Battery problem and alarm problem

[JS2004]

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=195621

 

Think i posted this in the wrong place initially (supra chat) as i was in a bit of a panic as the alarm was chirping and randomly setting itself off..

 

Any help appreciated - basically ive managed to link the positive terminal of the battery to the chassis using a wrench whilst trying to remove headlight - big sparks and now some strange electrical behaviour... and im totally clueless with cars at the best of times!

[merckx]

Have you sorted it yet?

[JS2004]

sort of. i couldnt figure it out checked out all the earth points that i could find from the search tool here and tighened up battery connectors again, as well as checking every fuse i could find.. but it would still loose power like a mini in car brown out..

 

i got it running, got to tescos turned it off and then it wouldnt go again.. had a fiddle around with battery again till it fired up and then took it to garage.

 

Found something i didnt know - if your battery isnt properly secure in its tray thats 3points on your license which i wasnt aware of. seems previous owner replaced with a smaller battery so it moved around in the tray. Ive secured that with a bit of wood on the top of it for now.. and it seems to have solved it fngers crossed.

 

perhaps i loosened something by accident when i accidently connected it via the wrench to the frame... and the fitment in the battery tray let it move a bit and it had caused it to behave like that... but fingers crossed it will stay fixed. Garage couldnt tell me what was wrong tho.. other than to secure it with the wood.

[gsportcars]

You have probably blown a couple of cells in the battery. This would case your alarm to chirp indicating low battery and also cause the other symptoms such as dimming lights etc etc. You may also have melted a wire somewhere causing strange earthing problems although considering the flow of current has gone straight through the spanner as opposed to the wires it is unlikely.

Try another known good battery in there and see if anything returns to normal.

[JS2004]

Will do, ill borrow the one off my dads van. its stopped behaving weirdly since this afternoon when i added the slabs of wood to make the battery more secure.. so fingers crossed i havnt blown the cells.

 

not one person ive spoke to other than the mechanics knew about it being 3 points if your battery isnt like.. properly stapped down. mine has a bar keeping it in place but that was a little loose hence the need for the wood - apparently its an advisory on the MOT but still get 3 points for it.. could do to have that as an MOT fail thing to raise awareness.

[gsportcars]

Didn't know that myself simply as it has never came up before. But purely for safety reasons it would be stringly recommended to have the battery well fitted anyway. Imagine it rolled over and the positive terminal leaned against the bare chassis etc.

 

Oh and a normal battery will show 13-14V on a volt meter, not 12V.

[JS2004]

yeah, definately agree it makes sense to have it securely fitted. ive secured it now, but the bar at the back of it that is holding it down doesnt look too sturdy so im going to have that looked at and fixed asap. getting it up on the ramps this week hopefully to check the break line plastic cover thing that acts like a water trap.

 

I didnt know battery should show 13-14v.. thought that was when it was running and charging? this reading was taken when the engine was off. will get the meter out again and give it another test.

 

i dont know how long the prev owner was driving around with the battery like that.. but it didnt even get mentioned on the MOT report he gave me from March. maybe he got it after the MOT.