VY Calais wont start

[redcandle]

Ok, so I have a 2003 VY Calais Supercharged that wont kick over.

It has happened a few times before but it eventually kicked over, but not this time.
What happens is you put the key in the ignition, and try to turn it over, you can hear it trying to, then just loud rapid clicking sounds. It has a big attempt of turning the engine over, then the second/third/etc time is less and less until you leave it for half hr or so.

I have checked my battery with my multimeter, sitting around 12.3V, so I doubt its the battery, and also after I disconnected the battery to test it, once it was reconnected my fuel is now at 0L and I get the Very Low Fuel warning, even though I only filled it up 2 days before and have only used 8 litres of it.

Now, my suspictions are;
Starter Motor, bad earthing or something else.

Has anyone else got any ideas? At the moment the car is sitting half on my driveway/half on the road and as my driveway is at a decent slope I wont be pushing it up any time soon!

Cheers

[bandit10]

sounds like bad power supply to the starter, id start by checking the wiring from battery to starter make sure all terminals are clean and have good contact.

You can test this theory if you have some jumper cables, put one direct from + on battery to the starter and see if it fires up.

[redcandle]

Ok so I ended up borrowing a battery from a mates commodore, put it in mine and she starts great! Could it be as simple as a dud battery? I did chuck my multimeter over it and it did show 12.3 v running across it, but that was without anything else connected. Dropped cell in the battery maybe? Has power and charge but dies once load is applied? Also if it is my battery, how would I test my alternator to check it is actually delivering it power etc?
Cheers!

[redcandle]

Also since it started at 2 am I was able to move it up my driveway into my garage so I now get underneath to check the starter

[maginoodle]

to check the alt, just put a multimeter on the batt when the motor is going. it should show between 13.8-14.4v. if it doesnt check at the back of the alt and if you get a higher reading then at the batt the wire from the alt to the batt needs fixing/replacing.

[brokenikon]

Similar problem in my VY Exec - replaced the battery, not a problem since (still has that battery in it)

[redcandle]

So I purchased a new battery this arvo, kicked over straight away, which was a huge relief. The guys at Holden tested my old battery, told me it had dropped a cell which would cause it to shit itself under load. I must admit, I was going to go to Super Cheap or Battery World to buy my new battery, but the Holden dealer sold me a new one Adelco(??) 530 CCA with 30 months warranty for $110, well short of the $150 anywhere else, pays to look around I guess! Thanks for all the help!

Cheers

[db_notso]

to check battery is okay
put multimeter on it
wacth multimeter screen
crank car over
while cranking it shouldnt drop below 10 volts if it does it either needs charging or its buggered