I've only had this car for a few weeks, and sometimes it would be a little hard to start and I'd have to crank it for about 3 seconds before it fires up.
Today all of a sudden the central locking worked intermittently which I found strange. I went for a drive and parked it up for about 15 minutes, and when I got back to start it, I could hear the starter motor click once but the engine wouldn't turn over at all. The lights are all coming up on the dash like they're supposed to when the ignition is turned on, but it just wouldn't start. I measured the battery voltage and it was 12.6V.
I then jump started it off another car and the 15 minute journey home was uneventful. I took the battery out and noticed that all the cells were quite low on water, and it took at least 500mL of water all up. I've currently got it on charge.
I don't have a battery load tester, so after I've charged the battery on my batter charger, should I hook it back up to the car and hold a multimeter up to it while someone else cranks the engine over? I don't have a proper battery load tester so I thought this should be the next big thing.
Also, what size battery do I need? Does it really need at least a 850CCA battery? That seems quite large for a 3.2L engine. My 1990 1.8L 1C diesel engined Corolla only has a 450CCA and that starts very easily even on a frosty morning (a 1.8L diesel should require a similar size battery to a petrol engine double the size, right?) and today was a nice summer day. I just want to make sure that the charging system is OK before I buy a new battery and ruin that one by running it down.
Today all of a sudden the central locking worked intermittently which I found strange. I went for a drive and parked it up for about 15 minutes, and when I got back to start it, I could hear the starter motor click once but the engine wouldn't turn over at all. The lights are all coming up on the dash like they're supposed to when the ignition is turned on, but it just wouldn't start. I measured the battery voltage and it was 12.6V.
I then jump started it off another car and the 15 minute journey home was uneventful. I took the battery out and noticed that all the cells were quite low on water, and it took at least 500mL of water all up. I've currently got it on charge.
I don't have a battery load tester, so after I've charged the battery on my batter charger, should I hook it back up to the car and hold a multimeter up to it while someone else cranks the engine over? I don't have a proper battery load tester so I thought this should be the next big thing.
Also, what size battery do I need? Does it really need at least a 850CCA battery? That seems quite large for a 3.2L engine. My 1990 1.8L 1C diesel engined Corolla only has a 450CCA and that starts very easily even on a frosty morning (a 1.8L diesel should require a similar size battery to a petrol engine double the size, right?) and today was a nice summer day. I just want to make sure that the charging system is OK before I buy a new battery and ruin that one by running it down.