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Topic: The spinning dials? (Read 911 times) |
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harry.m1byt
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The spinning dials?
« on: Oct 21st, 2006, 8:53pm » |
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My speedo and tacho dials spin on turning the ignition on, but the previous owner suggested a new battery had just been fitted. In the stuck speedo dial thread it has been suggested that the spinning dials are due to low battery voltage.
Is this a case of they all spin at switch on, or does it really think my battery is on its way out? Is there some way to check the serial number on the battery to confirm its age? The standing battery voltage seems good at 12.8v.
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August '95 2.9 12v auto Ultima -
Now flashing 
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mr._floppy
Junior Member
Posts: 100
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #1 on: Oct 21st, 2006, 9:35pm » |
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Never trust them previous owners 
The spinning dial syndrome is almost always battery related.
12.8v sounds a tad low.
Get your hands on a known good battery and see if your wonky dials revert back to their normal behaviour.
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cossie_al
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Ex 24v
Posts: 902
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #2 on: Oct 21st, 2006, 9:46pm » |
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 with mr_floppy
one thing to check, is the battery rating correct? I forget what the correct ratings are but they are higher than most standard batteries.
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taliban aka Cheekyboy2
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #3 on: Oct 21st, 2006, 9:51pm » |
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spinning dials is a sign of low voltage, mine did it last winter, was fine in the summer, but is now doing it again with the colder weather, unless i go for a really long drive, so at some point soon i'll be getting a new battery.
when you say standing voltage, is that using the trip reset button in the dash to put it in service mode? if so, with the engine on tick over, lights off, it should be around 14v, give a few revs and it should rise to 14.5 or a bit more, lights on, down to 13.5 ish.
you could take it to halfords to have the cold cranking amps checked, that'll definately tell you if the battery isnt holding.
with the amount of electrical gizmos on scorps, 12v and below, you'll be lucky if it starts.
as for checking the age of the battery, they can sit on shop shelves for ages which is fine, its when they're put in use that they gradually start to drain. sellers often say 'recent battery mate' after they've wiped the dust off the top making it look new. buyers rarely check or ask for the receipt, its an easy selling point, if the battery fails, the seller just says 'that'll teach you to leave the lights on', you cant prove you havent.
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harry.m1byt
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #5 on: Oct 21st, 2006, 11:38pm » |
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It would seem to have fixed itself, it may just have been the discharge from all the electrical problems I've been trying to resolve. I'll keep an eye on the dials.
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August '95 2.9 12v auto Ultima -
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #6 on: Oct 22nd, 2006, 12:11am » |
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on Oct 21st, 2006, 9:54pm, scorpio_man wrote:
It descibes cadnium batteries as being reliable but tend to discharge quickly....almost over night 
When I bought my present Scorp in February the dials started flicking on start up & the battery died after a few days...even recharging it would only last a couple of days ..It was a Kwik fit/centaur 580 amp standard battery.
I replaced it with a cadnium (calsium) battery & have not had any probs since...& that's in a Taxi after 18,000 miles of stop/start motoring.
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Octavian_P
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Posts: 1126
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #7 on: Oct 22nd, 2006, 12:56am » |
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The spining dials are a verry good warning that your "brand new battery" will fail. My battery gave me this "signaling" with 3 month before packing up forever 
A good calcium battery is the right fit for mister scorpio
PS: the higher the cold cranking current (cca) the better
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2.0 16V Ultima|2.3 16V Ghia|2.9 24V Cosworth Ghia
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TiberiuS
Senior Member
Ex. 1996 2.3 Ultima - RIP P789 KHJ
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #8 on: Oct 22nd, 2006, 1:17pm » |
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12.8 doesn't sound too low to me, mine sits at about 12.4, up to around 13.8 14.4 when idling. If the battery is dying/underrsized it'll cause grief even though the standing voltage will look ok, voltage will dip when too much is asked of it hence the jumping needles. If you're getting 14v running then the charging system is ok.
