Battery completely dead.

[Dean Fletcher]

So I was going out to sort the battery problem this moring and tried to open the car at its completely dead even the fob won't open it. So I tried putting the little key in and it goes fine in but won't turn?? I have tried both keys?? Any ideas? Do I need to force it a little?

 

[Blobcat]

Needs to turn 90’ - the last little bit of turn is what operates the lock.
Lube and work it...

 

[Dean Fletcher]

Cheers BC it just popped into my head and sorted it. ****** thing thanks

 

[Dean Fletcher]

Next thing when I plug in the charger the ****** alarm keeps going off hahaha

 

[Blobcat]

Next thing when I plug in the charger the ****** alarm keeps going off hahaha

It will, if you open the door with the metal key the alarm will sound. You need to put the key in the ignition and turn to pos 1 to stop it.

 

[Wighty]

It will, if you open the door with the metal key the alarm will sound. You need to put the key in the ignition and turn to pos 1 to stop it.

You better go round and sort it for him , he can bake something whilst you work

 

[Dean Fletcher]

You better go round and sort it for him , he can bake something whilst you work

Haha the issue was the battery had no life at all so putting the key in the ignition didn't help as nothing showed up. Everytime I presses on, on the charger the ****** thing went off. So I resorted to good old fashion jump start. Had to leave them together for 15 minutes before it would start. Soooo I have been a got a new battery.

 

[Blobcat]

You better go round and sort it for him , he can bake something whilst you work

Lockdown still in effect (unless I missed a memo...)

 

[Blobcat]

Haha the issue was the battery had no life at all so putting the key in the ignition didn't help as nothing showed up. Everytime I presses on, on the charger the ****** thing went off. So I resorted to good old fashion jump start. Had to leave them together for 15 minutes before it would start. Soooo I have been a got a new battery.

I know it’s a bit of a PITA but get the caps off of the individual battery cells. I expect there will be no electrolyte showing at all.
To get the caps off cut the sticker around the circular tops then with a screwdriver (and hammer...) knock them anti-clockwise until you can unscrew them.
Add some deionised water and put it back on charge. I expect it will spring back to life. I did it on a 2018 Mercedes genuine battery that was dead and wouldn’t hold a charge. Within an hour it was back to holding over 12.7v

 

[Dean Fletcher]

I know it’s a bit of a PITA but get the caps off of the individual battery cells. I expect there will be no electrolyte showing at all.
To get the caps off cut the sticker around the circular tops then with a screwdriver (and hammer...) knock them anti-clockwise until you can unscrew them.
Add some deionised water and put it back on charge. I expect it will spring back to life. I did it on a 2018 Mercedes genuine battery that was dead and wouldn’t hold a charge. Within an hour it was back to holding over 12.7v

Cheers BC loaf of sourdough owed!!

 

[Wighty]

Lockdown still in effect (unless I missed a memo...)

There might be an exclusion for cake , I’ll check

 

[Bay Leaf]

I'm certainly going to try that Blobcat, as I looked at my battery the other day and on the side it said best before th 1st 2020
I checked it with a multimeter and it was showing 12.35v However the battery seems good as it starts the engine perfectly. When it does start to show signs of struggling I'll give it a go.

 

[Blobcat]

I'm certainly going to try that Blobcat, as I looked at my battery the other day and on the side it said best before th 1st 2020
I checked it with a multimeter and it was showing 12.35v However the battery seems good as it starts the engine perfectly. When it does start to show signs of struggling I'll give it a go.

It messes the tops up a bit but they’ll still seal again when screwed back in.

 

[Bay Leaf]

I tried to get one of the tops off today but it wouldn't budge I looks like it has one way indentations (for the want of a better word) whereby you can screw them in but not out. I tried it using small drift but to no avail. I wonder if Varta use some kind of thread lock so you can't remove them. Also I watched a video on youtube that stated the battery charge state values can't be checked correctly using a multimeter on a stop start battery.

My battery is reading 12. 2v which by all accounts means the battery is on the way out, and yet it performs as it should.

 

[Blobcat]

I tried to get one of the tops off today but it wouldn't budge I looks like it has one way indentations (for the want of a better word) whereby you can screw them in but not out. I tried it using small drift but to no avail. I wonder if Varta use some kind of thread lock so you can't remove them.

They are tough... hammer and screwdriver round the outside edge... not pretty but as the battery was scrap already damaging it wasn’t going to make it worse...
Once topped up the lids screwed back in again and battery resurrected

 

[Bay Leaf]

Ok I'll have another bash (pardon the pun) when it starts to faulter .Incidentally how much longer did your battery go on for.

 

[Blobcat]

Ok I'll have another bash (pardon the pun) when it starts to faulter .Incidentally how much longer did your battery go on for.

Still going now
Back in another Sprinter

 

[Tony Dyson]

I replaced both my original batteries just over 12 Months ago when they were losing charge, still starting the car at 12.2v but with winter approaching decided to replace anyway, took off the tops, topped up the electrolyte with between 125-150ml in each cell with deionised water and they're still performing well with good autonomy in a back-up power application I have at home, you just need a little more brute force and ignorance with the tops.

 

[Bay Leaf]

Thanks I'll let you know the outcome.

 

[Bay Leaf]

Done today, using a pair of circlip pliers opened up and pressed into the cap using a small block of wood under the palm of my hand so they would dig in and then unscrewed them. All the cells were dry, I must have put in about a liter of water. I did a check using the multimeter and the voltage came up to 12.6 and I think it would have climbed higher but I was happy with that, so I put it on a low charge for about an hour. So time will tell.