First Breakdown...probably of many

Post by **radiodanno** » 12 Nov 2007 04:38 pm

AHHH - England my England. The bitter cold wind of a November afternoon, the rain pounding down on you relentlessly and the wonderful view of a fatman's arse as he leans over the bonnet of his 340 pretending he's got the foggiest what he's looking at.

Went to start the car over the weekend - no electricity. Completely nothing - no lights inside, clock's stopped and not even a snigger from the engine bay on the turn of the key. F**ed about a bit with the battery, tightened the connections on the battery, gave it an almighty crank off my other car and it sprung to life. This after about an hour of pushing the car out of a lock-up garage on my own and trying to get it clear of everyone elses car for a jump start.

Seemed fine... ran it about 8 miles. Stopped it. Started it again - no problems what so ever. The car ran perfectly when it was going.

Back to it this morning. Nothing. Square one again.

Alternator?? (don't think so as the car ran happily with lights, blowers and radio on Saturday)

Battery cells dead (let it run too low)

Or something else? Struggling to think of something else it could be. Radio was turned off (although the little lights glow when key is out)

First got the car about 2 months ago - and it was fine fine fine - even after being left a week at a time. Now, it won't do 24 hours.

Any help appreciated.
Danno
(resorting to public transport)

Post by **redline** » 12 Nov 2007 05:18 pm

how often do you use the car ?

the reason I ask is ,

since Julie has been off work ( eleven weeks now )
I have been using the trajet most of the time.
went out to start the bx and it just didnt want to know .
(oh can you hear the starter motor solonoid click by the way ? )
put my trusty jump pack on and it fires up straight away ,

in my case I noticed that although the earth terminal clamp bolt was fully tightened the clamp itself was still loose so I replaced that but it is still happenning , runs fine for the day then othernight the battery is flat .
so I suggest you try the following

check all connections to the battery are tight .
if it still does it , charge the battery up overnight
if it does it again I'm afraid its time to buy a new battery
most battery dealerships will test the battery before selling you a new one so should be able to confirm the battery is at fault before selling you a new one

Post by **fume** » 12 Nov 2007 05:20 pm

My guess would be the battery has had it, if it was the alternator at fault you would normally get the battery warning light flickering. The first snap of cold is great at finally killing off a weak battery.

Post by **radiodanno** » 12 Nov 2007 05:52 pm

B*****ks.
Thank you gentlemen!
I'll give it a little charge up overnight. Battery looks quite new, but then if it's been murdered at some stage then it doesn't matter how shiny it is!
Are they dear for a 1.4? I only ask, as I had my pants pulled down on one for my Avensis - £58 i think.

Post by **Chris_C** » 12 Nov 2007 07:58 pm

I got my last one from a hella distributors, about 45 quid. Costco if you have a card are a lot cheaper, or hellfrauds have a nice 4 years garentee even if they do charge you for two batteries...

Before you do, take a reading of the voltage (multimeters are essential with old cars, and a useful one will be less than a fiver from ebay or maplins) both after you've had it running and in the morning. Also, have you checked the cells are topped up with distilled?

Post by **pettaw** » 12 Nov 2007 08:21 pm

yeah agreed, its the battery almost certainly got a dead cell. We had this on one of our cars. You could jump start it and it would fire up fine. It would then be fine for the next few hours, but then leave it for 6-8 hours and nothing. When I hooked it up to my battery charger, all the cells bubbled like mad....apart from one.

40-50 quid is a good price for a battery that will last you for a while and will start your car properly. Any of the good makes, Hella, Varta, Bosch, etc etc.

Post by **5150** » 15 Nov 2007 09:39 am

I try to take my 340 out once a week for at least ten miles. It's got a new battery in it, but the cold weather seems to have quite an effect.

Post by **radiodanno** » 15 Nov 2007 01:02 pm

I knew it'd be the first of many.

Today - got a power issue. Had the car on the open road... up to full temperatue...probably done 8 or so miles, then the car would cough and splutter unless the throttle was fully open, then it'd lurch forward... you'd ease your foot off the gas and cruise happily... apply gas again and nothing, no response until you really open it up again.

Got back to the garage and it stalled. Complete bastard to get started again (after a minute fired and i left the choke open to keep it revving)

Carb?? It's got plenty of fuel etc. Also wondered about leads/plugs?

Post by **Chris_C** » 15 Nov 2007 01:04 pm

Has it got a new dizzy cap and arm? 1.4s love eating these as much as 1.7s, I do them in the yearly service.

Post by **radiodanno** » 15 Nov 2007 01:21 pm

I did think distributer. In all honesty, I don't know a lot about the car's history. Before I start using it properly I was gonna let somoene give it the once over.

THanks.

Post by **Ricatron** » 15 Nov 2007 04:39 pm

its service weekend for my little ovlov. done 2000 miles in the old girl and she can be a bit of a pain to start sometimes.

so its dizzy cap and arm for one part of the service.

when i bought the car the old lady went out bought me some oil, some brake fluid a map and a spare battery.
all these did worry me as i thought does she normally use all this? but she only used the car every other week if that? so the battery was needed but the rest was not.

since the battery is very small i keep it charged in the boot just incase.
i would not do that with my 3.5l straight 6 as the battery is HUGE!

Post by **Chris_C** » 15 Nov 2007 06:44 pm

Rica, you'll need points and stuff in yours, as it'll be pre renix... was with Aleks when he bought the stuff for his the other day, 3 boxes from memory!

Post by **Ricatron** » 16 Nov 2007 02:05 pm

sorry to distract on this thread but i aint ever done points

i will consult the manual today and post a new thread about points unless someone knows how to change them? or even what they are?

Post by **Chris_C** » 16 Nov 2007 02:34 pm

Both Nick and Aleks are usefully up on them, as far as I know it's just a feeler gauge to gap them correctly!!

Post by **redline** » 16 Nov 2007 03:10 pm

iirc its pretty much as as chris says

there is a fixing screw that holds the points to the dizzy plate
and another screw that you tighten once the points are gapped (i.e. with the feeler gauge in between the two contact heads )

I think you also have to set the engine at a certain amount of degrees before or after tdc so that the offset cam in the dizzy opens and shuts the points at the right time and place

I hope that makes some sense its been many a year since I have done points ( probably on a mini or cortina mk 2 )