what should you do if you are leaving your car for a month ?
Discussion
hi, i am planning on a holiday for a month, and i dont have a garage available, what needs to be done to leave it safely regarding the mechanics ? i was hoping to leave it in a residents permit bay, but surely the battery will run down? it s a relatively safe street but my motorbike was stolen a couple of years ago . regards
Not much really, I work offshore 3-4 weeks at a time I disconnect the battery and leave it in the garage if your worried about in insurance put a trickle charger on it. I come back to mine and starts first time every time. Except this time home it hates -3 but it still fired just took a little more cranking for the first start of the time at home, fired no problem after the initial start. Lol
Serious offer....leave it at my place. CCTV, 24/7 concierge, gated, undercover residents car park, not in London's most affluent area, but neither of my cars has been touched, including the Cerb which is currently in bits. Cant guarantee that nothing will happen, but prob better/safer than the street.
djstevec said:
Serious offer....leave it at my place. CCTV, 24/7 concierge, gated, undercover residents car park, not in London's most affluent area, but neither of my cars has been touched, including the Cerb which is currently in bits. Cant guarantee that nothing will happen, but prob better/safer than the street.
You do know they don't reproduce just because you put two together?ukkid35 said:
djstevec said:
Serious offer....leave it at my place. CCTV, 24/7 concierge, gated, undercover residents car park, not in London's most affluent area, but neither of my cars has been touched, including the Cerb which is currently in bits. Cant guarantee that nothing will happen, but prob better/safer than the street.
You do know they don't reproduce just because you put two together?
If they could I might have a Speed6 baby Cerb!
Gazzab said:
I would whip the battery out. Leave bonnet unlocked. Stick battery on a conditioner in a friends garage? Or borrow a garage for the month and condition battery in situ.
so if i take the battery out, and leave it on the street, will the alarm and immobiliser light still flash , i m assuming the door lock light wont, obviously the bonnet will be open , but all the doors and boot be locked ??? even this is what your implying ? leaving the bonnet open on the street sounds dubious, but hardly think its the first thing on a car theifs mind, would the immobiliser and alarm still work ,
or can i just leave it as it is , risk the car going flat use " the method" to gain access and jump start if nesscesary ?
No the car will be immobilised. Boot and doors will be 'stuck'. No alarm. No immobiliser. You may need the secret method in. Otherwise leave car as is with bonnet unlocked and if battery is stuffed then you can at least get to it. Though I would avoid jump starting as it can fry stuff.
I have this 10 watt quite rugged solar pannel i purchased recently , although my street is not great for sunlight it can get about 6 hours if the car is well positioned and the sun does actually shine, if it worked it would be the best least hassle option, what do you think to that ?
My gripe with removing the battery is the unlocked bonnet and lack of warning lights, i m assuming the only people that would steal a tvr would have to know a reasonable quantity about them to be able to do the job, surely dealing with the immobiliser takes actual knowledge of where they may be situated etc , so a specialist theif, may well spot the lack of lights, and take it as a indication to investigate further.
My gripe with removing the battery is the unlocked bonnet and lack of warning lights, i m assuming the only people that would steal a tvr would have to know a reasonable quantity about them to be able to do the job, surely dealing with the immobiliser takes actual knowledge of where they may be situated etc , so a specialist theif, may well spot the lack of lights, and take it as a indication to investigate further.
I have one of these, if you diconect your battery, but plug this into your lighter port the alarm still works and lights flash etc, its useless as a booster, but good for this.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-GLOVE-BOX-CAR-BATTER...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-GLOVE-BOX-CAR-BATTER...
fubar sounds said:
I have this 10 watt quite rugged solar pannel i purchased recently , although my street is not great for sunlight it can get about 6 hours if the car is well positioned and the sun does actually shine, if it worked it would be the best least hassle option, what do you think to that ?
My gripe with removing the battery is the unlocked bonnet and lack of warning lights, i m assuming the only people that would steal a tvr would have to know a reasonable quantity about them to be able to do the job, surely dealing with the immobiliser takes actual knowledge of where they may be situated etc , so a specialist theif, may well spot the lack of lights, and take it as a indication to investigate further.
This would be my option possibly coupled with Brakedusts idea to continue to power at night, that way you could disconnect or remove the cars battery making it harder to steal but keeping the alarm powered.My gripe with removing the battery is the unlocked bonnet and lack of warning lights, i m assuming the only people that would steal a tvr would have to know a reasonable quantity about them to be able to do the job, surely dealing with the immobiliser takes actual knowledge of where they may be situated etc , so a specialist theif, may well spot the lack of lights, and take it as a indication to investigate further.
To be honest I don't think theft is your problem, the cars are to recognisable to be of interest to a car thief, just my opinion of course but you really do not hear of them being stolen.
You need a "Battery Brain" (gold model with remote fobs).
http://www.batterybrain.co.uk/index.html
1) Take the car for a good run before you go on your hols to ensure the battery is fully charged
2) Lock the car
3) With the car locked press the "Battery Brain" remote to disconnect the battery
The car will be locked & secure with a fully disconnected battery.
A disconnected fit battery will hold enough charge to start the car after 2 - 3 months minimum.
