Leaving my Vantage V8 for 3 months

[Greathey]

Apologies if this question has been asked a billion times before but a little piece of info is always helpful

I am worried about the battery going completely dead, a tender or disconnecting the battery are not options for me

I will leave the bonnet open and jump start once I come back in September

I am just worried about all settings defaulting while the car is stored in my underground park

I also have a BMW 325i 2008 and an Audi TT 2.0 which again will be left with the battery attached and no battery tenders

Thanks

[Greathey]

The battery is almost new if that makes any difference and I will press the battery disconnect button of course

[vernierMike]

Not a lot of options there! Presuming no power available, and no daylight for a small PV panel each (even a little distance away? splice in some nice thick wires, these things develop about 17V and a little Voltage drop is not the end of the world...)

Is there a lighting circuit you can use a bulb converter or get an electrician to get some low-current power from it? Not best practice perhaps but can be safe if properly protected. If in doubt seek professional advice etc!!

If fresh and new, maybe the batteries might keep them going for 3 months? I don't know...

[DB9VolanteDriver]

I’d buy a battery pack, fully charge it, and plug that in to the rear power port where you normally would plug your trickle charger. That could essentially double your battery capacity making 3 months no problem.

[Greathey]

vernierMike said:

Not a lot of options there! Presuming no power available, and no daylight for a small PV panel each (even a little distance away? splice in some nice thick wires, these things develop about 17V and a little Voltage drop is not the end of the world...)

Is there a lighting circuit you can use a bulb converter or get an electrician to get some low-current power from it? Not best practice perhaps but can be safe if properly protected. If in doubt seek professional advice etc!!

If fresh and new, maybe the batteries might keep them going for 3 months? I don't know...

I can leave my car outside but I rather not

Thanks for your suggestions

[Greathey]

DB9VolanteDriver said:

I’d buy a battery pack, fully charge it, and plug that in to the rear power port where you normally would plug your trickle charger. That could essentially double your battery capacity making 3 months no problem.

Good idea, I think I will go this route

[NickXX]

Have you left it for any amount of time before? My tracker used to kill batteries for me until I had it disabled. 3 months would probably be ok now (with the battery switched pushed). If you’ve not had your original tracker disabled, I would try to do that before leaving it.

I’d inflate your tyres to higher than normal to prevent flat spotting.

If you think you’ll be leaving it for long periods in the future, CTEK have recently launched a new product for your scenario (I’m tempted to get one too): https://www.ctek.com/uk/cs-free-portable-charger-a...

[Tremelune]

If you have an extra battery lying around, you could put it in the footwell and plug it into the cigarette lighter. It would simply increase the size of your battery while being drained.

Don't forget to floor the throttle when you start it up for the first time (to build up oil pressure without running the engine).

[Greathey]

Back to my V8V, started it after 80 days and it starts immediately

The same with my E90 BMW and my Audi TT, Audi little hesitation at first but now is fine

No trickle chargers or anything

I was worried but it seems having new batteries in my cars helped a little

Thanks everyone for your comments

[LTP]

Greathey said:

Back to my V8V, started it after 80 days and it starts immediately

No trickle chargers or anything

I was worried but it seems having new batteries in my cars helped a little

Thanks everyone for your comments

Glad it all worked out - and no resetting/recalibrating of windows, seats, etc. to be done, I assume?

Just for information, exactly what precautions did you take in the end, Greathey? There's been a lot of pointless whining in another thread about how Astons flatten their batteries in days.

Also what car do you have and how old is it? (older Astons seem more prone to the dreaded tracker failure causing high quiescent current drain).

[Greathey]

Hi LTP

No problems at all, no windows needed recalibrating or anything else, all is well

Mine is a 2008 4.3 roadster with the battery disconnect button in the boot

BMW worked fine, 325i

Audi sluggish at first but worked fine 2009 2.0 tfsi

I have two very basic vehicles as well which batteries were disconnected and they worked fine once I reconnected the batteries, a Nissan pickup and a Hyundai Galloper

[Greathey]

I also bought a 2015 Mustang ecoboost in Georgia which I will be leaving soon for a very long time. I checked the handbook and Ford says it is okay to disconnect the battery so fingers crossed it will be working in November

[LTP]

Greathey said:

Hi LTP

No problems at all, no windows needed recalibrating or anything else, all is well

Mine is a 2008 4.3 roadster with the battery disconnect button in the boot

Thanks. Which back-up battery system did you use to extend the capabilities of the V8V's standard battery? You were talking about connecting a battery pack to the rear power outlet.

[Greathey]

LTP said:

Thanks. Which back-up battery system did you use to extend the capabilities of the V8V's standard battery? You were talking about connecting a battery pack to the rear power outlet.

None

I left the car as is only pressed the battery button in the boot