Battery discharging

[patrick.bramman]

Wonder if anybody can shed light on my problem? Fairly new battery - about a year old and in good condition - but when the cars has been standing over say a week it, charge goes right down. In most cases the car will still start as it will start very easily so no big deal but today usual story except that as the engine slowly turned the Bonnet catches got extremely hot, I can only assume it was like the battery had reversed polarity and was sending voltage direct to the chassis earth. Any thoughts please?

[stevejgreen]

Re: Battery discharging

Presumably you are taking about a Marina Roadster.
There should be no drain on the battery if everything is off, unless you have alarms or radio memory etc.
So it sounds like a poor connection somewhere on the earth/chassis/battery connection.
You should have a braid between engine and chassis close to the starter motor and the connection from the negative battery terminal should be to chassis wherever the builder decided to route it.
Check that these are clean and free from corrosion as any resistance will cause the current to find another path from starter back to battery, inevitably not as efficient.

Even a battery, only a year old, may not hold its charge, if it has been fully discharged, completely flat, at some point.
I keep all my batteries on trickle charge, especially over winter.

[patrick.bramman]

Re: Battery discharging

Ah should have said 2 lt pinto engined roadster

[b_caswell]

Re: Battery discharging

Are you sure the bonnet is not touching the battery cables or posts. If its like mine there isnt much clearance.
If the catches are getting hot they must be conducting a current. As Steve says it may be taking this route due to a bad earth.

[patrick.bramman]

Re: Battery discharging

Thanks Steve/Ben, bad earth as you suggested even though it looked a good connection, spins it like crazy now!