Probably a dumb battery question...

[1Steve68]

I've never left a car standing for as long as my current one and due to certain issues it seems the best option for me is to have a new battery fitted instead of jump starting this dead one and then going for a long drive with a recently expired MOT.

So the dumb question is, do new batteries come full charged or not? If they've never been used before and just sat on a shelf somewhere being stored in a shop or warehouse wouldn't the new battery be flat too when it arrived???

[1Steve68]

CanAm said:

They come fully charged, or near enough. I've had quite a few batteries over the last 50 years, and have never had a problem with a new one.

Perhaps you can explain this? My car was brand new when I bought (only 50 delivery miles on the clock) and I only drove it 1000 miles in the first 18 months before declaring it SORN. How can a battery stored on a shelf for god knows how long be almost fully charged but the battery in my new car lost all its charge within 12 months of being parked up/not used???

[1Steve68]

CanAm said:

They come fully charged, or near enough. I've had quite a few batteries over the last 50 years, and have never had a problem with a new one.

Perhaps you can explain this? My car was brand new when I bought (only 50 delivery miles on the clock) and I only drove it 1000 miles in the first 18 months before declaring it SORN. How can a battery stored on a shelf for god knows how long be almost fully charged but the battery in my new car lost all its charge within 12 months of being parked up/not used???

[1Steve68]

SS2. said:

After each start of the engine, how long typically did you spend driving ?

Probably about a 10 mile round trip to Asda and back home once a week. Never had a problem starting it using it like that.

[1Steve68]

Thanks chaps.
Well before I pay for someone to come and fit a new battery I'm going to try starting the car using a portable jump starter I bought last week first. I've spent all day watching google vids and think I know how to do it so hopefully I don't injure myself or do some damage to the car.

Can someone just confirm that this is the correct procedure?

1) Insert power cable into the jump starter.
2) Attach red cable/clamp + to (positive) terminal on battery.
3) Then attach black cable/clamp - to (negative) terminal on battery.
4) Switch on jump starter.
5) Put key in ignition and try starting car.

If the car starts I should reverse the procedure for removal of the cables/clamps.
6) Switch off jump starter and disconnect power cable.
7) Remove black cable/clamp from battery first.
8) Remove red cable/clamp second.

Is that correct???

[1Steve68]

swisstoni said:

The first drive with the revived battery should be of a decent length end up back at home. Then if the car doesn't restart you aren't in an Asda car park or somewhere similarly inconvenient.

Batteries are relatively cheap; if there is any doubt at all about the original I'd change it.

Edited by swisstoni on Tuesday 28th October 19:16

The first drive if I can get it going will be to my local MOT centre about 2 miles away but after that I'll take the car on a proper blast up the motorway for about a 50 mile round trip. It's unlikely to fail the MOT as it's only just over 3 years old, low mileage, and still in almost mint/new condition, so hopefully I can take up the motorway as soon as the MOT is done. I'll drive it once a week/fortnight after and if the motorway blast hasn't put a good charge in the battery I'll have to get a new one fitted.

[1Steve68]

Mr-B said:

I would do that the other way round, get it going 15 minute drive up the mway, turn round come back straight to MOT, everything is properly warmed up too and battery should be replenished over 30 minutes. 2 mile drives are not good for any ICE car no matter how good the battery.

Bit risky if I get spotted by a Police vehicle with ANPR fitted though? I'm really unlucky like that !

[1Steve68]

sherman said:

Book the MOT.
'On my way to the MOT station Heres my booking conformation'
You are supposed to take the most direct route to the MOT but it would be a really harsh police officer that wouldnt let you warm the car up for the test.

You can drive to a prebooked MOT without insurance as you cant tax a car without an MOT

It's taxed and insured already from earlier on this year but the MOT has quite literally just expired by a few weeks on a new car.

[1Steve68]

sherman said:

Book the MOT.
'On my way to the MOT station Heres my booking conformation'
You are supposed to take the most direct route to the MOT but it would be a really harsh police officer that wouldnt let you warm the car up for the test.

I DO NOT trust The Police to be fair and reasonable EVER. Too many bad experiences with them over the years. They are heartless and unemotional robots who enjoy punishing people for any minor little reason they can find and I'm 100% certain they would hit me with a fine and possibly 3 points if I was caught driving in the opposite direction to my testing station, despite the car still being new and only 4 weeks past a necessary 1st MOT. Warming up the car and putting a charge in a flat battery before the test wouldn't be an acceptable excuse for them.
.

[1Steve68]

muppets_mate said:

I would be tempted to go for a 10-15 mile drive immediately before your MOT appointment, and if you get stopped by the police you can explain you are on your way to a pre-booked MOT (which you genuinely are).

