The patient : ST2.2 Mondeo MK3
Age : 9 years
Mileage : 90k
Friday Morning
Jump in car first thing in the morning to go to work... starter not firing, can hear a clicking sound when turning the key. Dash still lighting up ok.
Friday Evening
Get the jump leads on the battery and start up from a neighbours car, and drive round town for an hour to charge it.
Get home, take key out, put it straight back in to test I can start the engine and yes I can.
Saturday Morning
Back to square one - starter not firing, just a clicking sound when turning key, but dash still lighting up ok.
Despite being a chap who knows very little about what goes on under the bonnet of a car, I have done a fair bit of reading online to see if a dead battery is the only likely cause, and I have found suggestions that other elements could be to blame, problems with the starter; cracked bridge plates (whatever that means); voltage issues; to name a few.
I have scoured the car for anything electrical that might be draining the battery while the car rests, and haven't found anything obvious.
Given that I was able to charge the battery back up again after an hours drive such that I could then start the car, does that suggest the battery might not be at fault? Or was that a red herring and in fact just the last few spurts from an almost lifeless battery which is just breathing its last breath.
I'm considering asking the neighbour for another jump start so I can take it down to halfords and buy a new battery. (they only charge a tenner to fit it) although I read online about one guy who forked out to get a new battery, and then days later when the new one was unexpectedly flat, got the experts on it, and established that something else was to blame. Naturally I'd prefer not to follow that path - hence my decision to write this post!
I think I'd like to avoid going to a garage for a full assessment if I can, because this strikes me as the sort of problem that could be exploited in terms of what expensive components they tell me need replacing.
Any thoughts from the experts on here - based on the symptoms described above would be very much appreciated.
Cheers,
Dinelli.
Age : 9 years
Mileage : 90k
Friday Morning
Jump in car first thing in the morning to go to work... starter not firing, can hear a clicking sound when turning the key. Dash still lighting up ok.
Friday Evening
Get the jump leads on the battery and start up from a neighbours car, and drive round town for an hour to charge it.
Get home, take key out, put it straight back in to test I can start the engine and yes I can.
Saturday Morning
Back to square one - starter not firing, just a clicking sound when turning key, but dash still lighting up ok.
Despite being a chap who knows very little about what goes on under the bonnet of a car, I have done a fair bit of reading online to see if a dead battery is the only likely cause, and I have found suggestions that other elements could be to blame, problems with the starter; cracked bridge plates (whatever that means); voltage issues; to name a few.
I have scoured the car for anything electrical that might be draining the battery while the car rests, and haven't found anything obvious.
Given that I was able to charge the battery back up again after an hours drive such that I could then start the car, does that suggest the battery might not be at fault? Or was that a red herring and in fact just the last few spurts from an almost lifeless battery which is just breathing its last breath.
I'm considering asking the neighbour for another jump start so I can take it down to halfords and buy a new battery. (they only charge a tenner to fit it) although I read online about one guy who forked out to get a new battery, and then days later when the new one was unexpectedly flat, got the experts on it, and established that something else was to blame. Naturally I'd prefer not to follow that path - hence my decision to write this post!
I think I'd like to avoid going to a garage for a full assessment if I can, because this strikes me as the sort of problem that could be exploited in terms of what expensive components they tell me need replacing.
Any thoughts from the experts on here - based on the symptoms described above would be very much appreciated.
Cheers,
Dinelli.