IZUSU FUEGO Battery Discharge

You should give some more details, before we can narrow the answer package: Just one thought: how is the condition of the connections from the battery to the engine? Is the engine mass wire connection also ok? When you start the first time your engine is cold, the viscosity of the oil is higher - is the oil old? Once you start you connect the battery to the starter motor and each connection adds up to the losses. If the wire is old, the resistance of this can also be higher. Starting with 12V plus gives you perhaps 9 Volts on the starter. A warm engine cranks easier.

First,check all electrical connections to starter,especially the large heavy gauge cables.They must be clean and tight, both ends.Clean with baking soda and an old toothbrush,then scrub with a wire brush to expose new metal, then lightly coat with a lithium based grease for protection.

What is the condition of the motor oil? The reason I ask is old oil can lose viscosity and drain away from bearings overnight, making for hard starting the next morning.Worn engine bearings can also cause this.Make sure the oil is the recommended viscosity for your climate.Too high of a viscosity can also cause problems, especially when engine is cold.

Engine timing could be set too high..this will cause hard starting.

Worn bushings(sleeve bearings) in starter could be causing starter to drag.

Worn starter brushes can also cause starter to be weak under stress.

good luck

If you can find a low battery alarm,fix it

Look also for hidden overnight discharge via:

1. the glove-box lamp (badly adjusted switch leaving the lamp permanently on);

2. the rear seat reading lamp accidentally switched on but un-noticed;

3. the inverter the kids use for their Nintendo that keeps 'em so quiet on long trips, plugged into an accessory socket or hardwired by auto sound guy, running 24/7;

4. the GPS unit the FBI hid under your rear bumper, tapped into the car's wiring for power.

I have personally encountered 1, 2 and 3. I have not yet found the pesky hidden GPS.

Mark Bingham
Relativity PL

If you have a reasonably accurate volt meter, after you have done the checks already mentioned by others, have a look at your battery voltage, both with a running motor (around 14.4 volts after the starting discharge has been replaced), and just before starting in the morning. It should be over 12.6 volts.

If less, something is draining the battery......as already mentioned.

If a connection is bad, it will get very hot, look (carefully!) for warm or hot connectíons with a wet finger.....just after starting.

With regard to something draining the battery (do not forget that modern radios, even when switched off still use a couple of milliamps), using an ammeter connected between say the plus battery pole and the connector for the plus pole, will show the current drain (engine/ignition off).

If its more than a couple of milliamps, youn need to go round and pop each fuse (the ones that are fed all the time, not the ones that are supplied via the ignition switch if you can diiferentiate between them) in turn to see which one is draining the current.

Some cars have fuses that are not in the fuse box, check the car owner's manual for them.....

WARNING, don't try and start the engine with the meter in circuit.......