battery couldn't quite take a full charge. The new battery reads bang on 12V, which is still low but probably to be expected if it's been on the shelf. It is taking a charge, as with the charger on, across the terminals I'm getting 16V, but it's obviously charging at a very slow rate in comparison to the older one. Will leave it overnight on trickle, hoping that will do the trick. Very strange considering the old battery had enough oomph to start the car, yet it had a lower voltage reading and the new one a higher voltage, but not enough to start it? Weird. Even had my golf running and linked up with the RR to jump it, but either the RR is just too power demanding or my jump leads can't carry enough load to give it the power it needs. Everything always has to be tricky ehh?!
Click to expand...


Iv jump started my TD6 with a small suzuki van with ease so they cant pull that much power.

not sounding silly but you was sure you got the correct polarity on the new battery ? :confused:
 
Yeah I made sure when I put it in not to do the stupid thing and reverse the polarity like a tool! It does seem to be taking some sort of charge, just at a very slow trickle charge rate... maybe that will give it some power tomorrow when I try again. Failing that i'll take it back and get a new one since it has warranty. As for the jump starting, I think it's the ****ty leads I've got that can't cope with the current required to give it what it needs. I have a friend who has a charge booster so could give that a go aswell, but would rather just to get a replacement first lol.
 
pumpkinboy1991 said:
Yeah I made sure when I put it in not to do the stupid thing and reverse the polarity like a tool! It does seem to be taking some sort of charge, just at a very slow trickle charge rate... maybe that will give it some power tomorrow when I try again. Failing that i'll take it back and get a new one since it has warranty. As for the jump starting, I think it's the ****ty leads I've got that can't cope with the current required to give it what it needs. I have a friend who has a charge booster so could give that a go aswell, but would rather just to get a replacement first lol.
Click to expand...


Good stuff !

seems a weired problem then, either way new batterys should be fully charged even if they have been sitting they shouldnt have drained down. and that it shows a good voltage suggests that its allready charged pretty well :confused:

hopefully your immobiliser hasnt reset or something :eek:
 
As far as I am aware the immobiliser can't have reset as I can turn the key to start and get the clicking noise of the solenoid, so that wouldn't happen if it had (I am quite willing to be corrected if my information is wrong!:p). So hopefully my problems will be sorted tomorrow, either with a new battery or a charged battery! Fingers crossed!
 
pumpkinboy1991 said:
As far as I am aware the immobiliser can't have reset as I can turn the key to start and get the clicking noise of the solenoid, so that wouldn't happen if it had (I am quite willing to be corrected if my information is wrong!:p). So hopefully my problems will be sorted tomorrow, either with a new battery or a charged battery! Fingers crossed!
Click to expand...


Good luck !

Keep us posted :D
 
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