My sept 2004 diesel golf refused to start this morning after being stood in the open since dec 30 .is this to be expected?
I have covered nearly 12000 miles from new , average 800 a month. A flat battery was diagnosed by VW assist and was restarted in seconds.have I a problem ?
rocbob
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My last car had a hole in the (Original, first charge date 08/95) battery and started after 3 weeks - sounds a bit knackered to me. (I realise I was incredibly lucky mine even powered the interior light!)
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Sounds as if the battery is failing. A garage should be able to test if a cell has failed. I would check whether the battery is still in warranty (probably is) and get it changed.
Knowing how much work a battery does at start up, I would rather change it - even if I had to pay for it.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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I once left my car in the (unheated) garage for 3 months in winter and it started first time in freezing conditions with no obvious signs of flatness.
Would swap the battery if I were you. You just know it'll sneak up on you and be completely flat when you need it most. :P
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I once left my car in the (unheated) garage for 3 months in winter and it started first time in freezing conditions with no obvious signs of flatness. Would swap the battery if I were you. You just know it'll sneak up on you and be completely flat when you need it most. :P
But his car's only a year or so old?
My Toyota was 14, and still on its original - but I'd expect at least 5 years out of a modern OE battery, surely?
Is it not more likely to be a slight discharge... if not a boot light, perhaps a diode fault in the laternator, an aftermarket alarm? Worth geting the garage to investigate, I'd think - it must still be under warranty, surely?
Neil
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I'm sure a 1 year old VW would switch lights and such things off after an hour. Can you get one under warranty?
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If you have left it for ten days or so with the alarm activated then it would have probably run down the battery .
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I should mention that my car is 8 years old and during that time maintained the radio memory, clock, immobiliser, and a mobile phone charger I left plugged in.
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I had a brand new Calibra and went away for three weeks. Car was locked in garage with alarm activated, and the battery was flat when I returned. Had to call out Vauxhall Assistance who set me right about leaving the alarm set for so long.
An immobiliser is not the same as a car alarm. When a car alarm is activated it is drawing quite a few milliamps. Find out the number of milliamps drawn by the alarm, then multiply by 24, times by the number of days left. It will work out at quite a few amps.
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When I said immobiliser, I counted the central locking receiver etc in with it, as surely that must draw some power to continously monitor for the unlock signal.
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Fault with battery or problem with quiescent current draw on car.
It should last 3-4 weeks, no problem. I routinely leave my QX parked outside for 3-4 weeks when I go abroad. Its 8 years old with the original battery. Alarm and immobiliser are obviously active. My wifes Primera (also 8 years old with orig. battery) stood from 16th Dec to 3rd Jan. Started first thing. Modern alarm system used very low power CMOS circuitry.
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When I said immobiliser, I counted the central locking receiver etc in with it, as surely that must draw some power to continously monitor for the unlock signal.
C/L receiver works on a mark/space ratio system. e.g. powers off for 900ms; powers up for 100ms and 'listens' for signal, then powers off for 900ms - and so on. Mobile phones, Bluetooth etc also work like this to keep power consumption down.
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I have left my car for three weeks in sub zero temperatures in France on several occasions. It has always started first time.
2004 Megane dCi.
I would say there's a problem, current leakage somewhere or a duff alternator. Or had you done quite a lot of short journeys prior to the lay up?
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The only time I ever bought a brand new car, its battery died within a month. Wouldn?t hold charge, they tested it and changed it - no problem.
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