Galaxy Tdi Won't Start.

[jackthehat.co.uk]

It's me (yet again)

 

Before I give my Galaxy the Swan Vestas treatment for being the worst car ever produced can anyone help me with the latest problem?

The car now refuses to start. I have recharged the battery to full capacity and all that happens when you turn the key is a rapid series of clicks that sound as if they are coming from the drivers side dashboard. Could this be a relay making this sound?

 

You may have read my other recent post about alternator pulley failure. (This is relevant to this post so please bear with me...) I have messed about for the last month or two trying to find the cause of a rattle at idle and drivebelt slippage. After changing the tensioner and the belt the much respected forum member called Littledaz (my hero) diagnosed the problem as a faulty freewheel pulley on the alternator. I am still waiting to get the pulley replaced so I was hoping that the faulty pulley had somehow caused the battery to become discharged through poor alternator performance. That's why I charged the battery back up to full power. The lights light up on the dash nice and brightly and the power windows work swiftly so I am assuming that the battery is OK. You would imagine that it would at least have the power to get the engine to turn over a little.

 

Any ideas of what to look for? I did a search and read a few posts about the mysterious relay number 30 (or does that just apply to petrol engines?)

Am I looking at a faulty starter motor?

 

This car is totally jinxed. VW should be ashamed to call themselves a quality car maker. It's nothing but unreliable poorly engineered junk (just my opinion.. no intention to offend anyone here!)

 

Any advice appreciated

[popeye2755]

Just out of interest, what happens to the dash lights when you try and turn the engine over?

[jackthehat.co.uk]

Hi, thanks for starting the discussion. The dash lights flicker in time with the clicking sound when the key is turned.

[popeye2755]

Someone will probably shoot me down here, but on all of my previous cars, including 2 galaxies, that indicates a knackered battery. Have you tried jumping it? Edited April 4, 2007 by popeye2755

[jackthehat.co.uk]

Nope, haven't had the time to try jumping it yet. I assume that push starting the car will work OK. I will try and use jump leads tomorrow morning. Now that I think about it, for the last couple of weeks the starter seemed to sound very out of breath and weak when starting in the morning.. I put it down to the cold mornings affecting the battery. I just assumed that after fully charging the battery I had ruled out battery failure. Good idea though, I will definitely be trying that tomorrow. If it starts then I can rule out the starter motor as the problem.

[tim-spam]

It seems that on most modern cars, when the battery gives up, it does so totally.

 

As regards the alternator pulley, this is a fairly well known issue with Bosch alternators (whichever make of car they're fitted to, incuding other Ford models as well as VAG, BMW, Mecedes, etc.), and there are basically two modes of failure. One is partial or total siezure, which causes the drive belt system to rattle at low engine speeds due to the torsional vibrations of the engine reacting against the high rotational inertia of the alternator rotor (worse on diesels for obvious reasons). The other is slippage which could cause the alternator to under charge and can make a rather nasty screeching noise.

 

So you could concievably have had a flat battery if your alternator was not being driven properly. If the battery was getting weak anyway, this may have been enough to finish it off completely.

Edited April 5, 2007 by tim-spam

[jackthehat.co.uk]

Hi folks,

 

I have lost my jump leads so couldn't try jumping it this morning. Instead, I took off the battery and took it to a local motor factors who tested it properly. They told me that the battery was showing no faults but had a poor charge (even though I tried to charge it fully the other day). They have very kindly offered to give it a proper charge for free. They say it needs fully trickle charged overnight and then a vigorous charge for 1 hour tomorrow. I am going back for it tomorrow morning so we'll see what happens.

 

I also managed to fit the new alternator pulley today. It was a very easy job actually. The spline nut was unbelievably tight but it's all done now. I can also confirm that the one I took off was definitely faulty.

 

I'll keep you all posted.

 

Many thanks.

[suzuki91]

its an old trick but if you turn on the lights and try to start the car, if the battery if faulty the lights should dim.

[jackthehat.co.uk]

Hi, just to let you all know that the battery was discharged. My local motor factors re-charged it properly and I re-fitted the battery today. Car started first time and the alternator is putting 14 volts into the battery when the engine is running. Sounds like the problem's been fixed.

 

Thanks all for your help.