[Ajaybiz]

The acid level normally goes almost till top may be 1-1.5 cm below the top level looks like your daily 100 km run dropped the acid level and killed the battery.
It could be case of defected battery as well.
My Swift ran 36 K kms with factory battery in 4 years before giving up that too with heavy audio system which draws heavy current(636 W 4 channel apm, 325 W mono amp).
Change it to maintenance free battery, Amaron is good choice.

Originally Posted by doble u

Thanks souravc. I believe they are not MF. I checked the fluid level and it was almost half to 3/4. Anyways I have asked service station to find out the exact cause and replace the battery altogether if necessary since it is still in the warranty period

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by doble u

...is this assumption correct?Should I not kill the engine at>40 sec lights. Does this switching off and on causes unnecessary strain on the battery

The suggestion of switching off the engine at signals is driven primarily by the need to save fuel and has been promoted by the Govt + other drivers. I for one have a different take on it.

a) A car consumes the most fuel when it is being started.

b) This 'advice' needs to be see in context of the city you live in. For e.g. in some parts of Pune we have signals every few 100 metres with stop/go traffic at best, most signals are timed at <90 secs. This represents a pretty frequent engine start/stop cycle.

Therefore I keep in mind:

1) The life of my battery (Rs 6k a pop)

2) Life of the starter motor (atleast few grand to repair should it fail or go out of whack)

3) The fact that every start drains the battery and by moving a few hundred meters in city traffic before repeating the same cycle may not suffice to fully recharge it.

4) Air con blower required at traffic signals - additional drain on the battery if the engine is off. No cooling when engine is off either.

In light of the above, I don't mind the fuel burnt whilst the engine is idling at signals. So I do not switch off my engine unless the signal is over 120 secs in duration. And I see very few in Pune, one is at Karve Rd Null stop and at the Jahangir Hospital crossing near the Railway Station. Guess what my petrol engined car still gives me 11-12 kmpl with AC on in city despite almost never switching off at signals.

PS - I forgot to mention the angry honks from car drivers behind me (it's common I think in most cities) if I take a few secs to start the car and be on my way. I get mighty amused when the count down timer for green signal is ticking away and a person is trying to start his car/bike in desperation. LOL!

[josephkarthic]

Hi Guys,

I'm karthic from Chennai, I have a i10 kappa purchased in 2009 used occasionally, Recently I have not started my car for over a month even though I thought I should, and to my worst nightware today morning it didn't start..seems the battery fully discharged.

I cranked up many times but didnt start, So my neighbour helped me to push the car forward a little bit and then it started, So I revved hard and drove about 2 kms for 30 minutes and then kept the engine running for another 30 mins and turned off, I started again with key but still the same problem... it didn't start. :(

I tried multiple times, it started 1 time luckily but fails everytime after that..

Please tell me what should i do? Is the battery totally gone? Should i have to recharge it? If so where i should do it in chennai? Is it in the Hyundai service center or any local service mechanic would do? Can the battery be removed alone and given to recharge? Or can we make the current battery to charge fully by idling the engine everyday? say drive for some hours and idling it after that?

Please help me guys, I have no idea about how I should fix this and was frustrated by this incident, i could use some help from all of you guys..thankyou.

[saket77]

Does the car cranks?I think your battery has gone into a deep discharge. First, open the electrolyte caps and check for proper electrolyte level. If the level is low, add distilled water to top up.
I hope that when the car started, there were no warning lamps on esp. the ignition/battery light and the check engine light.
Now, a deeply discharged battery will be very difficult to be charged by just running the car. You will need to disconnect the battery and give it to a shop for charging it. In case you have a charger, you can charge it at home. If you are lucky to wake up the battery from slumber, then you will save some bucks! Goodluck!

[deadguy25]

Do not crank when you know the battery is down. I have heard that it has side effects.

If you know the battery is down, get it charged or replaced.

I dont think we need to hurt the car the sake of a battery.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by josephkarthic

...So my neighbour helped me to push the car forward a little bit and then it started, ......

Modern-day cars (petrol/diesel) should not be push-started, IMO.

If the battery is down (as seems to be the case), please either get it charged or replaced with a new one.

