freeagent Posted January 1, 2009 Posted January 1, 2009 My Disco is refusing to start after being left for more than 1 night, but springs instantly into life when i connect the wifes Skoda to it with jump leads (implies an electrical problem rather than fuel??) I'm going to be going through all the usual checks over the next day or so, and replacing the Glow plugs as they've not been done under my ownership, but I'd like to use my Multimeter to check and see if anything is draining the battery while the engines off... how do I go about this? This problem has only come to light over the last couple of weeks (since its been cold over Christmas, and since i've not been using the Disco every day) The car fires up very well once warm, and even if its been left for mybe 6 hours during the day. The truck is a 1996 300Tdi manual (Non-EDC) Thanks in advance for any hints or tips... Quote
paintman Posted January 1, 2009 Posted January 1, 2009 How olds the battery? Its cold weather that shows up dead or dying ones. Are the levels correct in the cells? Have you fully recharged the battery using a battery charger - driving about for a bit will not do it. If you connect a jump lead direct from your battery neg (earth) to the engine block does it make a difference? Quote
Timmy511 Posted January 1, 2009 Posted January 1, 2009 the best way to sort an earth leak causing bad starting is to fit another battery lead dron the negative pole on the battery and the earth point on the starter. clean all the ring connectors up and all the mating faces and it should sort it. i had a transit that was an arse in the cold, an hour with some scotch bright and emery cloth cleaning all the earths on the starter and engine block/chassis sorted it out. Quote
Landowner Posted January 1, 2009 Posted January 1, 2009 Take earth lead off and stick a meter in to see if its draining, if so , remove fuses one by one until you find the one that's draining the battery. Oh, and I did this and after eliminating fuses, ended up finding someone had fitted the wrong headlamp relay which was sticking somehow and draining the power, new relay and bobs me uncle Quote
freeagent Posted January 2, 2009 Author Posted January 2, 2009 thanks guys, a bit of an update... Earth leads are not an issue, they were all replaced this time last year with custom made replacements fabbed from heavy grade winch cable, and fitted using loads of copper grease... the crappy braided lead that comes of the back of the starter motor was replaced, and a secondary earth lead runs off the back of the transfer box onto the chassis. The battery is coming up for 3 years old and has been to the Sahara, and done a lot of cold starts followed by short journeys... I went outside this mornig to start the truck up (engine had been off for about 14 hours) and I put the multi meter on the battery before i started the engine.. it registered 12V exactly, which acording to my battery/ Alternator test meter is half way between flat and discharged. It just about turned the engine over until it started, I put the test meter back on and the Alternator was charging fine. I bit the bullet and bought a new battery, as the fluid level in the old one was not low, but when I lifted the caps they were chocked full of mud, and quite a lot of it fell into the battery, so if it did have any life left in it, it hasn't now! Tomorrow I'll replace the glow plugs, and try to see if anything is draining the battery while the engine is off... Thanks for the help guys. Quote
nas90 Posted January 2, 2009 Posted January 2, 2009 thanks guys, a bit of an update...using loads of copper grease... the crappy braided Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Copper grease and grease you use in bearings is not good for electrical joints, grease is an insulator and collector of crud! Proper electrical contact grease (Wurth sell the right stuff) is what you need Quote
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