Battery Dilemma!
 

Hi All

My 8 has been sitting on my drive for the best part of 6 months and I have been starting it every other week to make sure it starts etc. It was starting fine up to a month or so ago when it refused to start altogether.

I have a CTEK charger which has been fine in the past and sufficiently charged the battery enough to start the car. Just lately though my CTEK charges the battery fully but it still wont start the car.

I have attempted to use my co car (2.0 Mondeo) with jump leads attached (as well as my CTEK) and still no joy. I have left the Mondeo on jump leads with the engine running for 8 hours and still nada!

I have been considering buying one of these battery boosters...

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/p...FYvpwgodsHQDMw

but not sure if its worth buying a new battery instead? I don't use the 8 because of my co car but plan on getting it in pristine condition ready for sale, it doesn't need much doing....

does anyone have a battery booster pack in the Manchester area that could pop round and attempt to give it a kick!? Failing that, any advice on best way forward for the 8 would be appreciated.

Thanks
N

I assume (ass of you and me!) that you mean the engine is turning over but not firing.
Adding a battery booster would only be the same as slaving it from the Mondeo.
How to process further depends on the fuel it uses.

How low is the fuel in the tank? Some owners on here have found when they have a fuel pump issue it is made worse when the fuel tank is relatively low. If not that then I would try recoding your battery assuming it is actually holding a correct charge. Also be very careful charging and jump starting on a D3 - you must use the hexagonal earth bar and not connect straight to the negative battery terminal or you may end up frying the battery management module

Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies - the engine doesn't turn at all, not a sound! I get every thing else, radio, lights, alarm, seats etc but the engine, ziltch! The fuel is really low but it doesn't even get that far, the engine just doesn't turn over. I always use the hex earth, thanks :) I thought that too about the booster so not much point I guess, I wasn't sure if a booster would give it more than the mondeo though, enough to get it turning.

I can t recode the battery until I get enough power into it to start the engine so not sure about that option...

Are you getting a small clicking noise? If so it may mean that your starter is sticking

no, I don't get any noise from the engine whatsoever :Confused:

ctek status
 

I left the ctek charging overnight and its now up to '6' so hopefully it should fire up now. I'm going to leave it to complete the full cycle, shouldn't be much longer and I'll post the results.. I've attached a couple of shots of the ctek doing its thing!+++

well that didn't work :mad:

I left the battery charging overnight again and it didn't get to the final stage, step 7 on the ctek.

I attached the Mondeo jump leads as well as the ctek and attempted to start. I opened the door and could see the red mileage digits and interior lights came on. Everything seemed to be working inside the 8, I put the key in and turned once, no ignition lights, turned again to attempt to start and nothing, and I mean nothing, not a peep from the engine.

Not sure where to go from here, is there any point buying a new battery - (I checked the battery level from the 'car menu' before starting and it was at 1 bar on the gauge even thought the CTEK was at '6' which intheory should be full) or do I need to look at the starter :Confused:

I'm no expert, but getting no response at all, even when attached to jump leads, would suggest something other than the battery (or something as well as the battery). Perhaps before trying anything else, could you drop the Mondeo battery into the '8? If it still doesn't fire up, it's not the battery. But if it does, then a new battery should sort it. I know that's technically the same as jumping from the Mondeo, but there might be something amiss in the '8 battery that stops it taking a jump - maybe?

I have just done a bit more testing after the latest failed start - I left it on the Mondeo jump leads on and after the start reduced the CTEK down to '3' it quickly got back up to '6' and I thought I'd check the battery level on the 'car' menu again and was surprised to see it at 100%.

I then attached my VCDS cable and done a 'AutoScan' which revealed some interesting results - attached. Since clearing all DTC's I have been unable to run another scan, I get an error saying 'function not supported' which I suspect is low voltage issue...

I'm a bit dubious about removing the Mondeo battery as its a company car and I may need to code for the radio etc... it has crossed my mind though!