Zafira charging problem?

Hi all had to rescue the wife today in our 2002 Zafira GSi, thebattery had
gone flat. She had done a couple of short journeys today with no problems,
than did the last journey and sat for about an hour with only the radio on.
when she went to start it the battery was totally flat. The battery should
of been fully charged as we did a 100 plus mile motorway trip yesterday.

We have had this a couple of times before where its fine one minute then
totally flat the next, even tho its only had the radio or interior light on
for about an hour, like when cleaning the car out.

We managed to bump start the car and get it home, where i checked the
charging, its charging a constant 14volts at idle and at higher revs.

After turning the engine off the battery is showing 12.7v after a couple of
minutes

Does this mean that the regaulaor on the alternator is at fault? and could
it be not charging so the battery goes flat one minute and overcharging the
next? would this explain the battery prob?

Or is there a problem with the battery that could of screwed the alternator.

Thanks for any help

Tim

 

No good checking the batt voltage straight after charging, you may have a
faulty cell in the batt. charge it then leave it alone for about 1/2hour or
so, then check it for voltage.
check that the belt is not slipping (i dont know if your car has a flat belt
or a V belt.

if the batt is holding the charge then you may have a problem with the
altinator( i dont think there is a fault with the altinator as the voltage
is there, )but it may not be giving out the AMP`s needed to charge the bat
correctly.

 

Duff battery. Happened to me a couple of times even though I was doing
long trips. Half an hour eating lunch and listening to the radio and
the car (Vauxhall Omega) wouldn't start. A new battery fixed it.

 

Go and get a free battery check - I think Kwikfit do one and most garages
will check it for free.

 

If that is the original battery its done pretty well, my old vectra battery
packed up in exactly the way you describe after less than two years.
Just the radio could flatten the battery in half an hour even though it had
started fine and run for 60 odd miles.
The RAC man tested the battery with a special meter and replaced the battery
to solve the problem.

B

 

Kwikfit will tell you things on your car are faulty even if they are ok, its
anything for money with them.
i will never go back to kwikfit.

 

Thanks all for your comments, Yes Basil its the original battery on it, but
what about the constant 14 volt charging? i thought it should be about 12.5-
13 volt at idle then 14 ish at higher revs?

TIA

Tim

or could it be charging higher cos the battery is knackered

 

Woah. I'm not the helping kind.
But if you're looking for a rant, I'm your man.

I'll just put in my recent experience here:

I too had that exact same problem, so I replaced the battery (two
times, the first one I took from the shop was completely dead :/ ) -
second one seemed to cure the problem. Two days later the car was
failing to start. Figured it was the alternator, as a mechanic also
suggested. Replaced that. Luckily the car failed me a final time while
I was in a multi-storey car park, so I had the ease of bump starting
it down the ramps. Mechanic replaced the starter motor and all has
been fine since.

You didn't state which problems you had when the battery died. I had a
tester on mine, went randomly from 'fully charged' to 'poor' ratings.
Lights etc all worked, regardless of the tester reading.

When it failed to started, it was grinding slowly as I turned the key,
to the point of nothing but a click.

 

battery
get it changed.
14v on idle charging points to sulphation/or a cell gone down.
if its the original.........wait reads other posts...........yes it is
then it has done well.

best way is what the RAC man used.a discharge tester..if the battery bubbles
then its time to replace it.

you can do it yourself if you can see into the battery
just try and start the car [but don't!] for about 30secs [i.e. load it with
the starter motor}.
if you see bubbles in one or more cells then they are down [too much current
passing thru it].

Mike

 

Go and get a free battery check - I think Kwikfit do one and most garages

I had a free battery check at Kwik-fit about three hours ago. They didn't
give me any bull about what the problem was, but then it wasn't anything
that Kwik-fit can fix (alternator issue).

Jason