car battery dead

steviedog

Ex Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
1,325
Reaction score
100
Points
339
Age
43
I've just got up to go the shops and I've found I left my lights on in the car over night. The battery must be fully empty because it's not even making a noise when I turn the key. It's a Ford Focus.

Do I need a new battery or can they be recharged? Anyone know how much I should be looking to spend? Never been good with cars.

I've got 2 hours to move it before I get a parking ticket too!
 
call aa or who ever your with but problem is to charge battery will take a good few hours to get it back to a good charge

option left is new battery
 
Don't you have breakdown cover
 
No, I don't have breakdown cover. We have a mechanic in the family but he's away on holiday :suicide:
 
well i guess you going to after push your car to a spot where you wont get a ticket lol
 
Do you have any jump start leads?
 
no point in jump start leads be no good when is battery is total flat and i dont think anyone going to waste petrol and leave car running for hours
 
Do you have any jump start leads?

Is that all it's gonna take? I have mates with jump leads. The thing is I have a 100 mile trip to do tomorrow so I need the car in tip top working order...
 
start leads will do nothing as your battery is long gone if your car was able to click when try starting then you would have a chance
 
Is that all it's gonna take? I have mates with jump leads. The thing is I have a 100 mile trip to do tomorrow so I need the car in tip top working order...

Once you get the car started the alternator will start charging the battery. As long as you've got enough charge to start the engine tomorrow you should be ok.
 
There's not a sound when I turn the key. Not even the slightest noise.
 
Well you need to use the jump leads first. Sorry I was talking about after you'd jump started the car.
 
You can still call the AA. They will charge you though for not being a member. (edit) Or I was going to say get a local garage or something but I see you have now posted you've done that.
 
battery should be ok, but get it sorted quick as batteries die fast when under about 11V

i would of thought you could jump start it, i managed to jump start my bike after leaving the lights on for 3 days and after 30 seconds running off a car battery it had enough charge to carry on turning over by itself.

if not just take the battery out and charge it, if you dont have a battery charger use any 12V DC power supply which you will undoubtable have many of in your house.
 
If it were on a hill, I'd whack it in 2nd gear, and start it rolling to jump start it. Then I'd drive around for a while to allow the alternator to charge the battery a bit. If I still wasn't completely confident, I'd park it on a hill when I stopped so I could repeat it! If you're facing backwards, use reverse or if it's flat, get someone to push. You only need about 5 mph.

P.S. make sure the ignition is on.
 
You need a charger or a jump start.

Probably easiest if you have a reasonable journey planned is to get a friend or neighbour to jump start - leads are cheap if you can borrow some. But once the engine is running you need to take it out for a good run, taking care not to stop or stall it.

Otherwise, a charger. Again these are pretty cheap (halfords or argos) if you can't borrow one. The cheaper ones take longer to charge.

If it is a modern(ish) car then push starting probably won't work. This is because they have an engine immobiliser which cuts off the ignition circuit until you use the correct key. But if the battery is totall flat there will be no power to turn off the immobiliser.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
If your mechanic is coming out it is likely he'll have a jump pack so you're all set.
 

Attachments

  • 40134.jpg
    40134.jpg
    113.9 KB · Views: 263
You need a charger or a jump start.

If it is a modern(ish) car then push starting probably won't work. This is because they have an engine immobiliser which cuts off the ignition circuit until you use the correct key. But if the battery is totall flat there will be no power to turn off the immobiliser.

Cheers,

Nigel

Huh, you learn something new every day! I have started rolling cars a few times but they were all about >6 years old.
 
There should be no problem jump-starting a completely flat battery. It just may need the "donor" car left running for a for minutes with the jump leads in place.

I had to do this with a Frontera last week. The battery was so flat it didn't even light the ignition lamp.
 
Absolutely correct. Accyuklad is wrong,( sorry). Although lead acid batteries do not like to be fully discharged and must not be stored for any length of time discharged it doesn't mean you have killed it. So if it was overnight you will have done it no favours but unless it was nearly ready to be replaced any way you should be fine (just don't do it again)
 
took him 2 mins, he jumped it from a portable battery, i drove round for half hour to get it going.

Thanks for the advice.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom