polo flat battery

- G
- Geoff Smethurst
  
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posted
19 years ago

Sat, Nov 20, 2004 6:57 PM

Dear all My daughters car has a battery which seems to go flat in about a month. She is coming to see us next weekend and I have offered to have a quick look. The car is a 1998 1.6 polo. I intend checking to see if there is any standing current when everything is off. She says there are no warning lights on. Is there an easy way of checking the alternator is charging apart from just checking the battery voltage on full load? Is this a known fault? She has also recently had problems with the drivers door failing to lock the central locking but I think this is just a worn out lock as it works ok from the passenger side Thanks Geoff

- M
- mrcheerful
  
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posted
19 years ago

Sun, Nov 21, 2004 10:14 AM

check for drain, should be less than 0.03 amps. charging is easy, normal standing battery voltage should be 12.7 volts (fully charged but left to stand overnight or leave the lights on for a few minutes then check)

when charging you should see anout 14 volts, recheck with lights and fan on and running at a fast tickover, should still show a charge.

if the charge is low or nonexistent, then rule out bad connections and loose belt first, but probably she needs to get a recon alternator

mrcheerful

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- Mr.Nice.
  
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posted
19 years ago

Sun, Nov 21, 2004 11:48 AM

get a small multimeter such as £5 from maplin.

first test, with the car switched off, engine off etc (be sure you have the codes for the radio), disconnect the positive terminal from the battery, set your multimeter to measure amps and one terminal on the battery positive and the other on the battery positive cable, this will give you the current drain.

second test, engine off, use multimeter to measure battery voltage, should be 12 ish. start engine and measure battery voltage again, should be around 14, if it is lower suspect alternator problems.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)