Battery

[left98204]

I am finding that on a regular basis now I cannot start the car if it has been left for a day or so.

As it was left all over the winter doing nothing, the battery completely drained. I have since started using the car more often, however it doesn't seem to keep its charge for long.

This morning, I put the key in and just got a series of clicks. I imagine this is the battery, as when I have had this before, I have put the trickle charger on for a while, tried again and it has started.

It has to be reliable as Mrs left is now driving it now most days and I don't want a call in work from her saying she is stuck at Sainsburys or wherever she spends her days (dread to think.....)

I plan to give the battery a full 24 hour charge now, but can anyone say whether I have damaged the battery's capacity to hold charge and will I need a new one?

Cheers

 

[Maniac]

Its new battery time. They don't last forever you know... Any time a car is stood for long (more than a week or two) you should disconnect the battery.

 

[Adamski]

I was always told my old indy mechanic that once a battery loses its charge fully, it'll never work properly again. Don't know if that's a myth or not

 

[left98204]

Thanks, but not what I wanted to hear.

I am going to give a full charge one more go.

If it doesn't work, how much should I be paying for a new battery and any recommended makes?

Cheers

 

[lacroupade]

Thanks, but not what I wanted to hear.

I am going to give a full charge one more go.

If it doesn't work, how much should I be paying for a new battery and any recommended makes?

Cheers

Its even more true on these for some reason because I believe the charging circuit recognises the battery is shagged and refuses to charge it properly.

I've bought all my car batteries (fleet of five so several in the last few years) from tayna.co.uk and would recommend them without question - they are the Camskill of the battery world.

Prices are great and battery always turns up next day, well packed and ready to go. Its easy to pick a battery for your specific car and they even recommend upgrade paths if you want to spend more money..

 

[lacroupade]

Oh and don't leave it too long or you'll find the car might drop into 'transport mode' and you'll have to shell out for a software reset.... :thumbsdown:

 

[left98204]

Oh and don't leave it too long or you'll find the car might drop into 'transport mode' and you'll have to shell out for a software reset.... :thumbsdown:

I'll get onto it today.

Thanks!

 

[mrlozzer]

Oh and don't leave it too long or you'll find the car might drop into 'transport mode' and you'll have to shell out for a software reset.... :thumbsdown:

Good tip.... didn't know that!

 

[Bing]

The above is all probably totally correct, but just to add some recent experience with my wife's car... We had the same thing happening, battery not charged, clicks on turning the key, but also some weird electrical problems like dash lights going out when driving, indicators not working, but random and not consistent failures. Got a new battery, went out for a drive to make sure everything was ok, and 20 mins in everything started shutting down. On the motorway Limped it to my local Indy and left it with them. Turned out the alternator was buggered, so the new battery had just drained as it wasn't charging.

Just something to bear in mind if a new battery doesn't fix the problems, or they come back soon after changing. I had the same problem with my wife calling me up telling me all the electronics were going loopy and the car stopped working... Get back, start the car and it worked fine the first few times. Caused some serious marital disputes

 

[SGR1913]

i would take a look at the ctek range of battery chargers, they're designed to revive deeply discharged batteries. Seemed to work for me anyway... Worth a look

 

[Maniac]

That's totally possible Bing, but the OP here is stating its hardly used and sat for a good period unused. The Z's draw power continuously even when stood to power various systems, this in time will deplete the battery and once a battery is completely discharged its never the same.

 

[Bing]

Agreed, different situation.

 

[lacroupade]

Oh and don't leave it too long or you'll find the car might drop into 'transport mode' and you'll have to shell out for a software reset.... :thumbsdown:

Good tip.... didn't know that!

Its most likely to happen when you leave the car unattended for a long time and the battery goes flat (like I did! )- can't remember the exact symptoms now (you can search them on here though) but it was relatively minor stuff like the aircon stopps working and the heater fan only runs at its lowest setting. SW reset at dealers costs about £35 but its the inconvenience of it all!

 

[ZedFourM]

I was always told my old indy mechanic that once a battery loses its charge fully, it'll never work properly again. Don't know if that's a myth or not

It's true. Lead Acid batteries do not like to be fully discharged.

This technology has been around for a very long time. They were originally fitted to cars which had no electrical drain when switched off, and were designed to be constantly charged by the alternator when driving. The only time they might go flat was if you accidentally left your lights on overnight.

Modern cars can put a huge drain on batteries (alarms, telephone, remote roof openeing/closing, etc) when not running, and will use clever electronics to manage how the battery is charged when it's being driven, but the Lead Acid technology hasn't really changed over the years.