Discussion
Came out of work today looking forward to the long weekend, turned the key, heard the solenoid click, and nothing! 
No problems this morning either, just parked up and went in
Checked the battery, and noticed the negative battery strap was broken. The negative terminal cable goes to a crimped connector bolted to the body and was just snapped off at the connector
Anyway, bodged it in the rain and got the car started but no way was it going to hold. Borrowed a spanner and a multitool and a bit of twin and earth, but it just wasn't earthing well enough to start.
Resorted to calling out the AA in the end - to their credit only took 30 minutes to show and had it fixed within 10 mins.
Looks like the replacement (non-gel) battery has been sliding around somehow (can't be those damp roundabouts...
) and the stress on the earth strap broke off at the connector. Bizarre that it somehow failed in between journeys and not during one though...
I'm just very thankful it happened now and not last week when I was all over the country, or earlier this week when I had lots of late finishes in the middle of Croydon.
Many thanks to the school caretaker for his tools and to the AA
So: to anybody still reading, make sure your battery is fixed down properly or you could get stranded
No problems this morning either, just parked up and went in
Checked the battery, and noticed the negative battery strap was broken. The negative terminal cable goes to a crimped connector bolted to the body and was just snapped off at the connector
Anyway, bodged it in the rain and got the car started but no way was it going to hold. Borrowed a spanner and a multitool and a bit of twin and earth, but it just wasn't earthing well enough to start.
Resorted to calling out the AA in the end - to their credit only took 30 minutes to show and had it fixed within 10 mins.
Looks like the replacement (non-gel) battery has been sliding around somehow (can't be those damp roundabouts...
) and the stress on the earth strap broke off at the connector. Bizarre that it somehow failed in between journeys and not during one though...I'm just very thankful it happened now and not last week when I was all over the country, or earlier this week when I had lots of late finishes in the middle of Croydon.
Many thanks to the school caretaker for his tools and to the AA
So: to anybody still reading, make sure your battery is fixed down properly or you could get stranded
Edited by NiceCupOfTea on Thursday 20th March 19:35
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