Please help - useless wife left to deal with chimaera

[boris1]

Hi - I'm Boris1's wife and he's left me in charge to look after his car whilst he's away. I know he's a member of this forum so thought I'd try my luck in getting some advice.

I've been running the car a couple of times a week to work (20 minute drive) to keep it ticking over (since September) and on Friday the battery was flat. On Saturday I managed to get a couple of neighbours to bump start the car and whizzed it down the dual carriageway as it desperately needed petrol. After filling up, got back in but the car wouldn't start and battery was flat again :-(

This time managed to find a couple of helpful guys who had one of those battery jump starter boxes and got the car started . This time I ran the car for about 20 minutes down the motorway keeping the revs high to try and get the battery charged. By the way, on the occasions I've driven the car it's always been daylight so as to not use more battery power.

On Sunday morning thought I'd take the car for another run but the battery was flat again :-(

Now I really don't know what to do....he's not home 'til December. I know it's probably a new battery or perhaps the alternator but not really in a position to start buying and replacing parts. My neighbour has kindly offered to lend me his battery charger - said it would need to stay on trickle for about 24/36 hours - is this correct?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Sorry it's so long but I thought it best to give you all the details.

Edited to say that I did a quick search and there seems to be lots of problems with flat batteries - it's obviously a very common thing for these cars - why?

>> Edited by boris1 on Tuesday 8th November 22:56

[Ribol]

First thing to do is give it a decent charge, if it is a normal home type battery charger (6/8 amp) leave it on for 24 hours. If you can, leave the car windows open in case there is any battery gas about. Taking the battery out would be better but a bit of a job.
Try not to go for short drives to "keep it charged" that is not much better than not using it at all. Driving a car for 20 min will not get too much in to a flatish battery.

If you end up needing to buy a new battery, the part number is 072.

Good luck.

[hut49]

For what it's worth my 99 450's battery gave up the ghost under identical sounding circumstances a few months back - seems that around 5 years is the life expectancy of the batteries that were fitted in 99! I fiddled about with charging and trickle charging and it just didn't seem to hold a charge. I've subsequently heard that battery performance drops rapidly once it starts to go and there's really no way to 'recondition' them. So for the price of a tankful of Optimax you can have a new battery and lots of untroubled motoring while Boris is away. As noted, make sure you get the correct heavy duty spec battery fitted.

Fitting is a real pain - find a local center that knows Chims so you don't end up with a loose battery and a bunch of displaced electrical connections in the footwell.

[Boris1]

Many thanks for your replies. Thing is it's not really possible to drive it more than 20 minutes as I have my own car to keep running plus I have a horse and 2 dogs and there is no way all my stuff and the dogs will fit in the TVR :-)

I guess in an ideal world it needs to be driven every day and it sounds like that if I do charge the battery, it's going to go flat again.

I'm hoping my husband will call me in the next few days and I'll let him know of your suggestions and take it from there. I don't have a problem getting a new battery for the car but have no idea who to contact to fit it - especially as they will have to come out to me.

Just out of interest would it be an option to just put the cover on the car and leave it alone for the next 4 weeks? Would this do any harm?

>> Edited by Boris1 on Wednesday 9th November 08:31

[Cavey]

Laying up the car for one month won't do it any serious harm. If you were thinking of longer then there are a few precautions but doesn't sound as if you need to get into that. Does the keep out the rain? Is the cover waterproof? If the answer to both is 'no' then there will be a lot of water in the footwells after one autumn month!

I'm not in your neck of the woods, but there are several sepcialists not far away and the best answer would be to get the car to one of them for some testing and possibly a new battery. Try Ferhnurst TVR, sotuth of Haslemere. They have a good reputation, and would probably be happy to give you some advice over the phone initially.

Edited to correct nonsense.

>> Edited by Cavey on Wednesday 9th November 10:28

[chevtrev]

Yip,put a cover over it and forget it,it's not worth the grief,no harm will come of it.
However,while the hubby's away there's nothing wrong with giving the battery's a good recharge...

[Incorrigible]

I have a battery tester if you need to confirm whether the battery is knackered or not, battery fitting also avaiable

I can also supply secure, dry storage with the battery connected to a trickle charger so it's ready to go anytime

Mail me through my profile if you're interested

[Prof Higgins]

Would not think 4 weeks will be a problem, especially if you have a cover to keep it nice and dry.

I would add a suggestion though that you leave it with the handbrake off, have had problems in the past with rear brakes getting stuck on when left sitting. Obviously counter this by parking it in gear or chock up the wheels to make sure it doesn't roll off anywhere.

[jonathant]

hut49 said:

For what it's worth my 99 450's battery gave up the ghost under identical sounding circumstances a few months back - seems that around 5 years is the life expectancy of the batteries that were fitted in 99!

