Done something stupid this evening?

[Ger D]

Hi all, Think I've gone and done something stupid this evening.
I got engrossed in sorting my Fan Problem (earlier thread) and I've gone and left the car with the keys in the ignition in position 2 or 3 (not sure now).

Theres a light on the dash saying "check engine" nothing else works, not even the central locking by manual key...
Someone please tell me that this is just a flat battery and that I've not just given my wallet a fairly big ding?

Ger

 

[Ger D]

Update for those of you who are interested;
Trickle charged the battery for 3 hrs having disconnected it first.
Voltage came up from a miserable 2.6v to a stonking 12.96v
Started car, all well with the exception of the electric windows which had to be re-taught which is normal after flat batt conditions.

Baby's back, Alls well

 

[EuroCLK320]

I bet u are a happy chappie now.... phew comes to mind

 

[Ger D]

I was actually dreaming about it last night so yes the sense of relief is enormous. Had all sorts of visions of electronic disaster. One lesson tho, disconnect battery before charging.

Cheers

 

[turnipsock]

You have to disconnect the battery before putting on the charger otherwise you wreck your alternator.

 

[Ger D]

You're right Turnipsock, although some older threads on this forum seemed to suggest that you can go right ahead and charge without disconnection so I thought I'd emphasise for the benefit of others.

I've been following your own thread on battery draining, sorry I've nothing to offer on this, hope you get it sorted sooner than later tho!

 

[mlc]

Pleased to here that your problems are sorted. Why do you think that charging will damage the alternator if you dont disconnect the battery? First of all providing you dont try to start the car with the charger connected the alternator is out of the circuit and secondly how would you use jump leads to start from another vehicle whilst having the battery disconnected?

The risk is actually not the charging but if you disconnect too soon after starting the engine with jump leads. What happens then is that the voltage drops suddenly from the high of the doner battery to the low of the cars own battery and this can damage the alternator. The way around this is to keep the jump leads on for about 10 minutes after starting to allow the flat battery to recover - this is what the AA would do if they came out to you.

Mark.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

hmmmmmmmmmmm......in my book it says about starting using a differnt vehicle, they say do not connect the donor battery to the batterys terminals, they have placed a nice red box with a + sign on it in the engine bay, when you pull the cover off there is a metal contact inside. that is where you put the lead to. It is on the opposite side to the battery compartment. the - is on the engine bit.

it also says if the battery is total flat you should disconnect it first before doing the above, then connect it once vehicle is started while other leads are still connected.

it also says you should disconnect the battery and remove it if charging with a charger of more than 4amps is used.

...best not let you battery get flat then.