Loss of Power

[danw]

I have a very old Peugeot 205. I've had a couple of stereos in it and
ocasionally they loose all the preset radio stations.

This is, I think, is becuase the stereo is loosing power. This happens,
sometimes, when I start the car. The engine turns over once. Stops.
Then, when I retry, it starts without a problem. I very rarely have any
problems starting the car. Just this slight hiccup now and again.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to how to track the
cause of this problem. It's a royal pain having to retune the radio once
a week.

Any thoughts?

Cheers, Dan

[John Greystrong]

Post by danw
I have a very old Peugeot 205. I've had a couple of stereos in it and
ocasionally they loose all the preset radio stations.
This is, I think, is becuase the stereo is loosing power. This happens,
sometimes, when I start the car. The engine turns over once. Stops.
Then, when I retry, it starts without a problem. I very rarely have any
problems starting the car. Just this slight hiccup now and again.

Sounds like your battery and/or wiring is on the way out. The radio
needs about 12v ish all the time to save the presets. If when starting
the voltage is dropping much lower than that then that'll be your
problem.

John

[In-Car Express]

On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 21:00:29 +0100, danw

Post by danw
This is, I think, is becuase the stereo is loosing power. This happens,
sometimes, when I start the car. The engine turns over once. Stops.
Then, when I retry, it starts without a problem. I very rarely have any
problems starting the car. Just this slight hiccup now and again.

205s have two major issues which may well be causing this:

1) The plastic screw down battery clamps are totally useless, and
never give a clean connection. If the car still has these, cleaning
the terminals thoroughly and replacing the plastic clamp(s) with a
conventional battery clamp should get rid of the problem.

2) The starter motor fits on a dowel or dowels. If the starter is
removed and the dowel is damaged or omitted, the starter won't then
line up accurately. If this is the case, it causes the rear bearing in
the starter to wear. This then results in a tight spot - when you turn
the car over, the starter goes tight at one particular point. Flicking
the ignition key a couple of times usually clears the problem
temporarily.

Either of the above could cause a drop in battery voltage, which may
well be the cause of the radio losing it's memory.

Jon