Home/Batteries and starting
Car won't start? I come to it
Battery, alternator or starter motor. I test which one it actually is instead of guessing, and I carry batteries on the van.
Perth metro · 8am–8pm, 7 days · Fixed price up front
A car that will not start is the one fault where being mobile matters most, because the car is not going anywhere. Wherever it has stopped, that is where the work happens.
It is not always the battery
Three different parts produce very similar symptoms, and replacing the wrong one is an expensive way to still be stranded.
- Battery. Slow cranking, dash lights dimming as you turn the key, or nothing at all. Worse on cold mornings and after the car has sat.
- Alternator. The car starts fine off a jump, then dies again later. The battery keeps going flat because nothing is recharging it.
- Starter motor. A single click, or a whirring with no engine turning, while the lights and electronics stay bright.
I test all three properly: battery voltage and load, charging output with the engine running, and current draw at the starter. That tells us which part has actually failed, rather than which one is easiest to sell you.
A battery that keeps going flat is a symptom, not a diagnosis. If a new battery goes flat again within weeks, the fault is usually the charging system or a parasitic drain, and replacing the battery a second time will not fix it.
Parasitic drain
If your battery is fine when tested but flat every few mornings, something is drawing current while the car is off. Aftermarket alarms, dash cameras hard-wired badly, faulty door switches and boot lights are the usual suspects. Finding it is a measurement job, not a guessing job.
How long do batteries last in Perth?
Heat is harder on a battery than cold is, so Perth summers shorten battery life compared with cooler parts of the country. Three to five years is a realistic expectation, and a battery that is testing marginal in autumn is worth replacing before it strands you.
Common questions
Do you carry batteries?
Yes, for most common vehicles. If yours takes something unusual I will source it and tell you the price before I come out.
Will a new battery clear my dash warning lights?
Sometimes, if they were caused by low voltage. Sometimes not, in which case the codes need reading properly to find out what else is going on.
Tell me the year, make and noise
Ring me, or fill in the job card and it lands straight in my inbox. Callout is $100 and it comes off the bill.
Also on the van