Car Fails to start after one day without jump stsrt

[basskiddanny]

Ok this isn't my car with the problem, but my girlfriends 1.1 punto. She just got back from an 18 day holiday and when she went to start the car it wouldn't start so i used my car to jump start it and it ran fine for the day but when it was left overnight,m in the morning it won't start again.

 

It seems obvious that something must be constantly draining the battery, my initial guess is the alternator, and the battery is onloy 1 year old so it isn't likely to be faulty.

 

The strange thing is there is still enouugh power (and there was after the 18 days) to keep running the clock and to run the cd player. When my alternator went on my MK4 there wasn't any power to run anything, stereo, cd player, and central locking.

 

I am wondering two things:

 

A) Are there any other reasons than a flat battery that would require it to be jumped??

 

B) What are other likely things that are draining the battery

[escort tink]

i would say you alternator is f*cked but could be 1 of 100 things

[basskiddanny]

Its strange how cars can break just from being left for 2 weeks lol. Since it was perfectly fine before she went away lol.

[PeeWee]

My brothers celica had this prob danny, i jumped it & it was fine for a day, thing is it probably needs a full charge, long drive or charger.

If its been run after dark with the stereo on it will have drained what little power you put back in when you jump started

[basskiddanny]

My brothers celica had this prob danny, i jumped it & it was fine for a day, thing is it probably needs a full charge, long drive or charger.

If its been run after dark with the stereo on it will have drained what little power you put back in when you jump started

 

After it was jump started we ran it idle for about 10-15 minutes then a 5-10 minute drive. Is it worth trying jump starting it again but going for a longer drive to make sure it charges properly?? Didn't play the stereo whilst it was running or anything like tha, but the next day when the car wouldn't start i just played it for 5 minutes to check if there was any power left atall.

 

Going to jump start it and go for a longer drive today and see if that helps. If not i'll test if there is constant power being drained like it was on my MK4 lol.

[PeeWee]

Needs a good overnight charge to easily find out

[Hezz]

it wont put any charge in it when its just sat idling it needs to be driven

 

the alternator puts power into the battery it doesnt drain it

 

if the battery is deffo ok then it sounds like the alternator is buggered...

 

charge it up overnight like peewee says and if the charge only lasts a day still then it s your battery, if it lasts longer it somet else

 

[Ex-Finesse]

Even a short drive will put a good charge into the battery.

 

Battery might only be a year old, but my money is on the fact it's had it.

 

It's simply not holding a charge, end of story.

[Dave C]

To me,it sounds like the battery.

As said,it may only be a year old,but sometimes,when they go completely flat,they wont hold a charge again.

 

I had the same problem with my old escort.I ruled the battery out straight away,coz it was just over a year old,but it turned out to be the battery..

 

If it is the alternator,just renew the bushes,rather than buy a new unit

[Trig]

take the battery off and put it on charge and take the tops off the cells, if you can switch the charger onto a boost charge for a few secs and all cells should bubble, if they dont then the battery is fooked. if you dont have the boost option on the charger then just put it on charge and go back for a look a few hours later