Problems starting car after not ran over Winter 2007

[martin12345]

Any advice is appreciated on this matter... I have a Mitsubish Delica (basically similar to a Shogun). I left the lights on with this vehicle and know that the battery was flattened in December 2007. I left the car on my drive and did not do anything with it until this week (basically left it flat for 5 months). Rather than push start or use jump leads, I decided to charge the battery up fully for 24 hours.

The car started first time (it also uses Glo plugs) and I left the engine running for 1 hour (I did not drive the vehicle at all). If I turn the engine off and then try to restart the car, it will not start. It just about turns over then stops and then nothing.

I have checked the battery and the cells seem topped up.
I have also charged the battery up fully, left it to stand for 3 days on its own and had the battery tested (it produces 11v out of the maximum 14v).

One piece of advice was that I should have drove the car for 1 hour rather than simply leave the engine running. I am also told that the problem should not be the alternator. I am more inclined to think that the battery is the problem and not the alternator. Can a battery and/or an alternator be ruined by a car being left over winter unused with a flat battery? I would have thought the battery is the cause?

 

[seco services]

how did you test it ?
it may read 12 v but may not be kicking out the amps you need to turn it over.

 

[martin12345]

Apologies for lack of full details, I know very little about car problems but am still learning - the battery was tested by a garage, I basically carried it in to them and they used some sort of hand held device (multimeter?) to test it.

The car also has a 2nd battery (not sure of its location) to presumably run the large air con and cd/radio etc in the rear of the car (its a big mpv) - I don't think the 2nd battery is an influencing factor?

 

[Belle427]

if they used a simple multimeter to test the battery it wouldnt have told you much,you need a suitable drop/load tester to do it properly,it does sound as if the battery is knackered though

 

[^neo^]

I'm with the knackered battery theory too

 

[Stivino]

If it has a 2nd battery, you'd better find it and get that tested too.

 

[Spark123]

When the engine it running, how many volts can you measure across the battery?

 

[cjam24]

New batt should do it or it needs to be tested under load(drop tester)

 

[TicklyT]

Off load, 11 volts is about right for a flat battery. The voltage will probably drop to about 3/10ths of nothing when even a small load is applied.

A 12 volt battery should give about 13.6 Volts when charged up, dropping to about 12 volts when heavily loaded, then recovering when the load is removed.

Purpose made battery testers used to feature a big resistor between the two probes to measure the voltage with a load applied.