If your usage is going to be less, I would even suggest to buy a car-battery charger, with which you can keep the battery charged correctly all the time, when you are not actually driving the car a lot.

[hellmet]

If you're running on original battery and only occasionally use the car, then I'm pretty sure the battery is dead. 4 years is a long time, and without constant charge/discharge cycles, flooded lead acid batteries tend to corrode and if this corrosion gets real bad, then you have a short between cells and a dead battery. There are whole web pages dedicated to how you can revive a battery from this stage, but it is a hassle (you need a charger and epsom salt) and there is no guarantee you'll be able to end up with a working battery.

If you have a multimeter, check the charge across the battery terminals with the engine off. If it reads less than 10V or less you might have a short.

You can surely take out just the battery out of the car without any issues and take it to a local battery guy(that is what I did). They would tell you if the battery has potential life or not after checking specific gravity. Some battery guys might volunteer to renew the 'acid' and recharge it overnight, but that did not work for my dead battery. If he says the battery is dead, you should pony up for a new battery.

Prevention? Nothing much except for taking the car out once a week, or buy a smart trickle charger and put the battery on charge at all times when not in use (if several weeks).

And as saket77 mentioned, a deeply discharged battery will never fully recharge just by running the car. A proper charge is necessary.

[2000rpm]

Thank you guys, this thread has answered my query as well. I was trying to get my Palio's battery charged by asking the person using it to run the car, and the battery didnt get charged. Will have to charge the battery once i guess.

[alpha1]

Your battery is dead and most probably needs to be replaced.

AS a side note, whenever you see/feel your battery running down, just drive around in 1st or 2nd gear for about 10-15 minutes. I said 1st and 2nd gear because our impatience will usually cause us to move at some speed, which means you will rev the engine a bit.
So revving the engine is the key bit for recharging!

The higher the gear, the lesser the engine RPM, and lesser is the battery recharge.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by josephkarthic

Please help me guys, I have no idea about how I should fix this and was frustrated by this incident, i could use some help from all of you guys..thankyou.

Seems your battery is a goner - get a new one.

Also - NEVER push start a new BS I/II/III/IV car - you stand to ruin your catalytic converter that way. And trust me - that's costly!

[supertinu]

Seems like your battery is almost end of life since its 4yrs old. Due to non usage it has discharged completely and now probably not recharging again. Give it to a shop to see if they are able to charge, else just swap it for a new one.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by blackasta

Also - NEVER push start a new BS I/II/III/IV car - you stand to ruin your catalytic converter that way. And trust me - that's costly!

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

Modern-day cars (petrol/diesel) should not be push-started, IMO.

Any specific reason why a modern car should not be push started?

@blackasta: How will catalytic converter gets ruined when you push start the vehicle?

Pardon my ignorance.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Any specific reason why a modern car should not be push started? ...

Sorry, I dont have the time right now to post the detailed explanation ...but, long story short...there is a lot of electronics in today's cars, and the basic pre-requisite for them is a decent, constant electric power supply.

Originally Posted by ecenandu

...@blackasta: How will catalytic converter gets ruined when you push start the vehicle?
....

unburnt fuel can get into the exhaust system, thereby damaging the cat-con, is what I have heard.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Any specific reason why a modern car should not be push started?

@blackasta: How will catalytic converter gets ruined when you push start the vehicle?

Pardon my ignorance.

A rich mixture (unburnt fuel + air) might make it's way to the catcon resulting in clogged catcon (minimum) to explosive blast (maximum), resulting in various degrees of catcon failure.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by Blue Thunder

Sorry, I dont have the time right now to post the detailed explanation ...but, long story short...there is a lot of electronics in today's cars, and the basic pre-requisite for them is a decent, constant electric power supply.

If your battery is not dead and it has a minimum power to run the fuel pump and related accessories, I don't see any harm in push starting the vehicle.

Originally Posted by blackasta

A rich mixture (unburnt fuel + air) might make it's way to the catcon resulting in clogged catcon (minimum) to explosive blast (maximum), resulting in various degrees of catcon failure.

OK, why would the fuel mixture be rich if push start the vehicle. Are you saying its because of the low battery voltage.

As long as ECU is able to identify TDC and related timing regarding injection and ignition, I don't see any difference between a push start and cranking using self motor in a car with reasonably healthy battery.