Coachman Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 Have 2001 2.8jtd Autotrail Cheyenne.The engine battery has been running low , at first it was the radio and overcome that by using lesuire battery, only the memory is connected to the engine battery.I have now charged the battery up via the cigar lighter socket several times but it still goes down. I have not driven it for at least 6 weeks. yesterday i charged it up and at the charger to cigar fitting it read 14.77 v but at the battery it only showed 12.35v , surely this would be at least 13.8 v or am i wrong and do you think its on its last legs?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 It could be a dodgy connection at the cigar socket. When charging my mobile phone from the cigar lighter socket, I often had to fiddle and twist the plug before I got the charging light on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 It sounds to me as if your engine battery ist Kaput! How old is it? However the lack of input could also be voltage loss in the cables or a bad contact or a bad earth from battery to chassis? Can you jump start from a car and see if it recharges from the alternator if you run the engine or drive for a while - longer the better up to a point! The only real way to tell is to take it off and bench charge it and see what happens with both voltage and electrolyte specific gravity. You could also use your multimeter to check the current drain when the engine is switched off just to make sure nothing is awry - start with 10 or 20 amp setting and move down in case something heavy is happening then at least you won't bugger up your multimeter! Alternatively when it is allegedly fully charged take it to the local battery experts and get them to 'drop test' the starter current drain for you but be aware that have a vested interest in selling new batteries. They can't do this test with the battery in situ on the van as there is not enough space above it. There is some more info on SG and charging voltages on the 'Leisure batteries - again' thread most of which also applies to engine batteries - if it helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted February 20, 2010 Share Posted February 20, 2010 If the charger voltage is 14.7 volts but the battery terminal voltage is 12.? volts then the two points are not connected directly together. On some vehicles the cigarette lighter socket is switched by the ignition. Perhaps there is a duff fuse in between? Suggest you connect the charger directly to the starter battery terminals and try again as your first retry. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coachman Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 Thanks for input guy's, my cigar lighter is on same circuit as cab interior lights and radio memory .I checked this fuse and when pulling out it had one "leg" loose whether it had blown i do not know however i replaced it and this morning checking the voltage via this lighter it now reads 13.7 v. I did not check the engine battery but suppose its same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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