Dead battery

[rossbraithwaite]

Apologies, this is not an E Type specific question but I've no doubt someone will have an answer here.
Have just come back to the car after 2 weeks and the battery is completely dead; voltmeter shows 0V and it does not light a test lamp. Connecting the battery to a charger does not register as charging the battery. The battery is a Bosch about 5 years old and has always started the car fine.
Does this suggest that something has failed inside the battery? It is sealed and I can see no way of checking water levels. It started the car fine 2 weeks ago. The only thing I can think of is that the starter solenoid has been sticking so it has taken several attempts to start the car but I don't think that has put extra load on the battery?
I assume I need a new battery and have read a few suggestions on here. Any thoughts on this:
https://www.tayna.co.uk/069-Enduroline- ... P8384.html
I have read that the +ve terminal must not be next to the wheel- why is this? Would you just turn this battery 'round?
Thanks,
Ross

[mgcjag]

Hi Ross.....many of the battery chargers now will not charge a fully flat battery....if you have an old style charger try that......or if you have another battery connect it to the flat one....pos to pos and neg to neg....then connect the charger......dont know what you mean next to the wheel......the battery must be connected the right way around polarity wise to your car

[Heuer]

Dead cell so you need a replacement. Never read anything about the +ve terminal being next to the wheel and I can't think of a reason why it would be a problem. Originally Jaguar fitted the batteries with the terminals on the engine side however getting the battery in/out without removing the heater box can be a challenge Most cars I have seen now have the terminals on the wing side for ease of access.

[Duckham]

Ross - the sicking starter won't be the problem but are you sure you haven't just left an interior light or similar on and completely flattenend it?
I would also try charging with another battery or charger unless you know yours can cope with 0v.
Alternatively as I discovered this weekend (with ironically a 5 year old Bosch from a modern car) Halfords will do a test using a hand held computerised tester that is a lot more comprehensive than the old fashioned type if you really want to be sure. You don't have to buy from them to get the test.

But Dave is probably right as batteries do seem to expire now without the warning signs they used to give.

Is your car a positive earth? If so I wonder if that is why you have the advice about the wheel, so it is the earth terminal in close proximity to the (earthed) metal heater case.

Joe

[christopher storey]

I doubt that a single dead cell would produce this result, because each cell contributes only 2.2 volts . Something has totally discharged the battery. You need an old style battery charger, which will need to be left on for a considerable period. The fact that no charge is being shown at the moment probably merely indicates that the battery's internal resistance is so high that only minimal current is , as yet, passing, but over a period that should be overcome. You could try using jump leads and putting charge in from another running car which might hasten the process

[Heuer]

However the cells are in series so if one of them dies there will be no circuit. Worthwhile doing as Christopher suggests but you will probably find that having gone completely flat it may no longer hold a charge. Five years for a Bosch battery is a bout right unless it is a Bosch Silver in a Porsche 911 in which case 12 months seems to be par for the course!

[cactusman]

Electronic chargers with a brain will probably not charge a battery at zero volts as their brain will not register the battery as connected and initiate charge. As suggested either apply an old style one with just a plain old rectifier to get some charge into it. Then use your modern brainy one to top it up....or fake it using a second in parallel. Certainly sounds to me like a bulb left on rather then the battery just expired...

[rossbraithwaite]

Thanks All for helpful replies. I don't THINK there was a bulb left on. The only thing I can think of is that I found a loose wire with femaie spade terminal in the area of the starter motor while I was doing something else. I pushed it onto a terminal on the starter solenoid without being sure that was where it had come from. As the ignition was not on it seems unlikely that this wire could have been live and drained the battery.
Anyway, I will have to try the two batteries in parallel as the only other charger I have is a trickle charger which I imagine will have some intelligent electronics in it.
Thanks again,
Ross

[Mark Gordon]

Couldn't you take it down to your local service garage and ask them to put a quick charge on it? That would tell you whether it is restorable or not.

[rossbraithwaite]

Never read anything about the +ve terminal being next to the wheel

Hi David,
The post from Moeregaard in this thread is the one I read but may have misinterpreted?
viewtopic.php?t=359&highlight=battery+positive
I assume therefore that most owners have terminal posts outermost with positive on the left adjacent to the front #wheel? I did look into this when I bought the Bosch from Halfords but this battery has the -ve on the left with terminals outermost near the wing.
I will re-read your thread from 2008 about battery options.

[rossbraithwaite]

The only thing I can think of is that I found a loose wire with femaie spade terminal in the area of the starter motor while I was doing something else. I pushed it onto a terminal on the starter solenoid without being sure that was where it had come from. As the ignition was not on it seems unlikely that this wire could have been live and drained the battery.

I think I must have pushed a loose wire onto a spare terminal on the solenoid connected to the live feed from the battery. Not sure what this wire is that was loose in the area of the starter motor.

[rossbraithwaite]

Thank you All for your help. I did as suggested and charged the battery with another in parallel and it seems to have worked. Just need to find the source of the drain now.
Thanks again,
Ross

[Moeregaard]

Never read anything about the +ve terminal being next to the wheel

Hi David,
The post from Moeregaard in this thread is the one I read but may have misinterpreted?
viewtopic.php?t=359&highlight=battery+positive
I assume therefore that most owners have terminal posts outermost with positive on the left adjacent to the front #wheel? I did look into this when I bought the Bosch from Halfords but this battery has the -ve on the left with terminals outermost near the wing.
I will re-read your thread from 2008 about battery options.

Apologies for any confusion resulting from my 2008 comment. I've always fitted batteries so that the positive post is towards the rear of the car and adjacent to the sill, for three reasons. First, it allows the shortest possible cable length from the battery to the car's terminal post. Second, it allows easier access to the post than having it under the heater. Finally, it prevents the terminal from shifting forward and contacting the bodywork during an accident or heavy braking.

[rossbraithwaite]

Thanks Moe, I understand your reason and they seem sensible. I have done the same and am happy with this setup despite non original layout.
Hi David, I tried as you suggested to measure the current draw with my DMM in series with the battery but could not measure any current draw at all. Any way, I have, embarrassingly , found the cause of the drain. With the DMM still in series with the battery and set to continuity with buzzer sounding I started pulling fuses. Fuse#4 was the culprit and a non original wire attached to it was causing the short. The wire had an unidentifed item connected:

It turns out that the radio was left on but was inaudible due to a) being turned down and b) being faulty. Perhaps the reason it doesn't work is due to the short to earth. Switched it off, reconnected the wire & fuse and no more continuity buzzer.
Thanks again to all for your help and advice.
Ross