Came Back From My Holiday Today

[DC33VN]

Well i went for a holiday for a month and i left my skyline with my uncle and long story short my grandpa got involved and didnt close my door properly and the car wouldnt start.

I got there today and i went to unlock the car with my alarm pad and nothing so i opened it with the key and rolled it down the drive way and jumped it with my uncles car and it turned on first click.

After i went for a 2 min drive on the highway to charge the battery and after coming home i turned the car off and tried to crank it over and it woulndnt start but this time my alarm and the lights worked.

Im just wondering what the problem is , nrma have told me its the battery but why does the alarm still work and all the lights including my head lights?

Or is it my alternator?

[blind_elk]

2 minutes driving is not enough to fully recharge a flat battery. You need something like 20 minutes to do that.

[mad082]

yeah drive for longer. 2 mins of charging would be less that what it took to start the car from a full battery.

[Juz]

This happens all the time in my Nx-r, check, your battery water levels, if that doesn't work get a new battery, then if that don't work NEW ALTERNATOR! =]

[Messiah]

if i recall you need atleast 12-14 volts to start the car, and you proably need to maintain that 12-14 for a few seconds, you might have enough to run the alarm, but thats still not enough to sustain the starter and ignition for the duration required.

[mad082]

it is also about the cranking amps of the battery. i could make up a 12v cell using 8 AA batteries but it won't turn over a car. infact it probably wouldn't even have enough power to turn on the stereo

[R34 -_-]

Most alarms have a small back up battery so that's why your alarm would be working and not your car. And like everyone else said, go for a longer drive with your stereo and everything turned off and go on the open road so your not wasting power on your brake lights and indicators

[Messiah]

trickle chargers are nice too if you cant be arsed driving around just to charge things.

[CARSICK]

if i recall you need atleast 12-14 volts to start the car, and you proably need to maintain that 12-14 for a few seconds, you might have enough to run the alarm, but thats still not enough to sustain the starter and ignition for the duration required.

...^^^ so yeah, do a 20 minute run > take your Mum down to the local shopping centre and keep the car revving whilst she's in the bank...

I think you're still allowed one call after being apprehended, so yeah, get back to us!

We are your alibi lol

[DC33VN]

I took the car on the m5 for 10 mins up towards east hills then back down to Riverwood.

I had also removed my head unit so there was no power at all other then the trip comp running.

[DC33VN]

just realised i stuffed up was suppose to say 20 min drive... not 2 mins

[mad082]

LOL, ok then.

it may be that your battery was on the way out and what happened was enough to put it over the edge. i would try putting on a charger overnight and see how it goes. if the battery was a few years old then i would just get a new one. last year i bought a new battery for a commodore i was working on. basically the car only got started a few times and run for a few mins over the period of a month or so (never driven out of the yard. but the battery was disconnected between uses). eventually it went flat and would only just turn the car over but not enough to start it. then the car sat for about 8 months and wasn't touched. we went to move the car a few weeks ago and battery still had just enough charge to turn the car over once. we tried to start the car with 2 jump packs but they didn't have enough power to turn over the old v8, so we ended up putting a different battery in to move it and put the old battery on the charge. the battery was on the charge for about half an hour and it had enough charge to start the car. still started the car a few weeks later (and a few times starting the car later) but then it eventually died again. put it on the charge overnight and she's right as rain now. but when a battery gets old they can lose charge overnight. i've had a few cars now where i've driven the car one day, then the next morning it will be dead flat. jump started it, driven it to work (about a 10 min drive), let it sit there all day and it will start to drive home. then the next morning it will be flat again. this is usually happens at the start of winter. cold weather kills batteries.

[DC33VN]

Im going to take the car up to my auto elec as soon as somone comes home to jump start me and see if he can see anything further.

Nrma wanted $180 for a battery last night and i said no because i have heard there quality isnt good for the price you pay so now i have to find somewhere for a good decent battery lol...

[mad082]

i'd just get a century one. i've never had problems with them in the past. not the cheapest battery around but also not the most expensive and a good battery. i've never had any problems with them and i've put them in every car i've had to replace a battery in. the missus pulsar has one in it at the moment. been in there for about 3 years now. only time i have had any trouble was when i spent a few hours trying to get the lights working on a trailer. used a jump pack to start it and it's been fine ever since.

the one i got for the commodore was some cheap $120 one from repco. does the job though.

[CARSICK]

My Century battery has lasted 4 yrs and is still going strong @ 14v before start up ^^^

[DC33VN]

yeah im going to go for a century one. ill give battery world a call tomorrow and see how much it will set me back , i just hope its the battery and nothing else lol

[blind_elk]

just realised i stuffed up was suppose to say 20 min drive... not 2 mins

It may take several days of everyday driving for the battery to fully recover. My 32 often fails to have enough grunt to start because I might not drive it for more than a week, but then after a couple of days of everyday use, the battery is fine again. And the battery is a couple of years old now.

CARSICK - it doesn't really matter how many volts are available BEFORE startup - and 14V is too many, should only be about 12V - what is important is how many volts and amps are available DURING startup.

[DC33VN]

my family is really stupid when it comes to cars i asked my mum 2 let me jump start my car and my step dad goes no it cant stuff the cars ecu by doing it because it happened to his old patrol and i just didnt even bother arguing with him...

[central coast person]

haha

+1 for Century. Its got a 3 year warranty, water indicator too tell me when i need too top it up with distiled water and higher CCA's and RC's than stock

They are about $200 from supercheap

[rgr34]

my family is really stupid when it comes to cars i asked my mum 2 let me jump start my car and my step dad goes no it cant stuff the cars ecu by doing it because it happened to his old patrol and i just didnt even bother arguing with him...

shouldnt have issues jumping the car like this....

the car with the good battery you connect the jumpers as normal ont he battery terminals, the car with flat battery connect the + terminal to battery and - terminal to ground on the body somewhere like e.g strut bolt.... wont cause a problem...