Concur on the life expectancy. My sept 99 450 battery died a few months ago but fortunately I had a little warning (cranking seemed slower each time). When it finally gave up the ghost it only held enough charge for one final start then that was it. By the time I'd driven the 30 miles to Castle TVR for a new battery it was kaput. I have previously had a battery go from "fine" to "dead" in one drive.

I'd have thought that a 20min run is enough - my daily drive only gets 10-20mins per run and the only battery problems I've had were caused by a broken 100A fuse (is the battery light on after starting?).

[stepej]

'tis true.

same happened to mine in March. I had plenty of warning but thought it would last until service time. It didn't. Had to get RAC out to jump start it. 110 miles later, still no charge. Once they've gone, they've gone.

[thegamekeeper]

try buying a battery conditioner. you can keep this connected permanently and good ones will regenerate a tired battery if it is not terminal. Look on ebay, there is a good one on at moment item number 8012204718 and the company selling have them on buy it now as well. if that doesn't work its new battery time but at least if you keep the conditioner connected to that it will always be fully charged sTeVeR

[tigertiger]

Same experience with my battery '99T. Died within 2 days, luckily the slow cranking gave it away and I was able to get a replacement in time.

The battery change isn't that difficult (much harder than a 'standard' car, granted)and only took me about 40 mins.

I think there are 'fit at home' companies out there if there is no one local to help you out.

Tiger

[Boris1]

Wow! I'm overwhelmed by the responses - thanks very much. You guys really do look after each other don't you?

To be honest I'd be happy to cover it up - there is a proper cover for it and it'll stay dry. This car is my husband's pride and joy and I don't really want to start fiddling around too much, plus I'd be worried about it letting me down again if I go down the battery charging route. It'll always be in mind that whenever I get back in it, it wont start. Thanks for the tip on the handbrake too :-)

[gazzab]

If you are in Surrey then get yourself to Andy at APM (Liphook) - he is the top TVR man around and also the best value!

[anonymous-user]

I'd check the 100a fuse link first.

They are only about £1 to buy.

[Boris1]

ok, spoke to husband light night and this is what I'm going to do. Put the battery on trickle charge so that it wont affect the alarm and cover it up. Husband is home beginning of December so he'll purchase a new battery (and thanks for the recommendation of TVR man in Liphook).

Does it have to be a genuine TVR battery or can you get similar at regular battery outlets (ie Halfords)? Heavy duty I guess too....

[thegamekeeper]

No point putting battery on charge till end of December because by then it will be boiled dry and you will need a new one anyway. Buy a conditioner and it can be connected permanently with no harm to battery. They are a good investment for TVRs which are not used constantly because the battery is always in good condition and always fully charged. sTeVeR

[Don]

thegamekeeper said:

No point putting battery on charge till end of December because by then it will be boiled dry and you will need a new one anyway. Buy a conditioner and it can be connected permanently with no harm to battery. They are a good investment for TVRs which are not used constantly because the battery is always in good condition and always fully charged. sTeVeR

Listen to the man. He knows.

A good trickle charger we use with our Chim is from accumate.

www.accumate.co.uk

If your Chimaera has the cigarette lighter socket wired up permanently you can even get one you just plug into that and you won't even need to pop the bonnet.

It does sound to me like your battery has given up the ghost. Ours did the same. No amount of trickle charging helped. But once a new battery is in - the trickle charger will keep it in tip top despite "long" periods of idleness...

>> Edited by Don on Thursday 10th November 11:07

[victormeldrew]

Don said:

thegamekeeper said: No point putting battery on charge till end of December because by then it will be boiled dry and you will need a new one anyway. Buy a conditioner and it can be connected permanently with no harm to battery. They are a good investment for TVRs which are not used constantly because the battery is always in good condition and always fully charged. sTeVeR Listen to the man. He knows. A good trickle charger we use with our Chim is from accumate. www.accumate.co.uk If your Chimaera has the cigarette lighter socket wired up permanently you can even get one you just plug into that and you won't even need to pop the bonnet. It does sound to me like your battery has given up the ghost. Ours did the same. No amount of trickle charging helped. But once a new battery is in - the trickle charger will keep it in tip top despite "long" periods of idleness...

Some of the conditioners won't put a charge into a completely flat battery, but give it a bit of charge first using a regular charger and then the conditioner will finish the job. Some of the newer conditioners will do this themselves automatically, but the older ones need to see some charge in the battery first. Mine does.

[victormeldrew]

boris1 said:

Edited to say that I did a quick search and there seems to be lots of problems with flat batteries - it's obviously a very common thing for these cars - why?

The generally accepted theory is that the alarm draws enough current to run the battery down in a few weeks.