240Joe
I am increasingly experiencing a cold start issue where it turns over very slowly. When the car is warm it usually starts quite easily.
Recently the car has stalled a few times and won’t start for 5 minutes or so.
The current battery has 13.2V when tested with a voltmeter but on the GLE style voltage gauge it shows low voltage while the accessories are on and while cranking.
Any ideas?
240Joe
If it was starter motor related (stabbing in the dark here), can I put a newer starter motor in place of the older style?
Philia_Bear
Yes
egads (she/her)
Test voltages and stuff while cranking and see if alt output is stable.
Philia_Bear
Iirc later starters are threaded so you don't need the nuts on the bolts and thus the bolts might be different
A_Volvo_Driver
My GLE had low voltage a while back and it was due to a faulty alternator.
240Joe
Thanks guys, I'll look into those tomorrow and report back.
240Joe
I did some voltage tests; while cranking it drops to 6v, when the car's running it sits at about 13.4v.
I guess this means the alternator is good?
I just took the battery to to autobarn to get them to test it and they measured 12.54v and 411CCA (it is rated at 540CCA). The tester said the battery is good and just needs a recharge.
So I've put it on charge now and we'll see how it goes tomorrow.
If not much changes I'll swap the starter. Does that sound like I'm on the right track?
egads (she/her)
Hmm, cold start injector maybe then?
egads (she/her)
Wait, turns over slowly. Earths and cable to starter, bet one is gone or unhappy.
Vee_Que
Sounds like the battery is stuffed to me if it dropa to 6v while cranking. They shouldn't go lower than 10.5v when cranking for 20 seconds iirc from the tester I previously used at other workshops.
Vee_Que
And bad earth
240Joe
Update.
After a good charge the battery tested at a constant 13.4v with 515CCA at autobarn. They suggested I bring the car in to test the starter and alt, so I did. ...I was still thinking they were full of crap and they were just trying to avoid a warranty claim on the battery. :)
With the charged battery in the car it started easily and idled smoother than it has in a few years, probably when I bought the new battery!
At autobarn again they hooked up the machine thingy and found the starter normal at 10.44v (he did say that is about 1v more than modern cars though) and the alternator was giving 13.59v (which was said to be about 1v lower than it should be) recommending changing to a better alt.
I'll give it a crack tomorrow if I get time.
I also looked for obvious bad earths but can't find any, yet.
Stay tuned!
egads (she/her)
All could be bad earth still so worth checking that especially as replacing earth wire is cheap compared to alternators.
Vee_Que
Alternator at that rate is about Good for an older car. 14 is the max you want to go really.
Vee_Que
Just change the earths for the alternator and the starter as a start. The starter dropping says that you have resistance in line from the battery. Interesting autobarn does that testing. Did they use a little hand held load tester? Or multimeter?
240Joe
Thanks guys, I’ll have a better look at those earths then.
Yeah it was a hand held tester thing with alligator clips that attach to the battery.
They probably do the tests to try and prove that the battery isn't a dud and not have so many unhappy customers trying to claim warranty. The blokes were very helpful though.
In simpleton's terms (for me) what do you mean by resistance in the line from the battery VQ? Does that mean I should replace the cables from the battery as well?
I've got plenty of spares, it's just a matter of what I should work on! I'll look at it this afternoon.
Vee_Que
The cable will allow current flow when working well. As it gets older and rots basically. The resistance to current will go up and the voltage through will reduce under load as it can't keep up the flow of current needed for the voltage.
Vee_Que
That's a poor description. Sorry. It's like a water pipe. Current is the flow. Voltage is the pressure behind it. If there is a blockage the water slows down so the current reduces. Hmm I'm not doing well for off the top of my head.
beema41
I've had similar symptoms on a few of my cars and bikes, nearly always turns out to be a bad cell in the battery. The only one that differed was my old 164 and that turned out to be the old style voltage regulator. A new electronic Bosch RE55 fixed that. I once persisted with recharging and recharging a gel bike battery once but in the end it gave out at the most inappropriate time. The basis to a good electrical system is the battery so I don't muck around anymore, I just change it. You only get 4 to 5 years out of them anyway if your lucky, they're a disposable part, like tyres.