Holden Vectra

smokeyone1, Sep 16, 8:35pm
I have a Holden Vectra,which has just had the head gasket done a few months back.Every few weeks or so,it decides tonot start,with what I thought was a flat battery.I would just put the charger on it,charge it up and carry on until I had saved enough for a new battery.Went to buy new battery,they tested it and said it was good,nothing draining off it,so ended up not buying it.What else could the problem be,! This morning,car wouldn't go again until I had it on charger for 10 mins.Any helpful ideaswould be appreciated.
intrade, Sep 16, 10:13pm
well buy a multimeter from a electronic shop and flick it to 20 volt Dc and mesure the currant that is inside the battery befor you put it on the charger. should be minimum 12.65 volt for standard battery fully charged and that or higher on calcium battery . Next thing could be the battery therminal hasproblems on therminals patina , or a reley in your car is getting sick and gets a burst each time you add a charger in the morning about 13.8 volt to 14.5 volt gets in the system triggering a potential sticking power relay. I know bmw have issues with these sort of things and some other car makes can do this also, Dont ask me where the reley would be
intrade, Sep 16, 10:14pm
also discribe how it wont start! does the starter motor turn the engine over or does it go click post accurate discription of what actuarly is happening when it wont start.
smokeyone1, Sep 16, 11:22pm
I turn the key andall dash lights up as per normal,motor tries to turn over,but chugs like flat battery,and then dies,nothing. I wondered about the terminals .Thanks for taking the time to give me some input,appreciate it.
elect70, Sep 17, 2:01am
Did they do a load test on the battery ,sounds like itsgetting oldnot holding charge . Or not charging properly
intrade, Sep 17, 5:46am
you could go and see elect70 smokeyone1 i would guess he could figure out whats wrong.
smokeyone1, Sep 17, 5:59am
Iam not sure ,but he did say that it didn't appear to be draining and at the time was fully charged,(as we had driven from Foxton Beach to Palmerston Nth)The battery is June 09
supernova2, Sep 17, 6:40am
Unless you have a super grunty charger 10mins wont make much difference to a flat battery but having said that the symptoms you discribe sure sound like a sick battery.have you cleaned the terminals!Turn the headlights on and if they go dim/out whilst trying to start its a sure sign battery poked.