Car completely dead this morning

colintinto · Post by **colintinto** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 10:58 am

Hi All,

Went out to start the car this morning for a nice frosty run to work, and it was totally dead, not even a light on the dash.

The battery in it is about 3 weeks old, and last time I drove it was Wednesday last week. Since then it's been sitting in the garage, alarm off, pretty sure all the lights were off. Garage is not heated, but attached to the house.

Normally I'd trickle charge it, but shouldn't have to for 5 days???

Colin

Post by **Shug** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 12:27 pm

Sounds like the Battery is a dud. Total collapse as soon as it sees any load or charge - take it back for a replacement.

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 1:42 pm

What he said, take it back.
It shouldn't be totally goosed after 5 days in the cold.
It should still start after 7 days in the cold or more.

Post by **campbell** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 3:04 pm

Yup.

But bear in mind, even with alarm off, the immob (I think?) makes a basic drain on the circuit, and 3 weeks in a cold garage could be enough to prevent starting.

So over the winter I try to connect up the trickle charger if I know the car is going to be left for more than a few days OR if I know I have to rely on it the next morning to get me to the airport or similar!

Welcome to the world of Elises, Colin! You might take some of the sting out by signing up for some European adventures with the mob next year, mind you...reminds you why it's all so worthwhile

Post by **Shug** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:24 pm

campbell wrote:Yup.

But bear in mind, even with alarm off, the immob (I think?) makes a basic drain on the circuit, and 3 weeks in a cold garage could be enough to prevent starting.

So over the winter I try to connect up the trickle charger if I know the car is going to be left for more than a few days OR if I know I have to rely on it the next morning to get me to the airport or similar!

Welcome to the world of Elises, Colin! You might take some of the sting out by signing up for some European adventures with the mob next year, mind you...reminds you why it's all so worthwhile

3 weeks yes, 5 days no

Skim reading fail Campbell

robin · Post by **robin** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:12 pm

Or your brake lights are sticking on ...

Post by **campbell** » Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:20 pm

Shug - no fail, although as I re-read my post I realise it could be misunderstood...what I was trying to share with Colin was that 1 week may be fine, but if 3 weeks were to pass (which they may) then the scenario may well kick in. Sorry, still jet-lagged from Spa!!

Robin - good point. Reminds me to check mine at some point again, thought I'd fixed that with Sanjoy but they were on again at Newcastle during the Tut Recovery Mission IIRC, weren't they!

colintinto · Post by **colintinto** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 12:54 pm

Quick check last night and the car seems to be drawing about 0.2 amps from the battery even when the alarm is off...

Is it time to remove the fuses one by one to try and figure out what's doing it?

Colin

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:29 pm

Post by **campbell** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 2:08 pm

My money is on stereo or alarm / immob.

Bet you never realised it would get this busy this quickly, Colin!!

colintinto · Post by **colintinto** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 4:53 pm

Hmm, I think I've left the radio face plate off, which I don't normally do... Surely not...?

I also put a nice cosy indoor cover over it as I was doing some dusty work in the garage. Maybe it didn't like it

Colin

colintinto · Post by **colintinto** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:37 pm

Hmm, ok, I checked again (ok I re-read the text from my Dad who checked it for me

and it's actually drawing 0.02 amps - 20mA, not 0.2. The service manual says 15mA for immobiliser, and 20mA for alarm.

So that looks fine, more or less.

What I didn't do was check the battery when the car was 'dead'. Maybe the battery was fine and it's something else? What could cause the car to appear so dead that the alarm tell tale goes out and and no lights appear at all? Sticky relay or something?

I'll drive the car tomorrow then keep an eye on the battery voltage for a few days in the garage and see what happens.

Colin

robin · Post by **robin** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 9:53 pm

The battery cannot have been completely open circuit as the alarm light was flashing, right? So given that there was some battery connected, I cannot think of a common failure mode to give you no stack lights and no crank/fuel pump ...

Cheers,
Robin

colintinto · Post by **colintinto** » Wed Nov 17, 2010 11:51 pm

Nope, alarm tell tale was not flashing at all.

Colin

robin · Post by **robin** » Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:04 am

OK, then it is possible that you have a disconnecting battery - loose terminal at the battery, for example.

Cheers,
Robin

Scottish Elises