Just thought I would share a problem I had with the battery not being charged and going flat on my K12.
I've been puzzling for two weeks now trying to fathom out why my battery has been going flat. It started out as the car just about starting to the dreaded click click even after a run. I first suspected the battery but as it was only replaced last year so ruled that out initially. I thought it was being drained over night so I disconnected the boot light and interior light and even pulled the immobiliser fuse but it kept happening. I charged the battery twice and kept running the car but it still went flat so I left the battery out one night after it was charged to find it lost charge going under 12V. So I took it back to the shop and they swopped it after doing a load test and found it to be faulty. Upon fitting the new one I checked the charge whilst running and found it to just be 12.2V so thought it must be a charge issue. So whilst it was running I checked tested the charge rate with the positive terminal to the + of a multimeter and the negative to the - of the battery. I found it to be 14.2V. After all that it suddenly dawned on me. The wires to the alternator were all dirty and the small copper Negative wire going from the alternator body and slam panel was green. After cleaning the wires up along with the mounting points a test confirmed 14.2V charge at the battery whilst running!. Since the alternator was not charging the battery whilst running, that's why the battery went bad.
A quick and easy fix unless you have to shell out for a new battery......
I've been puzzling for two weeks now trying to fathom out why my battery has been going flat. It started out as the car just about starting to the dreaded click click even after a run. I first suspected the battery but as it was only replaced last year so ruled that out initially. I thought it was being drained over night so I disconnected the boot light and interior light and even pulled the immobiliser fuse but it kept happening. I charged the battery twice and kept running the car but it still went flat so I left the battery out one night after it was charged to find it lost charge going under 12V. So I took it back to the shop and they swopped it after doing a load test and found it to be faulty. Upon fitting the new one I checked the charge whilst running and found it to just be 12.2V so thought it must be a charge issue. So whilst it was running I checked tested the charge rate with the positive terminal to the + of a multimeter and the negative to the - of the battery. I found it to be 14.2V. After all that it suddenly dawned on me. The wires to the alternator were all dirty and the small copper Negative wire going from the alternator body and slam panel was green. After cleaning the wires up along with the mounting points a test confirmed 14.2V charge at the battery whilst running!. Since the alternator was not charging the battery whilst running, that's why the battery went bad.
A quick and easy fix unless you have to shell out for a new battery......
