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novalew
12-05-12, 04:36 PM
hi all

not a nova but a mk4 astra

firstly i had my head gasket changed a month ago then 2 weeks later my alternator was running 20volts and fried a battery. So got a batt (diesel) and alternator of a friend at it ran fine for 2 weeks

now this

went to start my car 2 days ago after it had been left overnight, and it seemd like it "couldnt be botherd" to start, it was turning over but dead slowly for a couple of seconds then fired fine, and run fine, thought maybe battery was playing up so took it for a good ragging then stopped engine, locked car and unlocked and tried again, same issue, 2 seconds of sounding like it was struggling then firing fine....

once the engines started it runs fine, no issues at all, and it always started for the last couple of days till this morning -

it wouldnt start and that eggy smell started to fill the air, so i checked the voltage before i started it was 12.4 after a 10 seconds of cranking and the egg smell shot down to 10.1

also checked volts while canking and it drops right down to 5-6 v

i bumped it and checked the voltage and it was 14.1 when running so i dont think the alternator is at fault.

the battery i had was not new but i was told it was sat for a year so i charged it before putting it on and as i said it worked for 2 weeks so i dont want to buy a new battery only to break it.

i thought it could be starter motor but would this cause such a drain on the battery to get that eggy sulphuric smell?

thanks for looking

mowgli
12-05-12, 06:08 PM
crap battery??

novalew
12-05-12, 06:14 PM
thats what i'm thinking just hope i dont kill another one

mowgli
12-05-12, 06:20 PM
get where you had the battery from to do a discharge test on it.. the eggy smell is bad news