ruthyduthy

thanx 4 advice on rocker cover. replaced gasket/plugs. was easier than i thuoght. cheers! car seemed ok last nite but conked out again 2day. jump stars ok , battery reads 13/14 battery seems to hold charge but reading drops after 5 min to around 11. was from breakers. also recovery guy sed fuel mix too lean try ten petrol and a bottle fuel cleaner. i sprayed ht leads with wd40 which made an even smoother drive. also tested for earth fault seems ok. do i need new leads/battery? i never lifted a bonnet b4 thought i was doin so fookin well aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!

xr2wishy

iTrader: (2)

sounds like battery or alternator IMO.
i'd try a new battery, go to a motorfactors, should cost around £30 for a new one, not big money really.

tabetha

It is the alternator, this supplies 100% of the current needed to run things when the engine is running, the battery is there for the starter and sidelights etc is left on at night.
On a lot more recent ones they are ecu controlled.
It's a vague possibility to be a seriously knackered battery, if so duff it is soaking up so much current it is overloading the alt, maybe charge battery overnight and see what occurs.
tabetha

scotty dog

It could be the solenoid in the starter motor sticking. My parent's 1.8 Escort had this problem, where the starter motor would be fine one minute, then the next it would act as if the battery was dead, checked everything on the battery and it was all ok. The only way to get it started was by jump starting, I suppose it needed extra oomph to get it going. But after the new starter motor it was fine.

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Have you got an ignition light on? How does the recovery guy know it's running lean, It's most likely to as fuel pump has not got the power it needs.

Martin