Opel Corsa Battery Issue

So the issue here was just terminal contact.
The positive wire to the terminal which connects to the battery, was exposed and dirt had gotten in the lug sleeve over time causing poor contact.
Alternator and Battery was fine.
Cant believe mechanics dont look at the basics.
Incredible stories of big job and must go under the car and blah blah.
Thank you to the honest mechanics out there that are honest.
 
ichocolate said:
So the issue here was just terminal contact.
The positive wire to the terminal which connects to the battery, was exposed and dirt had gotten in the lug sleeve over time causing poor contact.
Alternator and Battery was fine.
Cant believe mechanics dont look at the basics.
Incredible stories of big job and must go under the car and blah blah.
Thank you to the honest mechanics out there that are honest.
Click to expand...

Last week I was helping someone in our complex jump start his car, since he said the battery wasn't holding a charge. WTF, found both battery terminals were loose. He explained that he disconnected them at night to stop the car alarm from draining the battery. Never tightened them again. Not sure if that was the cause or just a side effect, but definitely did not help!?
 
thechamp said:
Yes, always the negative terminal.
Click to expand...

The reason for this may seem counter intuitive, but obvious when you think about it. The entire car body is earthed to neutral (on almost all modern cars). If you drop the positive terminal onto a metal part while the alternator is running, you will have a massive short circuit.

By contrast, if you drop the negative terminal, the car body is already earthed, so there is no voltage difference, and no current will flow. Edit: The same goes for the sequence in which you connect the jumper leads (neutral last).
 
Last edited:
Gordon_R said:
The reason for this may seem counter intuitive, but obvious when you think about it. The entire car body is earthed to neutral (on almost all modern cars). If you drop the positive terminal onto a metal part while the alternator is running, you will have a massive short circuit.

By contrast, if you drop the negative terminal, the car body is already earthed, so there is no voltage difference, and no current will flow. Edit: The same goes for the sequence in which you connect the jumper leads (neutral last).
Click to expand...

Exactly, even if the engine is not running you still have the battery supplying current to some circuits on the car.

On two occasions I found our maintanance guy at work who is responsible for filling up the standby generator with diesel leaving the positive cable of the diesel pump connected on the car's battery dangling on the car's bodywork.

Now imagine trying to tell someone who has 40 years experience and started working for the company the year you were born how to do his work, he does not understand why it should be the neutral cable not the positive, since any of them will disconnect the battery:D, he has probably been doing the same thing for years without any incidents...

Education is important, very important.
 
thechamp said:
[snip]
he does not understand why it should be the neutral cable not the positive, since any of them will disconnect the battery:D, he has probably been doing the same thing for years without any incidents...

Education is important, very important.
Click to expand...

99% of the time it does not matter which terminal you disconnect, the other 1% it can make a big difference! I am mostly self-taught, and learned a few things the hard way. FYI, a current of 300amps will soon turn a shiny 13mm chrome-moly flat spanner into red-hot spaghetti...

Never underestimate batteries, without them 90% of civilisation would grind to a halt (or go back to the 19th century). From car starters, thorugh remotes, to cellphones, the list is endless...

ichocolate said:
Alternator and Battery was fine.
Click to expand...

On my car the alternator was fine, but the regulator was faulty. (Not the same thing, though often mounted in the same housing). It was producing 12V, which is enough to run the engine and so the red charge-light never came on. There was not enough current output to charge the battery and run all the accessories. Weirdly the engine RPMs would drop when I turned the radio on, until eventually everything died, while I was driving!? So, 2 days and R2K later, back on the road...
 
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