A bit of advice, don't buy a new battery from Halfords. The AA used to get called when the battery on the Mondeo went dead the first time, since it has gone every 18 months to 2 years. Pulled my hair out trying to find a current drain until I found out the AA get batteries from Halfords and although you get a discount, the batteries don't last long as has been said elsewhere. Finding a current drain is near impossible, especially when there isn't one and the battery is causing the symptoms.
With the Scorpio, pay the extra and get a genuine Motorcraft battery, had mine on the 2.3 for nearly 2 years now, car regularly gets laid up for a couple of weeks, never have ANY trouble starting even when I've been draining the battery leaving the doors open/using the radio while it's been standing. Chap at Ford's had trouble finding the correct rating for the 2.3, went through all the paperwork to make sure I had the correct one, battery I had replaced was the original one from September 1996.
Final straw on the Mondeo was a few months ago, a relative had the car in London when the battery failed again, called the AA who replaced it, drove car home, wouldn't start again. Looking under the bonnet, the new battery was way too small, called AA back and the battery was for a 1.6, the engineer must have confused the 16v badge for engine size. Mis-sized battery wil cause grief, either killing the batt or the charging system. Now with a Motorcraft one, no more problems yet.
Regards, Bruce.
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Bruce - '07 Jaguar XKR coupe, '95 Jaguar XJ Sport 4.0, '82 Ford Capri 2.0 Ghia, '15 Honda Civic (sloooooww..)
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richa
Newbie
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #9 on: Oct 22nd, 2006, 1:58pm » |
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Intresting you say not to get a halfords battery. I got a heavy duty one from them back in 2000 when I bought the car from an auction as somebody robbed the battery. The one in there was date stamped 1992 so prior to the cars manufacture. The new ones been fine but I have always had this spinning dail problem since I have had yhe car, I just live with it. It only seems to happen in cold weather. I wonder if a different battery would solve that. Anyway the car runs fine so I am happy. The biggest problem is the trip meter zeroing when I am trying to record my milage for my work.
Cheers Richa
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taliban aka Cheekyboy2
Senior Member
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #10 on: Oct 22nd, 2006, 5:19pm » |
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richa, i have the same prob with mine, mines a banner battery (might try motorcraft), was in the car when i bought it, but i dont think the rating is high enough, 60amp, especially as my cars a diesel. i notice in highlanders info the the ampage of the motorcraft battery is 71.
anyone got a price for motocraft batteries?
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TiberiuS
Senior Member
Ex. 1996 2.3 Ultima - RIP P789 KHJ
Posts: 2257
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #11 on: Oct 22nd, 2006, 8:11pm » |
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Mine cost about £70 for the 2.3, they disposed of the original for me.
Another note on the Halfords batts, we used to get the spinning gauges on the Mondeo even when it was ok, hence my suspicions of a drain. Since the new Motorcraft one there's no more problems, same on the Scorp, never have ANY problems even when it's been laid up, if you get some then the battery is the place to look.
I'm not running them down but their batteries are prone to fail very quick without any warning, car is fine, go to start next morning...nothing. At least when the Scorp's original quit I got a couple of weeks warning with the needles and lost keycodes...
Regards, Bruce.
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Bruce - '07 Jaguar XKR coupe, '95 Jaguar XJ Sport 4.0, '82 Ford Capri 2.0 Ghia, '15 Honda Civic (sloooooww..)
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Kjetil S
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2001 BMW 520iat
Posts: 1419
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Re: The spinning dials?
« Reply #12 on: Oct 22nd, 2006, 8:33pm » |
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on Oct 22nd, 2006, 5:19pm, taliban wrote:richa, i have the same prob with mine, mines a banner battery (might try motorcraft), was in the car when i bought it, but i dont think the rating is high enough, 60amp, especially as my cars a diesel. i notice in highlanders info the the ampage of the motorcraft battery is 71.
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I had one of those 60amp banner batteries myself in my 2.0 16v, and from time to time the car just wouldn't start. Wouldn't even turn over.
Replaced it with an 80amp banner battery and it has started on first turn every time since. (the 80 amp doesn't fit very well underneath the cover, but with some minor alterations, it will fit nicely
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