Battery charge: Start it and run it, or leave it alone?

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

My Dad died a couple of weeks ago, and I'm starting to worry about the battery of his car going flat. I haven't started it since he died, and I know he had occasional battery problems due to intermittent usage so I don't know how long it had been since the car was last driven.

My question is: Should I start it and idle it at 2000 rpm for 5 to 10 minutes (or longer?), or would it be better to just leave it alone?

The car is a 2013 Ford B-Max with the 125 bhp 1 litre 3-cylinder petrol engine.

Obviously driving it would be the ideal, but I can't do that yet until I've got the car registered to me, then re-taxed and insured. I guess it might take another couple of weeks to get that sorted - should I leave it alone in the meantime, or will it benefit from running at a fast idle?

If I leave it alone, should I consider leaving it unlocked so that the alarm is inactive?

Bear in mind that the car has start-stop, so I assume it's not a traditional lead-acid battery. Can I connect my Optimate 2 to it?

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Monday 23 January 06:51

[eliot]

It's likely to be an AGM battery, which reading up the optimate 2 supports, so that is by far and away the best thing you can do for it.

[PositronicRay]

Try your optimate, see if the battery takes a charge then just leave it to do it's thing. The optimate only charges @ 0.8A so if it's a bit low it'll take weeks to reach a decent charge.

If it won't take/hold a charge it's new battery time.

No point running the car if it's not going to get driven, but if it's taking a charge no harm in starting it just to make sure it goes.

[voicey]

If you want something slightly more powerful to charge it up, Lidl have their battery chargers in stock right now. 3.8 Amps and they have an AGM setting. £13.99

[steveo3002]

disconect the battery until its time to use /drive it ?

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Thanks folks!

I'll go to his house at the weekend and see if I can hook up the Optimate to it, ideally feeding a cable out through the letterbox. If that works then there's no urgency to drive it, and I'll probably delay re-registering, taxing and insuring it until I really need to.

[anonymous-user]

If it's sat there for a long time, it would be good to start it to circulate the oil. Should be ok for a couple of months though. Also bear in mind, fuel loses it's octane rating over time.

[Sylvaforever]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Trickle charge would be best to bring it up to condition, I am unsure how your charger works but most will deactivate if there is a cell down.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Thanks folks.

I went to the house a week or so ago and connected the car up to my Optimate, and the next door neighbour told me that the lights went green after about 24 hours. I've left it connected, so hopefully the battery should be fine.