Please help - battery dead and can't get into car!

[chris watton]

can someone please help me?
I havent used the Chim for the past 2 weeks due to the appauling weather, and when I go to use my remote to open the doors today, nothing,,, not even a clunk when I press the door opening buttons on the wing mirrors!
is there a way of getting inside? as obviously I need to change the battery, which brings me to another question,,, what battery do I buy and how easy is it changing it. I start a new job week and can't use my beloved Chim until it's fixed!!
If there is anyone who could help me in the Forest of Dean region (Cinderford, 12 miles from Ross), I would willingly pay for help!!!

Thank you

Chris

[Pies]

YHM

hope it helps

[mongoose]

chris,give me an e-mail if you want me to call.im in blakeney f.o.d.,and could pop round easily .-cheers,mv.

[chris watton]

Thank you for that , however, it seems the battery is completely dead, and the Chim is stuck in the garage, making getting in and getting the battery almost impossible,, I think the best solution would be to jump start it (once in the road, but the drive is on a steep incline!) and take it to the TVR garage in Cheltenham, but reading the Bible,, even jump starting the car's got me confused!
If I get in the car,, could I try a battery charger, and see if it holds it's charge overnight, just to get the car started once?

Cheers

Chris

[Podie]

Blue-V8-Thunder

Please remove that post, as you have just told the world how to break into a Chimaera..!

[chris watton]

Yikes!!!

I can get into the boot anyway, as the mechanism seems to be broke thus the boot is always 'unlocked' (this was/is going to sorted out next week at the garage!)

Chris

[speedeight]

Podie said:

Blue-V8-Thunder Please remove that post, as you have just told the world how to break into a Chimaera..!

Yes, that's why people usually email this kind of stuff to help out. Not post it on an internet forum which any wannabe car thief can read

[mongoose]

chris watton said:

Thank you for that , however, it seems the battery is completely dead, and the Chim is stuck in the garage, making getting in and getting the battery almost impossible,, I think the best solution would be to jump start it (once in the road, but the drive is on a steep incline!) and take it to the TVR garage in Cheltenham, but reading the Bible,, even jump starting the car's got me confused! If I get in the car,, could I try a battery charger, and see if it holds it's charge overnight, just to get the car started once? Cheers Chris

get in the car,leave charger connected overnight and all should be ok.if battery is duff,buy another one and diy fit-its straightforward if a little more time consuming than say an astra! your likely to pay twice as much at a dealer btw.

[chris watton]

Thank you

Can I get the new battery from, say, halfords?, and which one do I need, as we plan to buy a charger and battery this afternoon, and I'm sure the Halfords guys wont have much of a clue what battery I need, (as don't I too!!!)

Chris

[shpub]

Chapter 7 in the bible IIRC or download the chapter from www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[mongoose]

type 072,600+cc amps if poss(others have been happy with slightly less),zero maintainance and with a vent tube attatchment.youll still need to make sure the 'footprint' will fit in the battery box though as some still dont!

[chris watton]

Thanks a lot guys , what a great forum this is,,, forget how useful it is and helpful until we hit a problem!
we will buy a charger this afternoon, charge it up so I can then at least drive it onto a flat bit of road, take the battery out and then measure the footprint. I will then buy the new battery and try and put it in myself,,

One thing though, the red light for the alarm is still flashing, as I left the alarm on,,, what can I do about that when I get into the car!!!!!

Chris

[mongoose]

hmm.... dont know about the alarm as i havent had to deal with this.assuming neither your fob or the immobiliser key will switch it off-dont assume they wont just because the doors wont open,once youve opened the doors manually it could be a different story?,then id connect the charger,and once its connected and supplying power,then try it-the alarm shouldnt need more power than the charger can supply.obviously alarm will be going off in mean time,but its worth a try.im sure someone else on here may be able to help further/correct me if nec.also worth mentioning-its worth marking out some alignment marks on the battery box and floor so that when you come to put the box back in,the bolt holes lign up correctly.this will save you a lot of hassle beleive me!

>> Edited by mongoose on Saturday 7th February 13:05

[kevin secker]

Be very careful what type of charger you use if you intend to charge the battery while it is still connected to the car electrics. If the battery is so dead that the door locks don't work then you will need something like an Accumate charger to charge the battery without either "killing" the battery or the car electrics. Smacking 15amps into a discharged battery (like most normal chargers will do) will kill even a recoverable battery. Leven sell Accumates but if you're desperate to get the charger NOW then I have found motorbike specialists sell this type of charger as they are the only ones suitable for the gel-cell type batteries used on bikes. I hope this helps.

Kevin

[mongoose]

kevin secker said:

Be very careful what type of charger you use if you intend to charge the battery while it is still connected to the car electrics. Kevin

i dont see the real problem here?you cant put any more amps into something than it wants to draw can you?modern chargers have fused output so your not going to overload etc.ive charged a battery all fully connected in car,with a charger before with no probs.im not a great fan of high boost type chargers mind you,mines only 10a,and i usually use that at the 6a max setting,i agree that a completely dead one can easily be killed off by boost charges though.please dont take this as critisicm,im just quoting what ive been taught,which has always worked for me.im more than prepared to be enlightened though.

[kevin secker]

No probs Mike,

Just doing likewise. I've always been taught to charge batteries off the car in case of damage to electrics......so I did. That is until I got an Accumate that said in the instructions that you can charge whilst connected to the car electrics. Probably a precaution more relavent to really basic chargers that have unregulated outputs and can therefore put more that 14.4V through the system.

Kevin

[chris watton]

Hiya,

We bought a pair of heavy duty jump leads (up to 5000cc) from Halfords, and, after much swearing trying to put the clips onto the terminals of the Chim battery!!!!!!!! (more like T-Rex clips than crocodile clips!!), we got the car started.
I just have been out to give it a good run (mechanicals seem nigh on perfect), and it's now back in the garage. However, although the electrics now work (just!), the car will not start by itself, so I assume the battery was/is very dead,, another thing is that the hazzard warning lights keep coming on all the time, and it doesn't matter how many times I press the key fob!!! Anyone know of a reason for this?
I havent locked the car this time and have left the roof down!! lol

Cheers guys

Chris

[T88CAN]

chris watton said:

Hiya, We bought a pair of heavy duty jump leads (up to 5000cc) from Halfords, and, after much swearing trying to put the clips onto the terminals of the Chim battery!!!!!!!! (more like T-Rex clips than crocodile clips!!), we got the car started. I just have been out to give it a good run (mechanicals seem nigh on perfect), and it's now back in the garage. However, although the electrics now work (just!), the car will not start by itself, so I assume the battery was/is very dead,, another thing is that the hazzard warning lights keep coming on all the time, and it doesn't matter how many times I press the key fob!!! Anyone know of a reason for this? I havent locked the car this time and have left the roof down!! lol Cheers guys Chris

YHM

[chris watton]

Cheers T88CAN ,

Unfortunately, I have not recieced the mail as yet!! Must be a slow server today.

Chris

[mongoose]

just a slim chance that your door switch is arcing and not making good contact,this switch works the alarm unit as well as the interior light.try pressing it fully home with the door open one door at a time, to see if this stops it.sometimes theres a peice of rubber stuck to the lower part of the door to help trigger the switch properly and this falls off.could also be the cause of battery drain.