[Mk2] [Turbo] Car was dead this morning!!??

[2Crooky]

Oddly enough my car was dead this morning!!!

The battery had such little life in it that my lights wouldn't come on, engine wouldn't even click to turnover!! My pop up headlights didn't even rise due to the lack of power!!

I left nothing open or left on......

I left the car un alarmed too.....

Why would it be so flat???????

My only thought is that i have not had any petrol for the past week, so if i have had to go anywhere it has been for about 2 miles and not taken over 2000rpm... Would this mean the cars battery would not have sufficient charge from the alternator???? Hence why she died so much??

Alex

[C50]

Sounds like it could be time to replace your battery.

[mcoppen]

Agree. It has just got pretty cold in the last few days, and that's what normally finishes off a less than perfect battery. Happened to mine this time last year.

[2Crooky]

Cheers guys

Battery isn't that old though!!.........

Could be my alternator is fooked??! Would it make a difference if i have hardly driven the car??

[mcoppen]

Could do. Alternator is easy to test. Just recharge the battery, start her up, put a volt meter between the 2 terminals and you should get around the 13.5-14.3v mark once the car is warm. If its well above or below this than your alternator is most likely to be in need of a refurb. The short drives shouldn't really of killed the battery unless, again it was already on its last legs. As i said, cold weather kills weak batteries, so most likely to be this.

[screech205]

Lots of small journeys with things like stereo and heaters, etc on will drain the battery as it will not put back in what's been taken out. Best thing to do is charge it up fully and either get a drop test done or a capacity test then you know where you are with it.

As above, alternator is an easy one to test. If it isn't charging, check that the 3 pin plug on the back of the alternator has 12v to all the terminals when the ignition is on before you remove it as it could be signs of a wiring loom fault if any are below.

HTH

Steve

[BenF]

Could be my alternator is fooked??! Would it make a difference if i have hardly driven the car??

Depending on how much power your alarm takes, you could probably leave the car 7-14 days from a 'full' battery.

Sounds like yours was flat though and needs either a long run in the car or a trickle charger to keep it topped up.

My trackday Mk1 gets a drive every ~2 weeks to ensure all is OK and the battery gets chance to recharge.

[2Crooky]

Alternator is not at fault as i am getting a reading of 14v......

Battery isn't that old.....

Will do some more checks tomorrow

[gnzyza]

Ooh winters here!!!!!!

but dont you just love the way the tubby bursts into life at the flick of a key- not yours of course this time- sorry
Nice deep throaty tone when its cold.

[gnzyza]

could it be a drain - like amps or summat on all the time? even thou that shud be wired to remote?

[3sgte]

my rev3 suffers from flat battery all the time ,mainly because it gets left so long between drives .2 weeks and a fully chgarged battery will be flat mainly due to the power hungry Toad alarm
.i "try" to drive it every week just to keep the battery charged ,but unfortunateley a half charged battery needs more than the 10 miles i do every week to keep it charged.
I would just say that yours has got low ,and like me you are not giving it enough of a run to replenish it .

Give it a proper charge with a battery charger ,and then give it a go before writing the battery off

[mrfil13]

When you switch your car off the window controls should stop working after 60 seconds or until you open a door.

If this is not the case and the controls are still working then it could be the power window relay staying on, either because its stuck or the door ecu isnt disabling it after the aboce condtions. This relay will use enough juice to kill your battery in about 5 days.

If this is the case when you are going to leave the car for a few days go to the fuse's under the dash and pull out the 20amp power window fuse and then put it back, think its at the bottom left of the block of fuses.

[buish]

if you don't drive your car much, get a battery tender or trickle chargers. i have a battery tender myself. works great. keeps the battery charged. i just have to clip it on, plug it in, and don't worry about the battery going dead.

[2Crooky]

Cheers fellas