4) Return to the car after your hols & press the "Battery Brain" remote (the indicators will flash 3 times)
5) When the indicators have finished the three flashes unlock the car as normal
6) Drive away as if you only used the car yesterday
Job done
Although you will be deactivating the alarm & flashing LED when you use the "Battery Brain" to disconnect the battery, in my opinion disconnecting the battery with the "Battery Brain" actually just adds another layer of security.
If a car thief gets into the vehicle he's going to find it impossible to hot wire it with a disconnected battery.
If he manages to find the "Battery Brain", understands what it is, manages to disconnect it & reconnects the battery (all highly unlikely); he will now be faced with the alarm & immobiliser which became active as soon as he reconnected the battery.
The beauty of the "Battery Brain" is you can dead lock the car as normal, then remotely disconnect the battery from outside the locked car.
The car will remain deadlocked and secure until you press the "Battery Brain" remote to reconnect the battery, then you can simply use your TVR fob to finally unlock the car and deactivate the alarm & immobiliser.
It's a totally reliable and secure way to leave your TVR in the street for months on end & know you'll return to a car that'll start immediately without issue.
No solar chargers to tempt the vandals, no need for mains power to run a trickle charger.
A brilliantly simple & effective solution to your problem
http://www.batterybrain.co.uk/index.html
1) Take the car for a good run before you go on your hols to ensure the battery is fully charged
2) Lock the car
3) With the car locked press the "Battery Brain" remote to disconnect the battery
The car will be locked & secure with a fully disconnected battery.
A disconnected fit battery will hold enough charge to start the car after 2 - 3 months minimum.
4) Return to the car after your hols & press the "Battery Brain" remote (the indicators will flash 3 times)
5) When the indicators have finished the three flashes unlock the car as normal
6) Drive away as if you only used the car yesterday
Job done
Although you will be deactivating the alarm & flashing LED when you use the "Battery Brain" to disconnect the battery, in my opinion disconnecting the battery with the "Battery Brain" actually just adds another layer of security.
If a car thief gets into the vehicle he's going to find it impossible to hot wire it with a disconnected battery.
If he manages to find the "Battery Brain", understands what it is, manages to disconnect it & reconnects the battery (all highly unlikely); he will now be faced with the alarm & immobiliser which became active as soon as he reconnected the battery.
The beauty of the "Battery Brain" is you can dead lock the car as normal, then remotely disconnect the battery from outside the locked car.
The car will remain deadlocked and secure until you press the "Battery Brain" remote to reconnect the battery, then you can simply use your TVR fob to finally unlock the car and deactivate the alarm & immobiliser.
It's a totally reliable and secure way to leave your TVR in the street for months on end & know you'll return to a car that'll start immediately without issue.
No solar chargers to tempt the vandals, no need for mains power to run a trickle charger.
A brilliantly simple & effective solution to your problem
Edited by ChimpofDarkness on Tuesday 11th December 10:52
Gazzab said:
No the car will be immobilised. Boot and doors will be 'stuck'. No alarm. No immobiliser. You may need the secret method in. Otherwise leave car as is with bonnet unlocked and if battery is stuffed then you can at least get to it. Though I would avoid jump starting as it can fry stuff.
If he locked the bonnet he could still get to it with the "secret enrty method". The whole car would be locked bonnet ,boot & doors . Unless mine is different.fubar sounds said:
the battery brain seems appealing, i assume it will still leave all the leds off though?
Yes, once you disconnect the battery the alarm warning LED will stop flashing.If this bothers you and you still want a flashing LED as a deterrent, you have three options.
1) Use the permanent live spade terminal provided on the "Battery Brain" to power a dummy alarm LED, the very small battery drain this will create should still allow you to start the car months after activating the "Battery Brain" main system disconnect.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-Bright-red-flashing-...
2) Use a dummy alarm LED powered by it's own AA battery box (description says the batteries will run the LED for 3 months)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flashing-Bright-Red-LED-...
3) Don't disconnect the battery using the "Battery Brain" fob, just lock & leave the car.
The "Battery Brain" will monitor your battery automatically, if the voltage falls below a given level it will automatically disconnect the battery for you.
When you return to the car if the voltage has fallen below the given level while you were away you'll know because your TVR fob won't open the door, simply press the "Battery Brain" fob and your back in action.
So lots of options, personally I wouldn't get too hung up about losing the flashing LED, it really isn't much of a deterrent as any self respecting car thief these days will assume all cars are fitted with an alarm.
Remember nobody pays the slightest bit of notice to a wailing car alarm siren, it's the immobiliser that stops a car thief nicking your TVR.
No matter how you choose to use the "battery Brain", ultimately you always retain the immobiliser function.
I've been using mine for a couple of years now & it's completely solved the flat battery problem for me, well worth £60.00.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=3&a...
this bit of kit sounds great and in theory would be brilliant, in practice does it work ? how many times have you returned to your car and had to activate it with the battery brain fob whilst having left it in normal parkup mode ? and when it has activated itself automatically does it always leave enough power to start the vehicle? regards
Gazzab said:
I suspect that this solution might be less of a success on a cerb than say a chimp. Cerbs electrics are more complex and they are prone to doing strange things when the charge drops.
Plus a chim is super easy to access if there is no power stand back and look at it for 3 secs Edited by scotty_d on Wednesday 12th December 09:08
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