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Topic: Battery....sudden death (Read 783 times) |
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Battery....sudden death
« on: Nov 24th, 2006, 4:30am » |
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My 610 amp Calsium battery has been perfect for the Scorp since I bought it in March....had no problems what-so-ever. 
But at one o'clock in the morning on Thursday, after a particularly wet night, (so all electrics going), all of a sudden it decides it's had enough. 
I've pulled onto the taxi rank & waited for 20 mins until the next train comes in.
Go to start the car in readyness & all I get is a couple of slow turnovers & then clicking...the dials flick around & the fuel comp re-sets itself.
So the battery has gone....WOW!! that was quick....fine all night, then all of a sudden.....dead 
So got it jump started & drove home.
Started okay the next morning , but my trust in it has gone, especially with winter looming.
So took it back to shop (had a 2 year taxi guarantee)...
They said that because it was a Calsium battery then they couldn't test it until the next morning as they had to wait to see if there was any discharge overnight
Are they having a laugh ?...or do you really have to wait to check Calsium batteries ? 
I must give them their credit though.....they leant me a 500 amp battery for the night.
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Octavian_P
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Posts: 1126
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #1 on: Nov 24th, 2006, 7:33am » |
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It sounds that somethig electric got wrong. The bulb in the glovebox has a habit of remaining on and draining the battery...Also a battery terminal could lose contact a bit and the battery would not charge properly...
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2.0 16V Ultima|2.3 16V Ghia|2.9 24V Cosworth Ghia
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #2 on: Nov 24th, 2006, 2:47pm » |
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Well......went back to the shop this morning & the guy checked it while I was watching.
The battery was fine, no loss of power at all .
It's back in the car now & it's starting on the button every time.....so what would have caused it to suddenly give up?
Cheers Octavian, for the advice, but the terminals were on nice & tight & the glovebox light plunger switch is working fine.
The only power drain on the battery at the time was the radio....hardly enough to suck it dry 
Fingers crossed it won't happen again....but I have a funny feeling it might
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Simmo
Administrator
I'm an OAP !
Posts: 5508
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #3 on: Nov 24th, 2006, 3:49pm » |
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Jc.have you checked the boot light? 
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Now I'm an OAP
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Dave
Senior Member
Tourmallard 24v (ex-owner)
Posts: 1984
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #4 on: Nov 24th, 2006, 3:51pm » |
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My guess is that with the climate, lights, wipers, meter etc all on the alternator just wasn't giving enough charge to power everything. I read somewhere that an alternator gives useful charge from around 1500rpm upwards. Around town my 24v can be changing up from around that figure!
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Life after the Scorpio ain't easy..
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harry.m1byt
Full Member
What's YaBB?
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #5 on: Nov 24th, 2006, 4:32pm » |
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on Nov 24th, 2006, 3:51pm, Dave wrote:| My guess is that with the climate, lights, wipers, meter etc all on the alternator just wasn't giving enough charge to power everything. I read somewhere that an alternator gives useful charge from around 1500rpm upwards. Around town my 24v can be changing up from around that figure! |
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They give a useful charge at tick over, with maximum output somewhere above 1500 depending upon the gearing/rotation speed. If the battery is OK, that leaves the alternator or the possibility that it is being expected to support too much load at low speeds or with too frequent starts and not enough running.
I would be inclined to get one of those plug into the ciggy lighter type battery condition indicators which helps keep an eye on the voltage.
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August '95 2.9 12v auto Ultima -
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TiberiuS
Senior Member
Ex. 1996 2.3 Ultima - RIP P789 KHJ
Posts: 2257
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #6 on: Nov 24th, 2006, 4:39pm » |
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Alternator me thinks
May be time to give the battery a voltage check with the engine idling, as Harry said mabye a battery condition meter you can see from inside would be a good idea. If it was a current drain then you'd be getting it all or nearly all the time, the boot lamp is only a few watts, would take a few hours to suck the battery dry
It's that bleedin' left testicle getting it's own back I reckon 
Regards, Bruce.
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Bruce - '07 Jaguar XKR coupe, '95 Jaguar XJ Sport 4.0, '82 Ford Capri 2.0 Ghia, '15 Honda Civic (sloooooww..)
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TRACEYS_LIMO
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Posts: 377
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #7 on: Nov 24th, 2006, 7:50pm » |
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hi sure you did not leave that light on the roof on david
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #8 on: Nov 25th, 2006, 2:44am » |
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Cheers for the advice guys...might get a plug in battery condition indicator.
Tracys Limo...the roof light is always on if the car is for hire, but only contains three five watt bulbs....so not enough to drain the battery....P.S.....the name's Jonny
Anyway, the car's been good as gold tonight, no problems at all.
The battery does tend to take a bit of a pounding with all the stop/start motoring I do, so it may soon be time to invest in a new one....proper Scorp one from Ford maybe
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TRACEYS_LIMO
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I'm a YaBB newbie
Posts: 377
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #9 on: Nov 25th, 2006, 5:44pm » |
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hi jonny its david forgot to put your name
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #10 on: Nov 26th, 2006, 2:26am » |
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Sorry David...I thought you were calling me David
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Tompion
Administrator
1997 2.3 Ultima estate.
Posts: 2918
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #11 on: Nov 26th, 2006, 10:07pm » |
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Assuming you’ve got heated seats, are the warning lights working in the switches? As they could be on in position 1 on the ignition.
Dave
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ABS multiplug wheel sensor pins MK IV or MK 20
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: Battery....sudden death
« Reply #12 on: Nov 27th, 2006, 1:39am » |
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Yes...I've got heated seats & the warning (green ) light is working fine
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