Aston trouble in the Algarve, again!
Discussion
OK, now the bugger won't start!
Hadn't used it doe a week, took a mate for a spin yesterday morning and everything cool as normal.
An hour or so later go to take it to a jet wash and it would not budge.
Mirrors extended when unlocked with fob (and tried the spare for, so all ok with them), fob into slot for ignition, then absolutely nothing at all.
Tried the suggested remove foot from break, indert key fully with foot off break, wait for fob to slowly return out of place and then repeat as normal. Nothing again. The fob happily stayed put.
In the hope it is something simple that others have experienced I am turning to the collective! Any ideas...?
Hadn't used it doe a week, took a mate for a spin yesterday morning and everything cool as normal.
An hour or so later go to take it to a jet wash and it would not budge.
Mirrors extended when unlocked with fob (and tried the spare for, so all ok with them), fob into slot for ignition, then absolutely nothing at all.
Tried the suggested remove foot from break, indert key fully with foot off break, wait for fob to slowly return out of place and then repeat as normal. Nothing again. The fob happily stayed put.
In the hope it is something simple that others have experienced I am turning to the collective! Any ideas...?
The first thing I would try is getting a battery charger/conditioner on it. When the battery gets low it goes into low power mode, doors/mirrors/alarm may work but it wont do anything else.
If charging battery works, look at getting a new battery that will cope with being left longer periods and/or keep an optimate etc on it
If charging battery works, look at getting a new battery that will cope with being left longer periods and/or keep an optimate etc on it
Simpo Two said:
JulianPH said:
An hour or so later go to take it to a jet wash and it would not budge.
That's the smoking gun IMHO... you've soaked something. Well no, your staff have soaked something ;-)F1NDW said:
It didn't make it to the jet wash. If the previous drive was short I'd go for battery.
Ah yes. Reading too fast.Batteries can fail completely in half an hour. The one in my XK went from seemingly perfectly OK to dead in that time, and I once had an S-Type with some gremlin that would drain the battery completely overnight at random intervals. It did it so often I just carried round a spare battery, and got quite deft at swapping them over. I only got caught out once when it killed both batteries in succession!
when my car does that after say 3 weeks not used, then I need the battery to charge, after that it starts direct.
when I say sometimes after 2 weeks the car is not in use, I have the same thing sometimes,
sometimes it works when I hold the key in start position, because the power is just not high enough for the starter (you hear nothing but the pump) and when holding for say 5sec in start position or so, it then starts :-) it then has just enough, while there is enough for everything else, my V8 (other then yours) needs full battery or a 'warm' one (system),
so say you can put it on a charger for just an hour (or shorter) and then it works, or put a outside battery help thing on your cars plus and minus and wait say 5 min and then there is already enough to let the starter come out and do its work.
when I say sometimes after 2 weeks the car is not in use, I have the same thing sometimes,
sometimes it works when I hold the key in start position, because the power is just not high enough for the starter (you hear nothing but the pump) and when holding for say 5sec in start position or so, it then starts :-) it then has just enough, while there is enough for everything else, my V8 (other then yours) needs full battery or a 'warm' one (system),
so say you can put it on a charger for just an hour (or shorter) and then it works, or put a outside battery help thing on your cars plus and minus and wait say 5 min and then there is already enough to let the starter come out and do its work.
Hi all, many thanks for your andswer, it seems like sitting still for a week or so, then a guick (30 min) drive has done for the battery. I am going to look for a solar powered conditioner so she can stay on trikkle charge and will let her fill up on this before ordering a replacement battery (which I think is going to be inevitable).
I would have got back yesterday, but Father's Day got in the way (I hope you all had a great one!) and to compund matters both water pumps on my boat are not working (so we can't go to sea and have to stay at the marina with the mains) and yesterday after coming back from lunch with my daughter on the tender that conked out in the harbour walls, need us to be towed back in!
All reassuringly PH first would problems, I know!
I would have got back yesterday, but Father's Day got in the way (I hope you all had a great one!) and to compund matters both water pumps on my boat are not working (so we can't go to sea and have to stay at the marina with the mains) and yesterday after coming back from lunch with my daughter on the tender that conked out in the harbour walls, need us to be towed back in!
All reassuringly PH first would problems, I know!
Julian , I hope you don't have to change your name to Jonah soon ?!
If no other option then I guess the solar conditioner might be worth a look but just fyi I googled and this came up courtesy of Hagerty's.
Firstly, a word of warning. None of these chargers are quite as good as we hoped they’d be, and you’d probably still be better off taking your battery out of the car and charging it once a month than you would be relying on a solar charger. But if that seems like hassle and you can’t access a mains charger even for a few hours, then one of these might be better than nothing.
If no other option then I guess the solar conditioner might be worth a look but just fyi I googled and this came up courtesy of Hagerty's.
Firstly, a word of warning. None of these chargers are quite as good as we hoped they’d be, and you’d probably still be better off taking your battery out of the car and charging it once a month than you would be relying on a solar charger. But if that seems like hassle and you can’t access a mains charger even for a few hours, then one of these might be better than nothing.
alscar said:
Julian , I hope you don't have to change your name to Jonah soon ?!
If no other option then I guess the solar conditioner might be worth a look but just fyi I googled and this came up courtesy of Hagerty's.
Firstly, a word of warning. None of these chargers are quite as good as we hoped they’d be, and you’d probably still be better off taking your battery out of the car and charging it once a month than you would be relying on a solar charger. But if that seems like hassle and you can’t access a mains charger even for a few hours, then one of these might be better than nothing.
Agreed - you'll struggle to get a reliable charge to start the car with a solar charger. Buy a Noco Boost GB40 (or better) as mentioned above. Those are pure Voodoo - an hour or two on USB to charge it up and bingo several starts of the V12 even with a totally dead battery! I always have mine in the boot these days just in case.If no other option then I guess the solar conditioner might be worth a look but just fyi I googled and this came up courtesy of Hagerty's.
Firstly, a word of warning. None of these chargers are quite as good as we hoped they’d be, and you’d probably still be better off taking your battery out of the car and charging it once a month than you would be relying on a solar charger. But if that seems like hassle and you can’t access a mains charger even for a few hours, then one of these might be better than nothing.
alscar said:
Julian , I hope you don't have to change your name to Jonah soon ?!
If no other option then I guess the solar conditioner might be worth a look but just fyi I googled and this came up courtesy of Hagerty's.
Firstly, a word of warning. None of these chargers are quite as good as we hoped they’d be, and you’d probably still be better off taking your battery out of the car and charging it once a month than you would be relying on a solar charger. But if that seems like hassle and you can’t access a mains charger even for a few hours, then one of these might be better than nothing.
My mother, she lived in a Wales (if that counts)!!!If no other option then I guess the solar conditioner might be worth a look but just fyi I googled and this came up courtesy of Hagerty's.
Firstly, a word of warning. None of these chargers are quite as good as we hoped they’d be, and you’d probably still be better off taking your battery out of the car and charging it once a month than you would be relying on a solar charger. But if that seems like hassle and you can’t access a mains charger even for a few hours, then one of these might be better than nothing.
Thanks for this, very useful to know. I will get a trickle charger for the boat and do just that...
AdamV12V said:
Agreed - you'll struggle to get a reliable charge to start the car with a solar charger. Buy a Noco Boost GB40 (or better) as mentioned above. Those are pure Voodoo - an hour or two on USB to charge it up and bingo several starts of the V12 even with a totally dead battery! I always have mine in the boot these days just in case.
One will be ordered today and hopefully when combined with the above approach I may get just away without a new battery too. Cheers!
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