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Monday 3rd 44F, mild, overcast and wet. No walk because of the rain.
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Yesterday was the first time in my life I had to call out a car rescue service. My 1990s car would not start when I came out of the supermarket. So I walked the 5km/3 miles home in the rain with a heavy bag in each hand. Which was very silly. I should have been selective and left most of it in the car. It took me exactly an hour to reach home. Where I changed out of my wet clothes in time to cycle back to meet the rescue mechanic. There had been no staff to answer my earlier rescue call from the car.
I had already checked the spark plugs and ordered a new set online. Then had to wait over the weekend to replace them [hopefully] today. The mobile mechanic suggested the alternator was fine but I should buy a new battery. The car started instantly on his compact booster. Hopefully the new plugs and rotor will solve the problem of the engine failing to respond when I try to accelerate. Though I have my doubts.
I rarely drive these days but still need the car for heavy shopping and fetching fuel briquettes for the stove. Then there are the distant appointments for Covid vaccinations and Brexit. I am not fit enough to cycle the 2x25 miles to the city and back any more. Though twenty miles is still manageable.
Swapped the spark plugs and rotor in the rain after early postal delivery. The old rotor was looking very rough. Recharged the battery once the engine started.
I finally did a proper, parasitic drain test by individual fuse removal in series. Found the missing radio was still drawing current. Somebody had obviously screwed up the wiring or caused a short. I had removed the harness and radio just after purchase. In a failed attempt to cure the overnight, flat battery problem. The secondhand car dealer was unsympathetic but bought me a new battery to get rid of me.
Fuse now permanently removed from driver's side, foot well block. Awkward and very hard to reach! Hopefully the end of flat batteries after 10 years of problems. A short drive test proved the engine pulled normally even in 5th gear. It had been hesitating or even stalling under [attempted] acceleration.
A new battery has been ordered online just to be sure. The original measured the correct voltage but must have had reduced capacity for starting. I shall have to check at intervals to see if the battery is still being drained. The current drain dropped from 0.194A to 0.025A with removal of the radio fuse. The dashboard clock is probably the remaining drain when everything else is switched off. Or not, the clock has stopped working. It must have been on the same fuse circuit.
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