We went to a country show (Chatsworth) yesterday and we had a 12v coolbox plugged in to the cig lighter.
In the past we have left this on for a few hours and had no trouble starting the car, but yesterday we left it on from 8.30 in the morning right through to about 7.45 in the evening.
The first sign of trouble started when I came to press the remote and the car would not unlock.
Tried my wifes remote and that was the same and then the penny dropped, the battery was very flat. My freind had some jump leads in their car so it was not a problem, but the thought crossed my mind that if I had tried to bump start it, would I have succeded.
The car is a VW Bora with a PD 130 TDI engine. Would it need need a lot of electrical power to work the injectors and electronics etc and would it cause damage if I had tried ?
Has anybody tried it ?
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If the battery was low enough that the central locking had stopped working then I suspect a bump start would not have fired it up and even the key would not be recognised by the immobiliser. Did the cooler box work or is it faulty, if you battery is in resonable condition then to kill the battery in that time the cooler would need to pull at least 3 amps. If the battery is 4 years old then it's capcity is way down and even 2 amps for 12 hours could kill it. Regards Peter
Edited by Peter D on 06/09/2009 at 13:42
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It's been years since i've been able to bump start anything with a dead battery, and not particularly keen to go if discharged enough to not start the engine normally.
Might be an idea to pick up a jump pack if you spot a cheap one on offer somewhere, mine must be some 8 years old now and will still get a flat petrol engine going....thinking of which it could do with a charge up....disappears to put the thing on charge.
It's not just the obvious like the cool box, i last got caught out when i left the doors open on the car to dry out the interior following a clean, turned off the interior lights but forgot the car phone was on for a week (holiday), and worse i forgot about the puddle lights in the bottom of the open doors.
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If the battery was so flat, the electric fuel pump is unlikely to generate enough pressure to enable the engine to start..
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Apart from any electrical issues (bump starting would be unlikely to power the injector solenoids and lift pump adequately) there is the small matter of the transmission.
Bump starting a diesel is probably the quickest way to damage a DMF I can think of.
659.
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