Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all, hope everyone is keeping ok??

Ill try and keep this short in the hope that I can get an answer.

Some backstory as I know everyone likes a good story...

Battery in the van is over 5 years old, been flat a few times over the years and have managed to bump start it etc...
When the van is going have 14v and 13.6 when the lights are on (I have one of those clocks that has a multimeter on it....)

Anyhow a few days ago I went to start the van and my 2 year old had left the blower on so it would not start and went flat after a turn....but when i turned the ignition the lights on the dash came on, but it wouldnt turn.
I managed to get a jump starter from the local garage and it came back to life...

I used the van yesterday and it started ok no probs, cleaning the van my daughter was in the front so decided to take off the battery connections, finished the clean, connected the cables and drove van back to car park.

Now then today I went into the cab and noticed my clock was off. mmmm, turned ignition.. nothing, zilch.. no lights no nothing. no power at all.
Checked connections on battery nice and secure. What the hell has happend??

2 questions please
1. can a battery just stop working, what i mean is last time the battery was flat, lights on dash came on, but today nothing. I havent got a multimeter as some a*** nicked mine, so I suppose I better get that before anything.
2. What is a good van battery to get? Like I said my battery is over 5 years old. I have one under the drivers seat..

Thanks all, and sorry for the longwinded prose

It’s more likely a connection issue , despite you saying they are tight and all ok, batteries don’t normally just switch off , you would have at least something , if it was running yesterday.

The alarm bells ring though, when you say the heater blower was on and you got a flat battery , because that wouldn’t use any power once the key was in your pocket ....


Go back over your work, take the connections off and put them back on again .

Mocki wrote:It’s more likely a connection issue , despite you saying they are tight and all ok, batteries don’t normally just switch off , you would have at least something , if it was running yesterday.

The alarm bells ring though, when you say the heater blower was on and you got a flat battery , because that wouldn’t use any power once the key was in your pocket ....


Go back over your work, take the connections off and put them back on again .

thanks Steve,

ok I didnt think a battery would just stop... have gone over connections by battery, off and on. Getting multimeter in the morning.
Drove to car park fine, left overnight now nothing. Really wierd...

Cab heater for some reason works when key is out, hence when daughter left it on 1 and didnt use van for 2-3 days is was flat..

Hi guys and gals..

Just put a multimeter on the battery ..4.45v

Hopefully this is the reason...

Is it a gonner??

Almost certainly

You should investigate why the blower (and maybe other things like the coil) remain powered when the ignition is off. That might be why the battery was pulling down too

Ok, so new battery and find out why , and how the heater blower can work without key on ....

Fuse 13 .

Thanks guys.

Will check heater blower...

Is this battery OK, sorry to ask..

https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/p/bosch ... -444770757" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

£75 with 15% discount

That battery is ok, the price isn’t.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254429910451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mocki wrote:That battery is ok, the price isn’t.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254429910451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

brill thanks Steve...

seems ok to me, unless there is any other takers for cheaper ha....

will order now and update after

Mocki wrote:That battery is ok, the price isn’t.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254429910451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

+1
Had one for 5 years at least, good battery, just look after it....

tobydog wrote:

Mocki wrote:That battery is ok, the price isn’t.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254429910451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

+1
Had one for 5 years at least, good battery, just look after it....

brill, order in

New battery arrived today... plugged it in....

Checked the heater blower... it DOES only come on when ignition is on... I think the cause for the main drain was leaving sidelights on..did have an alarm, but that doesnt seem to work...will check it out.

Put the meter on it now, check the voltage.

Check it again in 2 days and 7 days time if you are not using the van. If it's dropping significantly you need to start investigating

937carrera wrote:Put the meter on it now, check the voltage.

Check it again in 2 days and 7 days time if you are not using the van. If it's dropping significantly you need to start investigating

will do..

Rather than mess about with a lights on alarm , just change the bulbs to led. You can leave them on for days at a time with no flat battery then .....

Have you got a spare brake light bulb and a bit of wire ?
Easiest way to find a parasitic drain on your van is to disconnect the neg battery connection and insert the bulb between the neg lead you just took off and the battery neg connection , any drain will make the bulb light , the brighter it lights the bigger the drain .
Remove fuses until drain stops .

Odds on its the stereo memory wire