Lude Generation

Hi guys,

So I've had a bit of a mare with my 5th gen BB8 recently. This car has been my daily driver for over 4 years and never missed a beat until now

I used the car for an hours round trip on Thursday and all was well, no issues at all. However when I got in the car on Saturday, the battery was completely dead, not even the radio would come on. After charging it up for half an hour it started first try, but by sheer coincidence the clutch then went straight to the floor. I found the fluid level had dropped over the years, so I bled the clutch and problem solved.

Fast forward to today, I've just got to work and the car struggled to start on the driveway. It turned over fast but as soon as it fired the first time it died, I then cranked it for a good 10 seconds with a quick pump of the throttle before I finally fired up.

I'm a work now and worried it's not going to start when I want to head home. I have a spare fully charged battery and a charger in the boot just in case, but something tells me this latest problem isn't electrical.

Does anyone have any ideas? Any help would be massively appreciated. Car is a 1997 2.2vti 5 speed manual, with a completely stock and untouched H22A5 on 112k miles.

Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris,
I would fit the fully charged battery and see how you get on. If you have a multimeter you can check the output from the alternator with the engine running - it should show 14.4 - 14.7 volts. This should show if the alternator is working ok.
Most other starting issues i have seen are to do with the distributor so you could take the cap off and clean up the contact points and check the rotor to see if it needs replaced. Also maybe worth checking/clean/replace the spark plugs if you have not done so already.
Cold weather killed my battery in my BB6 and it would not start - fitted a fully charged spare and all was ok.

I would definitely start with checking the battery terminals are a) tight, b) clean/no corrosion in between the terminals and the clamps.
Then check the condition of the battery - get it tested. Just checking the voltage isn't enough, it needs a load test (garages or Halfords can do that for you - although obviously if it fails they'll then try and sell you one of their batteries, which might not be the most cost effective option).

After that, it's a case of checking that the alternator is charging (as vanzep has suggested) and the condition of the grounds - the main ground connection between the battery and the gearbox is a prime candidate for corrosion within the cable. There is also a supplementary ground on the opposite side of the engine (drive belt side, between head and chassis). All need to be in good condition/tight/no corrosion.