Random Flat battery???

Over the last week I've had 2 instances of a flat battery neither of which make 'sense'

first was I'd been out in the car a few times in the morning, came to it in the affy and it was dead to the point of needing a jump start.

second was one morning, it had 'just' enough to spin the motor up (The clock reset itself so the engine must have sucked every last volt

Yet other days its fine, spins up quickly, no issues etc.


I've checked the battery - 13V when off, 15V when engine running, check silly things like boot interior lights going off(yes, I got the wife to shut me in! ), made sure all lights off by walking round teh car when its dark,

Anyone any idea whats left 'enabled' when the ignition is off? I seem to recall people saying the ciggy lighter is but I've nothing plugged in there.


The only weird bit I've seen is the battery with one of those 'coloured' indicators, it says green = good, grey = charge, white = replace. Mines Black.......

Any Ideas?

Dead again this morning. drove home yesterday the 50 odd miles from work, called in for LPG, restarted fine, drove the 2 miles from the station home, checked no lights etc left on, even turned the radio 'off' before shutting down.

I think its going to have to be a new battery to start with and see how it goes.

if the battery outputs seem normal - have you checked terminals / the one under the wheel arch that falls apart sometimes? - just before the battery expense.

saw a reference to that one yesterday, will check it tonight to make sure,

remember this car has been apart a couple of weeks ago for the gearbox rebuild so there is scope for something to have not been put back just quite right and shook itself loose.

Terminals are tight, already checked that.

Thanks for the thought.

well, no option, even after a 50 mile drive it didn't hold enough to start the thing so shiny new battery now in position.....

[IT]

Yes, does seem most logical - Let us know how it goes ?

Well, a week in and its still running fine, used almost every day, mostly with Lights on, heated seats, air con, radio/CD etc.

I put teh old battery on my trusty Optimate(biker you see ) and after a week its showing as weak so looks like it was that.

It was just a bit strange how it started quite randomly but hey, I guess these beasts have so much electrical stuff on them it must strain teh battery.

Speaking of straining and batteries, just a word of warning, if you happen to be an out of condition fat forty year old bloke who lifts nowt heavier than a laptop for a living, be careful when trying to change the battery on these things, they are chuffing heavy and will make your arm ache Particularly if the positive lead is really short and very stiff so you need to use one hand to hold it out the way whilst trying to manouvere the battery in with your other hand. (Don't ask me how I know etc)

mine did the same, performed ok for ages then one day after leaving for work, wouldn't start. Spent a couple of days wondering about terminals and stuff and jumping it from another car twice, before I replaced the battery and all was well again