Another autobox problem - SOLVED

[Toledo Man]

When I put the lever into P from R, the transmission locking pawl doesn't engage and the car is still in reverse. It doesn't happen when I move it from D to P. Is this a badly adjusted lever or something a bit worse? Also the inhibitor switch hasn't worked since the car came back form the MoT. Could they be related? A badly adjusted lever could explain this.

Harvey, if you're reading this, can you offer me the benefit of your wisdom and experience?

[Jon Tilson]

Sounds like adjustment on the selector mechanism. You can lengthen/shorten the rod by twiddling a locknut IIRC.
Bit of a game underneath but not too bad and yes the inhibitor switch is a consequential fail on this adjustment being out.
Its described in the manuals....and takes a bit of trial and error I found on the Sprint box I swapped, which is the only one Ive done.

Jonners

[matt of the vivas]

I had this same problem on the white 1850 i recommissoned last year.

If you get underneath, you will see the shifter mechanism goes to a lever on the side of the box.

Disconnect the shifter rod from the lever - its just held by a clip. Move the lever on the box all the way forward as far as it will go - this is the "park" position, you should hear the pawl engage inside the box.

Next get inside the car and move the selector lever into "park"

Now get back under the car and refit the shifter rod to the lever on the box, adjusting the length as needed with the threaded section. It needs to fit on the lever without any play, but without straining. Tighten the lock nuts to stop it the adjustment moving again.

That should put everything back to how it should be.

Matt.

[Toledo Man]

I've done this before and I always found it to be a pig of a job. I shall follow your words to the letter Matt. The manuals suggest doing the adjustment with the N posisiton but I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'd happily go along with the P position.

[matt of the vivas]

Its easier with it in P as its at an extreme of the travel of the selector and gearbox. Also you can hear the pawl engage so you know its in the right place. Its not a difficult job, just a little awkward as theres not much room for a hand between the box and tunnel.

[Toledo Man]

I've now sorted it.

I had to charge the battery for a few hours. It had lost about 2 volts in 48 hours (I've not done a drain test). I was able to start the car on the key so I could get it up on the wheel ramps (easier than jacking it up on to axle stands). The selector rod needed adjusting but in the P position there was enough forward movement for the box to drop into reverse and it would only happen if I went from R to P and it would stay in reverse gear. Once the slack was taken up and the rod put back, the problem was fixed. I don't know if the non-working inhibitior switch was related (the reverse lights still work) because I didn't bother to test it. No more runaway Dolomite!

[matt of the vivas]

Glad you have fixed it.
Your battery is duff....

[Jon Tilson]

Not necessarily.
If it still started your car it could be saveaeble.
Suspect your boot light is staying on.

Disconnect it by pulling off the earth lead when you leave it. If it still starts lively after a day or two its ok.
I only give up on a battery if it won't start a car.

Jonners

[Toledo Man]

When I adjusted the rod on Monday, I put the battery on charge for about 3 hours and it started on the key. The car was road tested to make sure that my adjustment had solved the problem. Last night, it was turning but wouldn't start so I left it and when I tried again 15 minutes later, it started up on the button. We'll see what tonight brings when I try to start my 1850. The battery on the Astra is now worse. I went to a local Tesco and when I came out about 10 mins later it wouldn't start. I've had the desulphator on it and it doesn't seem to have worked. I've already ordered a heavy duty battery as used on the bigger engined petrol and the diesel Astras. It had the 063 when it was new, the current battery is an 065 so I've gone for the 075 which has the same dimesnions as the 065 with 60 AH and 560 CCAs against 50 AH & 420 CCAs on my 065. I ordered it from Advanced Battery Supplies via their ebay listing and the price is the same as the 5% discount they offer TDC members on their website prices (that's why I bought it from them). Also, I can collect from the local Argos which is convenient for me (it is now ready to be picked up).

Jonners, if the boot light is constantly on, it would show up on a drain test which I haven't done yet. Also, the bulb would be warm which would be the easy way of determining this. I can't see the clock being the cause of such a drain but it is the only thing drawing current when the car is parked. I need to get my multimeter out and do some testing.

I reckon that desulphators do work if the battery is able to be recovered.

[matt of the vivas]

I reckon that desulphators do work if the battery is able to be recovered.

If its recovereable, its not sulphated....
You have been told by several other people and me that they don't work. You have tried it yourself on two different batteries - and it didnt work. Please stop writing such misleading gibberish - they dont work, end of. At least give someone else a fair chance of not wasting money the way you have.

