Dead electrics

After an hour and a half of running around doing errands in the van yesterday, it suddenly refused to turn over.
The electrics appeared totally dead.
After showing the usual 14.1v all morning, the meter was dead and there were no clicks etc. from the starter.
The meter immediately sprung into life when jump leads were connected and I drove home.
It then refused to re-start as before - stone dead.

Do I have a dodgy connection somewhere or a faulty relay etc. etc?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Clean and tighten battery connections first, and check voltage with a multimeter at the battery terminals.

 

When mine had similar symptoms - it was the connections on the starter motor that had corroded.

 

As above but also get your battery checked. If you’re not using the van much this time of year the battery plates can sulphate short out & produce a dead cell.

 

12.8v at the battery and the meter showing the same. So all's well again.
Which means I have an intermittent fault - bugger.
Suppose I need to work through the system, checking connections.

 

As above, where the battery terminal joins the starter is a good place to start

 

Thanks all, got a spot of winter ebola, so will start next weekend if recovered.

 

Ebola can be quite nasty. Remember to take plenty of Lemsip, especially if your eyes start bleeding...

 

And dont go for a Chinese !

 

Aha, maybe it was that prawn toast I swiped last night.
However, I find beer alleviates most symptoms of ebola, black death, SARS etc., so here goes.