Jump Start

[DamnFineChim]

Just another newbie question.
Battery went flat after just 2 days of not running her. Mind you, has been a week since last drive but had her running for atleast 20 mins on side of road.

Getting a jump start in the morning... Is there anything I need to know or do before I get the AA to hook her up? I heard something about spiking the electrics etc...?

To stop this from happening again what precautions can I take? I am 99.9 percent sure there was nothing left on to drain the battery. Bear in mind I am currently parking on the street so no electrics to keep the battery charged over night/during week.

Cheers,

Kempy

[sparkythecat]

The battery is in a glassfibre box secured in the passenger footwell. You have to be really careful getting those croc clips on the battery posts as it's really awkward.

It helps if you have small crocs and hands like ET, otherwise your AA man may just have to hold the crocs in contact while you crank her up.

Chim battery life is surprisingly short, particularly if the car isn't used very often. My last battery only lasted 2 years which I understand is about average.

You really need to get the battery out and have it properly tested, charged or replaced.

IIRC a new one is around £60

[Ballistic Banana]

You really want to do it without the other car running, or at least disconnect the battery fom the other car before jumping it across.
Otherwise it can Firk the ECU, not allways but Can do.

BB

[Jolley]

I know nothing about the car, but if the AA are doing it, they will use one of the portable battery jump starters anyway, so you should be ok.

[DamnFineChim]

Thanks guys,

Gonna get her jumped, take her for a looooong drive then hope it doesnt happen again next weekend. Will ask Mr AA if he can test the battery while he's here.

Ta,

Kempy

[parrot of doom]

Can't bump it?

[GreenV8S]

Flat in a couple of days doesn't sound promising. Might not have picked up much charge if it just spend 20 minutes idling, even so this might be a sign that the battery is losing its ability to hold charge or the alternator isn't charging it properly.

[d10 ldo]

Hi, i had the same problem not too long ago,called the AA out to test the battery, that way I knew if it was the Battery or the alternator not charging, turned out to be a duff battery, £32 for a new one, not to bad.

[DamnFineChim]

Got her jumped and tested. Putting out almost 14amps when idling right after jumping it. He says the battery seems fine. A BOSCH heavy Duty battery and previous owner says he put it in around January. Hopefully its not the altenator. Had it out for a nice long run today and stopped/started without any issues so see how she goes tomorrow.

Thanks again guys

Kempy

[Jolley]

DamnFineChim said:

Got her jumped and tested. Putting out almost 14amps when idling right after jumping it. He says the battery seems fine. A BOSCH heavy Duty battery and previous owner says he put it in around January. Hopefully its not the altenator. Had it out for a nice long run today and stopped/started without any issues so see how she goes tomorrow. Thanks again guys Kempy

If it does it again, it may be worth checking to see if anything is staying on that shouldn't be. We hired a Vectra once that had an interior light (boot, I think) that stayed on and ran the battery flat. When the recovery guy came, he said that quite a few cars suffer the same sort of problem.