[Toledo Man]

It wouldn't start so I jump started it off the Astra's new battery. I'm not too worried about the battery at the moment. I'll live with it for nw and bite the bullet when the time comes. To be honest, I've learnt a bit more about car batteries lately. I came across THIS video on Youtube where a faulty battery was tested with 4 different methods. First, a voltage reading was taken and was just over 13 volts. The 2nd test was done with a load tester which it passed. The third test was with the hydrometer which it also passed. The last test was done with a conductance tester which give the actual cranking amps and it was reading 599 cranking amps against the original 940 cranking amps.

We seem to have taken this off topic.

[Jon Tilson]

Matt with all due respect you are the one gainsaying clear experience.

The problem Dave with your astra battery is that you probably didnt give it long enough.
In my experience its taken at least 3 days on the trickle charge desulphator combo to bring it back.

I've got one of mine that went flat after standing for a month in the cold on at the moment.

I usually disconnect the battery when the car is standing for a while but in this case I forgot.

Matt probably didnt get the right desulphator....

Jonners

[Toledo Man]

Jonners, I've put the Astra's old battery on charge with the desulphator so we'll see if it can be rescued. It was worse than the one on the 1850. The next few days will tell. I still need the Astra (I use it daily even though I don't drive to work) so I can't have it on constant charge or removed from the car. I tried having the desulphator hooked up with the battery in situ and it didn't seem to work. I wouldn't mind getting one of those conductance testers which measures the cranking amps and seems to be the definitive method of testing a car battery (the other methods aren't foolproof). I dug out my receipt for the old battery and it was dated 26-11-11 (12 months before I took the Astra on) and only had a 2 year guarantee. The new battery has a 4 year guarantee and was a tenner cheaper!

[matt of the vivas]

Jonners, as ive hinted at before, im in the battery business. I have tested, in my role, a lot of "magic" products designed to restore flagging batteries.
Nothing i have tested so far works better than a battery charger....
If the battery is badly sulphated, then thats it. Its a chemical change within the battery, you cant reverse it. In fact, a battery starts sulphating from the moment the acid is added to it - thats why batteries are supplied to us dry, we add the acid when we ready to sell them - that way we can store them long term without deterioration.
You can slow sulphation down by good battery maintenace, keeping it in a charged state, and by buying a good quality battery in the first place, that has purer metal in the plates and is built to a higher standard, but you cant stop it. Thats why batteries always need replacing eventually.
The rate of sulphation increases the lower the state of charge of the battery, 12.4 volts is generally accepted as an in-service minimum before charging is required.
At some point, the sulphation on the plates increases to the point where there is not enough active material left on the plates to provide enough amperage to start the car. At this point the battery requires replacement. This has nothing to do with the voltage within the battery by the way - you can re-charge a badly sulphated battery and get its voltage back up, but it still wont start a car - theres no amp capacity left in it. This is how most of the battery chargers with "desulphation" facilities work - they simply pulse high voltage across the battery to overcome the high internal resistance of a sulphated battery, allowing a fairly low output charger to recharge a very flat battery. This is not "recovering" a battery, its simply forcing it to accept charge that it has no capacity to retain. A good quality, high output standard battery charger will do exactly the same thing - theres no magic about it.
If you still doubt what im saying, and believe that it is possible to "desulphate" or "recondition" a battery, ask yourself why you can't buy a "reconditioned" battery in the same way that you can buy a starter or alternator? Simply because its not possible to reverse a chemical change!

[matt of the vivas]

Just to further push the point for Jonners, as i know he will still be convinced he is right:
(i love him really)
This is my test bay at work:



On the wall, three Midtronics Charge X-Press Pro 50-2 double charger units at around £400 each

On the bench is a GYS Batium 15-12 at £139 + VAT retail

Next to it is an MPL Traction Charger at £399 + VAT

Theres another, older version on the shelf below the red chargers, this was similar money but is now 10+ years old.

The large red chargers are rather older, they are constant voltage bank chargers and are capable of charging up to 6 batteries in series per bank, so thats up to 24 batteries in one go. They were £1000 plus many years ago and are updated and repaired on site as required.

You will also some of the test gear i have - the old Wilkson WL18 Carbon Pile tester is a favourite, also visible is the latest Midtronics MDX-617 Conductance Tester - i have half a dozen of these, in various versions... The latest one i helped develop and de-bug the software thats now installed as standard.

Now if theres anything you think your £19.99 Desulphater can do that i cant do with the kit I have here, i would be very happy to test it....

Matt.