awdonald

2 year old 5 year guarantee battery...had to jump it the other day...yeaterday got into the car and nothing...no lights no tick with the key...nothing .

Charged the battery for a couple of hours and while charging there was a rapid ticking coming from within or under the fuse / relay box by the battery.

Started just fine...no ticking noise when I shut it off. Left it overnight. Started it this morning just fine.

But...when I turned it off...rapid ticking noise as before....and battery at 75% charge (as shown on the charger)

Any ideas...I'll phone the battery guy this morning when it opens. I'm hoping a defective battery but don't like the "rapid ticking noise "

Thanks for any help.

Cheers,
Alan

salimshah

Another member posted recently about rapid clicking noise and it was resolved when he installed a new battery.

I would suggest to remove and clean the terminals and make sure that they are tight enough that you can not twist them by hand.

Salim

awdonald

awaiting a call from the battery guy ...I've checked the posts...clean as a whistle....I'm pretty sure its the battery, and am hoping not the alternator / voltage regulator (?)...or something spelled $$$$$

salimshah

Why is the battery not holding the charge, or is it getting enough charge are the questions that need to be answered. Most of the time, the cost to replace the battery is much less than investigating the root cause. Not so surprisingly, the new battery fixes the problem [as the battery itself is typically bad].

You can have the charging system checked up before or after you put in the battery.

Regulators and diodes are now an integral part of the alternator. It is only an avid DIY (whose labor cost is free) who would work on those components (if they are bad), for most it is cost effective to swap out the whole alternator.

It could be just semantics but the posts are made of lead and they are always good. It is the clamp that gets the crud and that starts typically at the bottom and you have to remove the clamp and examine it from below.

Salim
ps: Last year as a family we traveled through BC around spring .. with all the melting ice, the waterfalls were at full flow and the natural beauty of the land was enhanced many times over.

carguy07

Mine made the same sounds when the battery died.

awdonald

Official answer...cranking power was "down"...so the tech whipped out the old, whipped in the new...checked the static draw, checked the alternator for function...and sent me on my way.

No charge...full replacement with a 60 month warranty.

Thank you batterydirect.com

Alan

awdonald

Well, well well...back again.

Seems still have the problem, got in the car a couple of days ago and absolutely nothing !!

Put the charger on and soon got the ticking again, and it started fine.

The dealer has had a look with the car ticking and while being diagnosed fond no ticking with the key in the ignition...just when removed...so "cleaned up" the ignition and stopped looking ....sort of "no tickie, no lookie"

The service rep doesn't want to "throw parts at it ' but thought worst case it would be the ecu...and went on to suggest a used one rather than spend $2000 +/-.

So, we'll see how it turns out...any ideas ?...sources for an ecu ?

Thanks,
Alan

salimshah

If a fresh (or fully charged battery) can start without the ticking noise than the problem has to be the battery.

Next level of detail: Why is the battery not getting charged or what is discharging it. As battery gets old it has a hard time retaining full charge. With a new battery you got there is a low possibility that the battery is bad.

In any case, I would have the voltage measured when the clicking happens.

ECU is the farthest removed item in the list of possible bad items.

Salim

carguy07

It's either a bad battery (again), charging system not working correctly or something is shorted and running the battery down. The ticking is just a symptom of an almost dead battery.

bob2200

I'd guess the ticking is a relay chattering from low voltage.

Barryst

I would look at the alternator.

awdonald

Thanks folks...I think I'll head over to the battery guy...have this battery checked...and see if they can check the alternator and the static draw on the battery after I start / turn off the engine a few times.
Perplexing
I think the "ecu" came into question from trying to determine why the battery would drain after the engine was shut off.....we'll see.

Nad1370

Well looks like you have an intermittent "draw" in your system

Do you have any aftermarket electrical gadgets in your vehicle?
Alarms, auto start, sound system ect...

awdonald

The plot thickens...

No defects located by the Battery guy... 4 amp discharge with the key in the ignition about .3 amp with the key out (engine turned off).

Alternator checked out fine.

We tried it on / off several times and no unusual draw with the key out.

I noticed the radio arial (sp?) doesn't feed in totally so I cleaned it up a bit and it now fully descends ...wondered if it still triggers the motor till it is fully descended...but that has been the situation for the 2 years I've had the car.

The only other thing I noticed is I have had a plackard guaranteeing patient's parking at the hospital ( the Olympics resulted in severe parking restrictions so people were taking up hospital parking )...covering two sensors on the left side of the dash... I've removed it now but I think thats a bit of a long shot.

No after market electronics on the car...I'll just wait and see how things go.

Thank you very much for all the thoughtfull comments and suggestions.

Great group !

Cheers,
Alan

Nad1370

Ughhh...
Math is owning me right now.

.3 amps is 300 milliamps. <-- This is too much draw IMO.
To me, a 50 milliamp draw w/ the key out is the limit.

Granted the Body ecu needs time to go on sleep mode for you to get a good reading.
Maybe 5-10 minutes then re-check the draw.
Did he check it right away or waited a few minutes?