Meet the Little Clio
{Picture to be inserted here}
Its a 2006 Renault Clio 1.2 8v, Campus, with less then 51K on the clock
The customer complained of a non-start, when it was only just driven a very short period before
The vehicle was restarted with the use of a jump start
However the vehicle would appear flat once left
The battery had been removed by the owner and charged overnight
When tested again in the morning, the vehicle again failed to start
Time to step in
The battery was already free from the vehicle, which showed a very low score of just 4.2v
So time to insert a donor battery to ensure everything else is okay with the vehicle.
So next step is to see if the alternator is charging okay, with a few cranks it springs into life, with the voltage climbing upto 14.2v
Next time to crank up the demand, switching as many electrical demands (Lights, fans and demisters)
With the engine only idling below 1000rpm, the voltage slowly started to drop, averaging just under 13v.
Ideally i would like to see over 13v, but 12.9v is pretty close.
Next adding a few more rev’s to simulate cruising down the road with the same electrical demands running returned a very healthy score
So the alternator was able to charge the vehicle battery, indicating the alternator wasn’t the cause.
To ensure they vehicle was going to “”sleep”” when it was locked up, a parasitic drain test was carried out.
So with the multimeter connected in series set to 10amp scale and on the negative terminal of the battery to prevent possible sparks / shorts, it showed 0.05amps pull when first connected
Since the meter indicated a draw less then 200ma, the scale was swapped to show a more detailed reading
The reading was just a touch higher then a requested 50milliamp draw, however the engine ECU wasn’t given a long period of time to enter its “”sleep”” state, which would have given a potential lower reading
So since the vehicles alternator was able to charge the battery and there wasn’t a huge drain on the battery while it was left locked up it all pointed back to the battery has just failed
Since it was a Renault branded battery from what i suspect from factory back in 2006 – its covered 8years, which is the average life of a battery. Lack of use since its only done 50k (around 6,250 miles a year) i suspect the internals had started to break down/the individual cells inside had possibly popped due to lack of use/age
So a short spate of number crunching to local part shops to locate a new battery with a reasonable warranty and price. A new battery was installed and secured into place.
The vehicle is starting on request no problems.
bbautorepairs 