Fell at the first hurdle, SR3 won't start

[BertBert]

I decided to take the SR3 out tues next week on my own (as it were) to get to know it. Been doing some cleaning and fettling and thought I'd better check it starts today (having run fine at Donington). Battery was on charge overnight and happily lighting up the top charge light on my batt conditioner (13.2v)

Tried to start it (even remembered to switch on the ignition) and it happily spun over but no sign of firing up at all. Thought I might possibly be out of gas so put in some more and no difference. The battery seemed to die pretty quickly too (although it's only ickle). I probably got a total of 30 secs of cranking over 5 or 6 goes at starting. The cranking didn't seem to slow, just got a buzzing as there wasn't enough oomph to engage the solenoid (I imagine).

Also the dash faded away when cranking so poss there's not enough volts to fire it up. I put it back on charge and it was down to 10v.

a/ any thoughts on whether the battery sounds duff?
b/ any hints on starting?
c/ any idea where to get a replacement around the Epsom area on a monday afternoon?

Tks
Bert

[splitpin]

I think the SR3 RS1500 has 24V for starting, main battery in the usual place, with a supplementary battery in the side pod.

Maybe you've lost connectivity?

[BertBert]

ahhh, how does that work then?
Bert

[Simon T]

Drop me a mail with a contact number and I'll give you a call tomorrow

Simon

[Marshy98]

Hi Graham

When i picked my car up i asked about using a battery conditioner and they advised against it, bothe batteries have to be within "X" volts for the car to start, maybe if you have only charged 1 battery this is causing different volts from each battery causing it to turn over ok but not start, maybe worth fully charging the 2nd battery fully and seeing if that works, can be accessed by removing the inspection panel on the passenger side pod.

This may be complete dribble !!

Good luck

Marshy

[BertBert]

Marshy98 said:

Hi Graham

When i picked my car up i asked about using a battery conditioner and they advised against it, bothe batteries have to be within "X" volts for the car to start, maybe if you have only charged 1 battery this is causing different volts from each battery causing it to turn over ok but not start, maybe worth fully charging the 2nd battery fully and seeing if that works, can be accessed by removing the inspection panel on the passenger side pod.

This may be complete dribble !!

Good luck

Marshy

I think you are on the right lines. I also spoke to Simon this morning (thanks Simon). So both batteries are now on charge. I also had (or maybe have) an air leak on the throttle blipper which makes the compressor run a lot. That doens't help the battery strength.

Hopefully with fully charged batts and the air leak fixed, we'll be sorted!

Thanks all for the help.

[Marshy98]

Hi Bert

What was this outcome of this as maybe of help at some point ?

Regards

Marshy

[BertBert]

Ah Marshy, I was hoping noone was going to ask. Thus my complete and utter fkwittery would stay hidden from the annals for all time. Unfortunately it is still a complete mystery and runneth not my SR3 does.

On the basis that my batteries (now I know there are two) were lacking in charge, I located both and put both on charge. My plan was to turn up at sliverstone, be in the garage next to radical and look pathetic when it didn't start (but with charged batteries).

However, when trying to load the SR3 on the trailer (which is incredibly tight), I tried every which way. But despite having successfully got it tied down at Donington to take it home, I couldn't find a position where I could get enough straps on to secure it. After 4 hours of trying, I went indoors and drank a bottle of wine.

So, non-starting SR3 in the garage, track day not attended, not a great show really

Bet you wished you hadn't asked!

So what do Radical do with a 24v starting system when the car won't start and the batteries go flat?

Bert

[double d racing]

I had the 24v system on my PR6. I also had the external anderson connector connected to the battery. The batterie(s) went flat/not enough juice to crank due to my own incontinenece......I simply plugged in a 12v battery pack and away it went. I then found the source of the drain (nowt to do with Radical ) and since then have had zero problems...
Bright Spark of peterborough....

[BertBert]

What seemed to be giong on with mine was that the main battery was getting low very quickly. It drives all the vehicle elctrics icnluding the compressor for the paddle shift. I haven't been back in yet to test, but I have my suspicions that it's a bit poorly and probably the root of the issue. When cranking, the voltage quickly dropped very low so that the dash display went out.

It could of course be the aux battery that is poorly so the main battery has to shoulder too much of the starting load.

Better try again really.

Bert

[splitpin]

double d racing said:

I had the 24v system on my PR6. I also had the external anderson connector connected to the battery. The batterie(s) went flat/not enough juice to crank due to my own incontinenece......I simply plugged in a 12v battery pack and away it went. I then found the source of the drain (nowt to do with Radical ) and since then have had zero problems...
Bright Spark of peterborough....

I asked for one to be fitted to our RS (mainly as a convenient way of trickling the battery), but Radical wouldn't; they said it was incompatible with the 24V starting system

[BertBert]

well, the SR3 pixies have been hard at work. I was doing another job in the garage. Thought I'd have a quick go, pressed the button and she burst into life! I'll still be testing the batteries as I still wasn't convinced of the cranking voltage.
Bert

[Marshy98]

How often should the compressor run to top up the reservoir/tank when the car is idle with just the kill switch on ?

Marshy

[Marshy98]

Also i noticed tonight that you have to start the car in a set sequence, kill switch on, ignition on, start, if this is not done the car will not start.

Marshy

[BertBert]

I think I have an air-leak as I can hear a hissing sound. Apparently the fittings are push fit, so that's a job to investigate. That means my compressor is running more than normal.

Bert

[khm]

had a problem with ours ( when we had it ) took ages to find out the problem, it would start once on a new set of plugs, then not again from cold - just kept suting them up. changed everything, spent loadsa money, rebuilt injectors still no good. put it on trailer & took it to radical - lots of head scratching, still no starting so put a set of plugs in & started straight up ( as always ) then he noticed the engine temp on the laptop was -38 deg c !! a new sensor was fitted and we had a uncle called bob !! the dash runs off a different sensor !!! oh how pised off was i, £20 sensor fixed it.

[GeoffW]

This will make you feel better. Last year I towed my CS to a track meet (hint: it was pi$$ing cats n dogs all the way), somewhere in t'middle of England. Car wouldn't start. Even had RobC baffled and that's saying something. After approx 5 hours, noticed some water leaking from the exhaust manifold... yes, you read that correctly, removed manifold... extracted water... put everything back together. Hit starter and away she goes first time. I managed to get out on a dry track, alebit with wets on, for precisely 10 minutes before the sun goes down and they call a halt to the sessions. Reload car back on the trailer, drive the 3 hours back home, pour a very large glass of St Emilion (and repeated dose as required). The lesson here is, when towing and it's raining, to either put your Rad backwards on the trailer ie rear goes on first and/or cover the intake duct. Cheers! Geoff ps also found new plugs deffo helped with starting, mine seemed to oil up easily, and once badly oiled, didn't work well even after being cleaned. The good news here is they were relatively cheap to buy.