big problem - no start and electrical problem

[no2lurch]

thats normal

so the battery is ok then?

[Gary406]

is 13.5 normal wen car off ?

i thought it was a 12v battery

[FarmerPug]

multimeters usually read like this, car batteries arent 12v on the spot.

[Gary406]

i know but 13.5 seems high

maybe wrong tho

[FarmerPug]

i think its that high on a new battery, usually under 12v for an old one

[no2lurch]

More updates- had to drive home on side lochs and fog lights. It seemed that when load is put on, it kills it. And it seemed worse when the engine was cold, before warming up.

[Gary406]

is it a new battery ? have you tried a different battery on the car yet ?

[no2lurch]

is it a new battery ? have you tried a different battery on the car yet ?

not yet.

I just thought... When we had the snow, someone said my headlights flickered as I was skidding on the ice in the car park. Could this be linked to the brake faults I'm seeing now? What controls the abs?

[steve_earwig]

What controls the abs?

The ABS ecu (on the front of the unit)

It seemed that when load is put on, it kills it.

That sounds so much like a poor connection somewhere - the more current that tries to pass it, the more voltage it'll drop out of the system, it'll get warm too. These days I don't think anything's that simple but you could check - if you have a multimeter you could try and see what the voltage is like elsewhere on the car, like the cabin fuse panel for eggsarmpull.

[no2lurch]

Got home and took the hids out. Also took apart the three plugs under the drivers footwell carpet and they are all dry and clean- I gave them all a quick spray with wd for good measure. Also removed and sprayed all three plugs on the ecu.

Tried to start it and no change!

After a few mins of trying it started. Drove it up the road and all was well. Eml still on tho.

Pulled over and turned off. Restarted fine. Eml still on.

Drove further and pulled over again. Put everything electrical on and after a few secs, it died. Total electrical shutdown as before. Turned everything off and it restarted ok. Did the load test again with less load on and it was ok. I did notice a wisp of what looked like smoke coming from the front corner by the battery lid. Turned everything off and had another look but couldn't find anything. No visible burning or anything really hot. Restarted and the car cut out as I pulled off but drove fine after resstarting. Eml still on.

Got it home and tried the load test again and it died. It now won't start again and the electrics have gone tits up again!

The connections to the battery seem both ok.

Where else should I be checking?

[Gary406]

if you saw smoke under the bonnet near the battery you need to urgently find out were it came from

[no2lurch]

It was only a tad. Couldn't smell any real burning.

[no2lurch]

Qhen I turn the ignition on now, I just hear a bleep and a load of clicking!

[jamjar1383]

sound to me like a bad battery or a bad earth, try putting a jump lead from the - post on the battery to somewhere on the metal on the engine ie. the bracket that holds the power steering pump, see if that helps

[steve_earwig]

if you saw smoke under the bonnet near the battery you need to urgently find out were it came from

Reminds me of what Tatsfield said over on the coupé club about there being a junction box under the battery tray.