Any 205 Electrics Gurus On Here?

[Atari Boy 11]

Bear with me on this...

 

I have been having starting problems in my 205, first I had a dodgy alternator, so got that fixed. Then, the car still would not start; the battery was showing 12.0 volts. I charged the battery, much better, 13.5 volts, started first time.

 

I have had my suspicions about the car as this is not the first time the car failed to start. The battery is less than a year old.

The car is a weekend toy and has not been properly used since last autumn really, the most it sees is a once a week blast.

Over the past 10 days, I have been measuring the battery voltage whilst it is disconnected from the car, the car has not been driven nor started and has dropped from 13.56 to 12.98 volts. Is this okay?

 

The car has an unknown aftermarket immobiliser and did have an alarm when I got the car but was very temperamental so I switched it off and removed the siren . The car has the OE digital clock which seems very inaccurate however.

 

A mate suggested that I try to measure the drain on the battery whilst it was connected to the car. This does not mean very much to me but, tonight my multi meter showed that the cat was drawing between 21 and 25 mA. Is this normal or too high?

 

Sorry for all the waffle, I thought I had better give some background.

 

Advice and comments welcome

 

Thanks

 

Jonny

[jackherer 543]

Does it turn over and not fire or is it totally dead?

[Atari Boy 11]

Does it turn over and not fire or is it totally dead?

 

When it was at 12 volts it just clicked, for a while I thought it was the starter.

 

 

Thanks

 

Jonny

[jackherer 543]

Its likely to be a bit of dodgy wiring between the ignition key and solenoid, the most likely part is the brown multiplug above the gearbox followed by the connector that goes onto the starter. The slight voltage drop caused by the corroded connections isn't a problem when the battery is fully charged but when its a bit depleted it will be enough to stop the solenoid from moving.

 

To confirm this touch a wire onto the solenoid then touch the other end directly onto the battery positive terminal.

 

Also you could measure the voltage while trying to crank it, if it stays at 12v its a wiring problem, if it drops while the starter clicks its a battery problem.

[Atari Boy 11]

Okay I will look into.

Is the 21 to 25mA drain normal or too high?

 

Thanks

 

Jonny

[jackherer 543]

Its slightly on the high side but its within the limits for parasitic loss, 100mA or more would be an issue. If that load is draining your battery then the battery is at fault.