Battery problems

[mandalman]

I went out for my first real outing in my Caterham this week covering about 300 miles over three days and it highlighted a couple of problems. The main niggle is it wouldn't start in the morning. It's fitted with an Odyssey Extreme PC 680 battery and although it seemed to have plenty of power to turn over the starter it wouldn't fire. As soon as I attached my Noco booster it started straight away so I suspect there is no problem with plugs or leads etc = I'm a bit of a mechanical numpty but could it be that the battery has enough power to turn the starter but not quite enough to spark? I have no ideas how old the battery is but a mate has a proper battery tester so I will check that first.

My question really is this. Were these batteries fitted as standard to the original K series Superlight R's? I know they are a racing battery but I'm wondering if they are suitable for everyday use. Is there anything better out there without adding a lot of weight?

[Mark w]

Ive had an Odyssey on my 620 for 6 years , never had an issue with it . I wouldnt have thought a K needs more uuuumph to start than a Duratec 

I do leave it on charge 24/7 

[Wrightpayne]

I've had a similar powervamp battery on mine for 10 years now (the original banner batteries were lasting on average 4 years).

The gel batteries do not like parasitic loads (so I've read) so I always throw the FIA kill switch.

Lots of things can cause starting problems - I always start (no pun intended) with earths - ecu (there should be a thin black wire direct onto the battery) and battery/chassis chassis/engine.

Ian

[SM25T]

Measure the voltage across the battery. Then turn thd ignition on and see if it drops. Then press the starter, if it drops below about 10V, the ECU won't operate. On my k-series, I know the battery is about to die if it won't start without a dab of throttle. When healthy, no need to touch anything except the start button.

[Jonathan Kay]

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