Car Battery Hassle - Advice Sought

**shaunbhoy** · 5 May 2010, 19:55

Have you tried bleeding the radiator?

HTH

**Cliphead** · 5 May 2010, 19:58

Originally posted by shaunbhoy View Post

Have you tried bleeding the radiator?

HTH

I did laugh out loud at that one. Maybe it's the drink?

**FiveTimes** · 5 May 2010, 20:04

What are you going out for ? If you listen to the other users there are so many bugs you need to sort out here.
Starting with the football

**Platypus** · 5 May 2010, 20:08

Originally posted by NickFitz View Post

The other day I went out to the car to find that it wouldn't start: the battery had flattened in the few days since I'd last used it, having enough power to operate the central locking and light the lights very dimly, but nowhere near enough to turn over the starter motor.

As I didn't need to be anywhere important and it was getting dark, I left it until the next day before going to get the battery out for a charge, only to find that the bolts that hold the battery in place had a fair bit of rust around them and seemed to have locked up solid.

I sprayed some WD-40 on them to see if that would help, and today walked up to Halfords to get one of those portable power-packs for jump-starting. (Aside: as I'd reserved it online last night, they'd taken it out and charged it up for me - saved me waiting however long for it to charge, so good on them for that.)

The car started first time, and just by way of experiment I stopped it and the jump-starter easily started it a second time; the device has fully recharged from the mains in less than ten minutes after those two starts, so I obviously wasn't straining it. Therefore I can be reasonably certain of being able to go somewhere and be able to start the car again at the other end.

The question is, how long ought I expect to have to drive around to recharge the battery, pending a solution to the bolts problem so I can fit a new battery? Also, what sort of driving would be best for that purpose? I can drive round and round the city centre stopping and starting and never getting above twenty-five, or I can head off to the motorway and do a steady seventy to Coventry and back - the M69 is always empty during the day. (The battery is over seven years old, so it's had a good run, but on past experience I should be able to get a few more charges out of it.)

What does the panel recommend?

Take it on a nice long run (say an hour, EDIT: motorway good). Having said that, this happened to me recently and the battery didn't hold charge properly (i.e. was flat again after 2 days non use) so I replaced the battery. I think you're only putting off the inevitable by not changing the battery ASAP.

**NickFitz** · 5 May 2010, 20:14

Originally posted by shaunbhoy View Post

Have you tried bleeding the radiator?

HTH

That's a hardware problem - I do software (programming the radio) and operations (flooring the accelerator)

**TimberWolf** · 5 May 2010, 20:22

Yeah, get a new battery. Kwick-Fit or somesuch will have no trouble freeing the bolts. Lead acid batteries don't like to be run flat, so a battery that old is probably nearly toast now. Alternators tend to be a bit smarter these days, pushing out a high current to start with and trickle charging later to help preserve battery life.

**TimberWolf** · 5 May 2010, 20:28

Incidentally I had the same problem with a flat battery recently with the bolts rusted solid. Too solid for my 10mm spanner to cope with anyway, which space didn't allow anyway. I was short on the right tools with longer levers, but in the end (and some thought) I cobbled together 3 different tools and sockets and wrenches and got the leverage I needed (with a spanner on a socket wrench giving the final torque). It looked a mess and wobbled about a bit but worked.

**NickFitz** · 5 May 2010, 20:36

Originally posted by Platypus View Post

Take it on a nice long run (say an hour, EDIT: motorway good). Having said that, this happened to me recently and the battery didn't hold charge properly (i.e. was flat again after 2 days non use) so I replaced the battery. I think you're only putting off the inevitable by not changing the battery ASAP.

Yep, I definitely need a new battery sooner rather than later - this is more along the lines of keeping it going for a couple of days while I get the bolts sorted out.

Originally posted by TimberWolf View Post

Yeah, get a new battery. Kwick-Fit or somesuch will have no trouble freeing the bolts. Lead acid batteries don't like to be run flat, so a battery that old is probably nearly toast now. Alternators tend to be a bit smarter these days, pushing out a high current to start with and trickle charging later to help preserve battery life.

How were alternators in 1989? This car is old enough to have its own polling card for tomorrow

The bolts are looking a bit better after I cleaned some of the crap away and left them sprayed with WD40 for a couple of nights. I just sprayed some more on, and I'll have a go at them tomorrow when I've got the proper tools for the job...

Originally posted by TimberWolf View Post

Incidentally I had the same problem with a flat battery recently with the bolts rusted solid. Too solid for my 10mm spanner to cope with anyway, which space didn't allow anyway. I was short on the right tools with longer levers, but in the end (and some thought) I cobbled together 3 different tools and sockets and wrenches and got the leverage I needed (with a spanner on a socket wrench the final torque). It looked a mess and wobbled about but worked.

... or possibly the improper tools for the job

I think once I've got a decent socket set they'll be more tractable. The last time I had to do this, I had a housemate who could lend me his tools, but now I'll have to get my own

**OrangeHopper** · 5 May 2010, 20:41

Can we assume this is an old car/battery if the bolts have rusted? Old style batteries fail slowly. I can remember getting to the winter and having batteries gradually more and more reluctant to start the car. If an old car, the failure of cell may not be enough to not start the car but it will have trouble. You can check by checking what voltage it is producing. Each cell equates to x volts.

Modern batteries have a habit of dying suddenly. Twice now I have driven to somewhere and the car has failed to start after only minutes away. This catostrophic style of failure is now standard practice according to both the AA men who attended.

I used to find a 10 minute drive was enough to store up enough to restart the car the next day. When I had an volt meter in the car, doing anything over 20 used to result in enough to charge the battery. May have to be more for modern cars but then, conversely, things may be more efficient these days.

Car Battery Hassle - Advice Sought