Rev 2 NA Won't Start

[nimz]

Afternoon all, first problem with my MR2 has reared it's head

Firstly – please forgive my lack of mechanical knowledge. So as per the thread title my Rev 2 NA is refusing to start this morning.

Yesterday I took her out for a quick drive, she struggled a little bit more than normal (i.e. took a couple of seconds longer to turn over) but once going seemed to be absolutely fine so I just put it down to the cold weather.

Cut to about twenty minutes ago and the engine refuses to start, there is a loud constant clicking from the engine bay and nothing happens other than the lights flicking on and off and the all the dial needles going mad. Headlights also flash on and off when turning they key. Is this likely to just be a dead battery or something more like the starter motor/alternator?

Apologies if this is vague, any advice gratefully received before I go running to the nearest garage

Rich

[thomp1983]

It sounds like a flat battery, once it's charged you'll need to look into why it went flat

Chris

[Peter Gidden]

It sounds like a flat battery, once it's charged you'll need to look into why it went flat.

+1.

[JD]

Hi Rich. That battery is about 18 months old. I never had a battery drain problem but I reckon it might be the alarm/immobiliser. As it was locked away in the garage here, I didn't use the alarm much but I reckon having it armed for several days might be a bit of a drain. How long since you last drove?

I've got a battery drain problem on the turbo at the minute and my immobiliser is the most likely suspect

[Peter Gidden]

is the most likely suspect

On what basis? Would be unusual.

[JD]

Really? It's a Cobra if that makes any difference.

Edit - well, mine is a TOAD but I'm not going to hijack the thread.

[Peter Gidden]

Really? It's a Cobra if that makes any difference.

Edit - well, mine is a TOAD but I'm not going to hijack the thread.

All electrical products will over a time exhibit a failure rate - that's life, but Cobra and Toad are reputable makes and rarely fail.

Why not approach the problem using some diagnostic procedures instead of guessing?

First have your battery drop tested, regardless of how old it is.

Then using an ammeter measure parasitic loss through the main battery lead.

To check if the loss is through the alternator, (as Karl's problem was), disconnect the alternator lead and see if loss reduces.

To check if it's a circuit issue, pull each fuse and see if loss reduces.

[Super_red]

I found out my immobiliser on an old car was a GPS tracker so it was using a lot more power than you would expect from a basic alarm. It was not sold like this to me, I guess as it was no longer active for tracking information but it was still electrically active.

You can also put your multimeter in amps mode accross each fuse position (remove the fuse and put one lead into each of the 2 slots) to get a reading of what each circuit is drawing. Sometimes this is easier than diconnecting the battery to take an amps reading there.