Car sluggish in Auto and several dash lights on

[randomspam]

ok just done this with a friend, hopefully it was right he had a manual multimeter, we set it to DC and got a reading of 27.3 with the car off and it rose to 37.9 with the engine running.

Does this sound right or wrong?

[TheBoy]

ok just done this with a friend, hopefully it was right he had a manual multimeter, we set it to DC and got a reading of 27.3 with the car off and it rose to 37.9 with the engine running.

Does this sound right or wrong?

Bloody Hell  

[TheBoy]

ok just done this with a friend, hopefully it was right he had a manual multimeter, we set it to DC and got a reading of 27.3 with the car off and it rose to 37.9 with the engine running.

Does this sound right or wrong?

Bloody Hell  

Actually, on reflection, I reckon you may have read the wrong scale....   ...what are the other possibilities...?

[randomspam]

really? oh nuts, what might I have done wrong?

[TheBoy]

Was it an analogue meter, ie one with a needle?  If so, probably wrong scale (there are usually more than one scale on these - eg 1 - 30v, and 1 - 15v etc...)  A photo of meter may help

[randomspam]

yes it was analogue, it looked a lot like this

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=37279&criteria=multimeter&doy=12m12

[TheBoy]

That one is digital....

[nixoro]

If your not sure on doing the test yourself try getting it to a tyre battery place they tend to do the tests for free, although I would definately try STS if you do as I had mine done there and it was free

[Marks DTM Calib]

Where abouts are you?

[randomspam]

sorry, i'm being a bit thick, it was digital, I was thinking of about the main dial control being analogue rather than just buttons to press. So it is exactly the same as the one in the pic I last posted.

Can someone tell me what kind of readings should I be expecting to see if it's knackered/partially discharged.

[rpont]

With the meter set to DC Volts you should get 12. something (.6 to .9?) with engine off and up to 14 with it running. There should be a common connector on the meter and one marked volts and you use these two for the leads. There may be one for high current (10amps for example) that you don't want to use for voltage, it will just blow the fuse.

With those reading either the meter is not set correctly, it's faulty or the battery has had it. The highest I've ever seen is 17volts on a car when the voltage regulator failed. The wipers were somewhat quick and the lights rather bright.

Check the meter on a torch battery or something to be certain that it's working properly.

[randomspam]

hi, quick update, just tried friends multimeter on DC 20v on a 1.5v battery and it came up as 0.02v, tried again on several other 1.5v batteries and it did the same. Tried on the car and it came up as 0.21 and 0.32 so we've come to the conclusion that the multimeter is dodgy, he has told me it did catch fire at one point previously  

I'll buy a brand new one tomorrow  

[rpont]

I'll buy a brand new one tomorrow  

Good move  

[TheBoy]

hi, quick update, just tried friends multimeter on DC 20v on a 1.5v battery and it came up as 0.02v, tried again on several other 1.5v batteries and it did the same. Tried on the car and it came up as 0.21 and 0.32 so we've come to the conclusion that the multimeter is dodgy, he has told me it did catch fire at one point previously  

I'll buy a brand new one tomorrow  

Yes, that meter is Donald Duck'd.

[randomspam]

right, finally got hold of one, started the engine and measured 18.10 at first and then 18.5 the next 3 tries.

The lights don't seem really bright and the wipers don't seem that quick to be honest.

I drove it on sunday and a curious thing happened, I drop the electric windows and once down they completely stuck there, no response at all. I had to pull over and start the car again and then they worked.

Ok what now!?