Mileage to charge battery
Discussion
Hi chaps!
I have had to jump start the Chimaera quite regularly recently. Thought this was due to k-nackered battery and was going to change it. I use the car everyday normally but this usually involves a couple of short journeys of around say 2 miles. If the Chim is left for more than a day without use..its out with the jump leads again. However, after a long run of around 200 miles, I found that I could leave it for 7 days and it started perfectly. So the battery IS capable of holding a charge.
I know these engines take a lot of current to start and short journeys don't recharge it that well but surely the bigger battery and 100A alternator are designed to cope with this. I can do the same journeys with the Range Rover and this doesn't go flat.
Alternator output is 13.8V at idle.
Any ideas?
Matthew
I have had to jump start the Chimaera quite regularly recently. Thought this was due to k-nackered battery and was going to change it. I use the car everyday normally but this usually involves a couple of short journeys of around say 2 miles. If the Chim is left for more than a day without use..its out with the jump leads again. However, after a long run of around 200 miles, I found that I could leave it for 7 days and it started perfectly. So the battery IS capable of holding a charge.
I know these engines take a lot of current to start and short journeys don't recharge it that well but surely the bigger battery and 100A alternator are designed to cope with this. I can do the same journeys with the Range Rover and this doesn't go flat.
Alternator output is 13.8V at idle.
Any ideas?
Matthew
I had something similar to this, if the car was left for anything more than 12-18 hours then it wouldn't start unless I'd done a longish journey in it (e.g. 25 miles or more), and on my 250 mile journey from London to W.Wales I could leave the car a day or two and it'd still start fine.
It slowly got worse though, so I changed the battery and haven't had any problems since.
It sounds like your battery is holding some charge, but not nearly as much as it should, ande will probably just get worse. For the sake of 60 quid and a couple of hours you may as well change it!! Make sure you get a new one with at least 600amps cranking.
It slowly got worse though, so I changed the battery and haven't had any problems since.
It sounds like your battery is holding some charge, but not nearly as much as it should, ande will probably just get worse. For the sake of 60 quid and a couple of hours you may as well change it!! Make sure you get a new one with at least 600amps cranking.
Hi chaps!
I have had to jump start the Chimaera quite regularly recently. Thought this was due to k-nackered battery and was going to change it. I use the car everyday normally but this usually involves a couple of short journeys of around say 2 miles. If the Chim is left for more than a day without use..its out with the jump leads again. However, after a long run of around 200 miles, I found that I could leave it for 7 days and it started perfectly. So the battery IS capable of holding a charge.
I know these engines take a lot of current to start and short journeys don't recharge it that well but surely the bigger battery and 100A alternator are designed to cope with this. I can do the same journeys with the Range Rover and this doesn't go flat.
Alternator output is 13.8V at idle.
Any ideas?
Matthew
If your car is garaged use the LT trickle charger which connects via the cigarette lighter socket. Easy to use and very effective--no problems nowadays and I do mostly short journeys.
bob the planner said: Matt,
One option is to change your route to work ! My normal route is about 3 miles however when I take the Chimeara I always do 7-10 miles to ensure that the engine/exhaust is warm and the battery gets a chance at recharging. It also puts an extra smile on my face.
Bbo
Good plan Bob, Hence the name i guess!!
I think if you use the car for 2 miles each way even daily you will always have this problem, even if you buy a new battery. The reason the battery is being charged at 13.8v at idle is because it is permanently needing to be charged. I bet if you charge it up properly once and take it out for a couple of decent runs a week the problem will go.
Ivan
Ivan
Your other problem is going to be that the engine is not going to like all those short journeys.
My Chim was starting to hesitate slightly at ~2000-2500 revs, but the run down from Tankersley to Daventry and back last weekend seems to have cleared it and it's pulling like a good'un now.
My Chim was starting to hesitate slightly at ~2000-2500 revs, but the run down from Tankersley to Daventry and back last weekend seems to have cleared it and it's pulling like a good'un now.
Lead-acid batteries deteriorate more quickly if only partially charged. They should be kept topped up to avoid this.
Suggest you buy an Optimate charger to keep it in good condition. Avoid any fast charging.
It's worth remembering that starting a car takes approx 20-30 minutes of driving to recharge the battery to its original state.
Suggest you buy an Optimate charger to keep it in good condition. Avoid any fast charging.
It's worth remembering that starting a car takes approx 20-30 minutes of driving to recharge the battery to its original state.
I always try to avoid short journeys in the Chimaera anyway. Even if I'm going 3 miles, I'll keep going till the oil temps up and the oil pressures dropped a bit. Any excuse to drive it eh!?!?
I was always told that it's bad for an engine (especially one this size) to be driven cold anyway.
I was always told that it's bad for an engine (especially one this size) to be driven cold anyway.
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