Bad starter motor or bad battery or something else? Help!

[xrblue]

Hello
I have issues starting my car after having the key in the accessory position for about an hour or so. Radio off.
The first crank of the starter becomes very slow and almost doesn't crank.

I hooked a meter inline with the battery, there's 2.2 amps being used when the key is in the accessory position, is this normal?

Thanks

 

[SparkyChick]

It's entirely possible yes.... at 12v, 2.2amps is in the region of 26w... a small power amplifier blasting out music could easily achieve that, coupled with all the other things that get turned on in the vehicle... yes... it's easily possible.

How old is the battery? If you don't know, when was the last time you changed it? If you haven't, how long have you owned the car? Does it have auto stop/start technology? Car batteries used to last many many years, but with the introduction of stop/start tech, I've heard a lot of people complaining about how often then have had to change their... me included... thankfully, for some reason the stop/start on my van turned itself off and has never come back on... shame

 

[7029 dave]

Any reason for leaving it in that position

 

[xrblue]

Any reason for leaving it in that position

Any reason for leaving it in that position

I chill out in my car on my dinner break

 

[brianmoooore]

I've modified the supply to the radio to permanent live on every work vehicle I've ever owned for just that reason.

 

[xrblue]

It's entirely possible yes.... at 12v, 2.2amps is in the region of 26w... a small power amplifier blasting out music could easily achieve that, coupled with all the other things that get turned on in the vehicle... yes... it's easily possible.

How old is the battery? If you don't know, when was the last time you changed it? If you haven't, how long have you owned the car? Does it have auto stop/start technology? Car batteries used to last many many years, but with the introduction of stop/start tech, I've heard a lot of people complaining about how often then have had to change their... me included... thankfully, for some reason the stop/start on my van turned itself off and has never come back on... shame

Battery is 14 months old, a Bosch.
No start stop

 

[James]

Car batteries are designed and specified to be able to start the car.
modern cost reductions mean that in modern cars there is very little spare capacity for anything else.

don't sit in your car for ages with the radio on as it will drain the battery is the simple advice.
if you want to listen to the radio, consider using a portable radio, or doing what was advised above, move the radio to the permanent supply so other power using devices are not on line at the same time.

bottom line is that most modern cars are not designed for the type of use you are trying for, a bigger capacity battery (if it will fit) may be an option but only if you are running the car for long enough to recharge it between rest breaks.

 

[xrblue]

Car batteries are designed and specified to be able to start the car.
modern cost reductions mean that in modern cars there is very little spare capacity for anything else.

don't sit in your car for ages with the radio on as it will drain the battery is the simple advice.
if you want to listen to the radio, consider using a portable radio, or doing what was advised above, move the radio to the permanent supply so other power using devices are not on line at the same time.

bottom line is that most modern cars are not designed for the type of use youare trying for, a bigger capacity battery (if it will fit) may be an option but only if in are running the car for long enough to recharge it between rest breaks.

Hi James thanks for your input, I sit in my car with the radio off, I put the key in the accessory position to charge my phone via the cigarette lighter. The 2.2 amp draw changes very little if the radio is on or off, same for charging my phone.

My current battery (Bosch Battery) is a bigger capacity battery than the previous by 10Ah, the original battery was 50Ah, I fitted a 60Ah Bosch battery, it worked great for 14 months.

 

[SparkyChick]

One of the problems is, if you're journey isn't a particularly long one, you're probably not getting enough time to properly recharge. The amount of electronics in modern cars is huge compared to older cars... my first car was a Mk 3 Ford Cortina and it had a similarly sized battery... it had been on the car for at least 5 years when I got it from my Dad and I never changed it because it still worked perfectly and provided plenty of cranking amps even on the morning it went down the scrap yard.

But I also feel that like many things, despite car batteries being very simple devices, they aren't engineered for longevity any more. It wouldn't do these days to have batteries that last 5 years... they've got to make money you know!

It could be that there is something that is on that perhaps shouldn't be, unlikely but I suspect it's just down to general wear and tear. If I try and sit in my van with just the accessories on and listen to the radio, it shuts off after a short while and it's not the automatic timed shutdown that starts when you open the doors kicking in, it literally just stops and the only way to get things back is to fire it up and run the engine.

 

[davesparks]

I put the key in the accessory position to charge my phone via the cigarette lighter. .

Then there are a few simple solutions.
You could use a power bank to charge your phone or you could charge your phone before you go to work.

 

[xrblue]

Quick update, to solve the issue I wired the cigarette lighter socket to a permanent live from the fuse box under the dash

 

[littlespark]

plugging anything into the 12v socket will still going to drain the battery if the engine isnt running.