I suppose I could risk that if I just stay in my local area and choose an "off peak" time to drive the car but the roads here are all 30mph limit so I couldn't get up to motorway speeds here. There is however a very long main road next to where my apartment block is so I suppose I could just drive up and down that road for 30 minutes before the MOT to minimise the risk of getting pulled by The Police and then after the MOT take the car for a proper blast up the motorway?

So many options but not sure what to do. I looked into the cost of having a new battery fitted on the car park where my apartment is but it wasn't cheap at between £250-£350 with halfords. I suppose if I did that I could then bring the dead battery indoors and see if I could recover it properly by plugging it into the mains on a proper charger. It would then be a back-up 2nd battery. Mmm. Decisions decisions!

[1Steve68]

CanAm said:

You said you have a charger. It is amazingly simple to connect a charger on your car; you only need to open the bonnet and lift a plastic flap ( no tools needed) to expose the battery's positive terminal. It's all in your cars manual and on YouTube

It's just a jump starter/booster. Not a proper charger.

[1Steve68]

swisstoni said:

I don't know where you live but I'm lucky to see any police at all, much less ones that are just cruising around doing random ANPR checks.

I literally haven't driven anything for almost 18 months as I get groceries delivered by Asda and online purchases delivered by couriers so I don't actually know if there's a strong or regular Police presence in my area as I never leave my apartment complex.

[1Steve68]

Ian_SW said:

This is all getting very complicated for what is a very simple problem.
Just started the car in the car park with the jump starter and leave it there with the engine running for half an hour to 45 minutes. (Probably best to stay in he car while doing this so the car isn't stolen). If the battery is going to charge, it will have done so enough to restart the car by then.

Then, turn the engine off again and try to restart it. If the car does start, then happy days, drive the car to the MOT.

If it doesn't, book an MOT at a garage which can also replace the battery, and ask them to do that before the MOT.

Cars can be driven with a totally dead battery, but take the jump starter with you in case you stall it!!

That does make a lot of sense and it would be the cheapest and least risk option for me.
No worries about the car getting pinched if I leave it idling unattended for an hour on the car park but I just wasn't sure if idling was enough to put a decent charge in a battery. I've got 4 wheel clamps on it and 2 steering locks and it's a quiet residential area here so nobody could pinch it without me seeing them trying to from my window .

[1Steve68]

njw1 said:

OP, it'll have taken you longer to start your three threads about batteries/jump starting than it would have to actually start the car!

I'll be honest, I'm getting a whiff of troll...

Please move along and don't try to goad me into a childish argument. I know nothing about mechanics hence why I came here for some advice and the good chaps on here gave me exactly what I needed.
Your personal and pointless opinion is not required.

[1Steve68]

Geertsen said:

leave early for the test and do a circular route around the testing station...that way you will always be heading in the correct direction. Alternatively, if by some astronomical bad luck you are travelling away from the test centre and get stopped, simply say you took a wrong turn because you have never been to the test centre.

That's actually a clever idea and I could easily do that here as the test centre is on a one way system just outside a town. Cheers for that. I'll try jumping the battery first and charging it though to see if that works.

[1Steve68]

Oceanrower said:

If this is genuine (though the four wheel clamps and two steering locks raised my suspicions!)

I could take a photo and post it here tomorrow if I wanted to but I've got nothing to prove to anyone on here. With respect.

Oceanrower said:

then whereabouts are you?

North West UK.

Oceanrower said:

I m sure someone on here would be happy to bolt in a new battery for you in exchange for a bottle of wine or something. If you re anywhere near Surrey Hills I d help

Long way from Surrey but thanks for the offer. I was raised to not trust strangers so there is no way I'm giving my address to anyone on here after I only registered here a month ago LMAO...

Edited by 1Steve68 on Wednesday 29th October 19:26

[1Steve68]

Oceanrower said:

If this is genuine (though the four wheel clamps raised my suspicions!)

If this is genuine??? Why would anyone lie and say something like this if it wasn't true???
Anyway, have a look at these photos that I took this morning purely to satisfy your paranoia and curiosity.

[1Steve68]

Hoofy said:

I was happy to ignore that bit but now I see the photos... are Citroens stolen a lot in your area?

Not Citroens specifically but most people in my area have very nice looking/late reg cars so it's a hotspot for car thieves.

[1Steve68]

Hoofy said:

Surely, the thieves are more likely to steal nicer cars?

I used to think that way and, actually, the main reason I bought this car in my impending old age was because I thought a C3 would be boring to car thieves and joyriders and none of them would be interested in it. Unfortunately, reality turned out to be different. I've seen thieves sniffing around my car 5 times in the last 3 years (on CCTV) so it's obviously quite appealing to scrotes. Hence why I bumped up the security and bought clamps.

[1Steve68]

Hoofy said:

WTF.

Fair enough, then. Very annoying. Especially having to take 4 clamps off every time you go for a drive. I hope they all use the same key to make it slightly quicker.

Nuff said. This conversation need not go any further. I've said all I wanted to say and learned all I need to know about flat batteries. Thanks.