Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kate]

Well, got the new battery today.  Made sure it was fully charged and guess what?

Yes, my mig wouldn't start!!

It's a Bosch 500 amp and it doesn't look very old.

I can't understand why a fully charged battery would not start the car. It hardly even moved the starter motor! I checked the multimeter which said the battery was giving 13.4V.

I am going a bit mad?

[Kevin Wood]

Are you sure the battery is really fully charged? Best to put it on a charger for a few hours just to make sure.

If that doesn't help, check that the battery terminals are still securely crimped where the thick leads join the terminals and the terminals are not getting hot. They can work loose here and cause high resistance.

Check the straps between the battery negative terminal and chassis and also to the engine block are secure and not getting warm when you try to start it.

Could be starter motor, I suppose, but they very rarely fail on a V6 so I'd double check everything first.

[Kate]

Thanks Kevin.

I'm sure the battery was charged.  The only thing I forgot was to clean the terminals so maybe it was that. :-/

[Martian]

I checked the multimeter which said the battery was giving 13.4V.

Use a known good meter.

[Kate]

I checked the multimeter which said the battery was giving 13.4V.

Use a known good meter.

Thanks. How would I check it?

[Martian]

I checked the multimeter which said the battery was giving 13.4V.

Use a known good meter.

Thanks. How would I check it?

There are quite a few ways to test a meter for accuracy, including cross referencing it with another meter and comparing the differences.

When you tested the battery voltage and the meter reported 13.4V, how was that test conducted?

1. Was it with the battery disconnected?
2. Had it just come off charge?