[kiku007]

Chennai/Tamilnadu has been on a lockdown for a while. My dad hasn't used the Ford Aspire Automatic for about 4 weeks and now the car wouldn't start. The electrical accessories seem to work fine I'm told. The car was serviced only a couple of months ago so I'm hoping it's just a battery that has gone below 12V.

Thankfully he was aware that it won't be possible to push start the car since it has an automatic transmission.

I've ordered the Jump start cable from Amazon and waiting for that to be delivered.

Meanwhile I stumbled upon this excellent thread/post, https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post3033761 ("My Car Won't Start" | What To Do)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv1oT_GnjYw

Thanks to SS-Traveller for that.


So I wondered how many BHPians have faced the dead battery situation during the lockdown.
What have you done to prevent it?
Have you invested on Multimeters, Jump start cables, battery operated Jump starter or trickle chargers?
Have you subscribed to Road side assistance services that help out in such scenarios?

Thanks

[amvj]

My car is less than 4 yrs old and still running on the original battery. I am a bit concerned about this battery discharge issue and hence I let the car run idle in the parking lot at least twice a week with the bonnet open to let the heat escape quickly.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by kiku007

My dad hasn't used the Ford Aspire Automatic for about 4 weeks and now the car wouldn't start.
Have you invested on Multimeters, Jump start cables, battery operated Jump starter or trickle chargers

I faced a battery run down issue last year, when it was a total shut down. No shops were open then, and I had to resort to this (Charging a car battery using a laptop charger!) in an emergency, with all due precautions. A home inverter can also be used to charge a car battery.

To prevent a situation like this, I'd recommend

1. monitoring the battery voltage every week using a multimeter
2. Start the car and run it for at least 30 minutes for the battery to regain the lost charge sapped by the starter motor
3. should the car need long term storage, disconnect the negative terminal of the battery.

If one must run the car at idle for several minutes, ensure that the parking area is adequately ventilated so that exhaust gases can be removed; not a good idea to run the engine for extended periods in a closed garage with no ventilation.

I'd recommend investing in a multimeter; a simple one shouldn't cost more than a few hundred rupees. A jump starter cable is a very handy thing, but most cables available on line are spurious - have thick insulation but very little copper.

[Axe77]

Yes. Once, during the first lockdown, on my Triumph Tiger. I was running both the cars and the bike within the parking lot regularly but somehow the bike still had a battery dead incident. Got it jump started from a local battery wala who had started coming regularly to our building by then. I can’t count how many people have used his services for jump starting during first lockdown. I think in my case the battery was already weak and following this incident, I gave it to the chap for a full charge anyway.

[Dr.AD]

Our area is in lockdown since last week of April, and my cars have not been used at all since then. Even last year I had a two-month period where my cars were not used.

However, luckily, no battery issues at all (yet).

The routine I follow is this:

1. Once a week, I start the car.
2. Open all windows.
3. Switch ON the AC in fresh air mode.
4. I drive the car slowly for 10 minutes within our apartment complex itself.
5. After that 10 minute slow ride, idle the car for another 5 minutes or so.
6. Then switch it off and close/lock everything again.

Doing this routine roughly once a week is good enough, and is keeping my cars and batteries in decent shape so far.

[GTO]

No dead batteries here.

1. I would religiously fire up all my cars minimum of once a week and let them idle for a bit. Including the media Kia Carnival demo that was stuck with me for 2 months.

2. A very close cousin (almost like a real brother) works in pharma distribution, an essential service. I'd given him the BMW for a week as these cars hate standing still; they are built to run.

3. Also, I would take them around the area for some work or the other (e.g. picking up stuff from the chemist or such essentials).

[drjanakpatel]

Although I was working regularly during the lockdown (last year), my honda city battery gave up.It lasted almost 5 yrs (amaron). It was my daily drive. Problem was that all the battery shops were closed. So it remained stationery for almost 15 days, until one day one of my patients turned out to be exide distributor. He helped me source the battery and fitted at my place.

[Sandman689]

We suffered this problem last year in 2020. Neither the Tavera nor the Royal Enfield would start. (I did not have the skill to kick start the bike at that time)

We already had jump cables which had been used previously. We were able to jump start the Tavera from Sumo after a couple of attempts. And then followed the same to jump start the bike as well.

However, the next day neither one of them would start! This was a hard way of learning that these batteries don't like being low on charge.
The battery on the Tavera was within warranty and thankfully changed within the next month.

Had to buy a new battery for the bike though. The battery was out of warranty and it leaked and smeared the garage floor.

With this learning, we start the car or drive around a bit at least once a week. Also, I have picked up the skill to kick start the RE

[Kosfactor]

Our cars are used at least twice a week for shopping, although we have a well stocked friendly neighborhood store, we tend to go to a bit far away place with more space to move around without bumping into each other during lockdown.

This way the vehicles gets a 12-15km round trip, keep everything in good shape. I do not like to cold start and idle the car, I prefer the engine warm up while being driven, AC on etc.

If your vehicles have not been driven for many weeks and you think the battery is down, do not attempt to start - a weak battery can damage the starter.

[MSC]

Belonging to essential services, meant daily travel without any absence. My car has run 16k kilometres ever since I bought it May 2020.
With such running, there was never a chance for a dead battery.

[Eddy]

I kept them running during the lockdown, even if it was a circumference run of our apartments. So no dead batteries for me.

[ashis89]

Yes.

It happened in the 1st lockdown last year. The car in question is our WagonR, with a 3 year old battery (as of last year) and zero usage during the lockdown period. The battery had to be charged at a store and since then, I have asked my father to keep using the car for 15-20 mins (idle or a drive, whichever possible) every 15-20 days. There has been no trouble since then and the Amaron battery crossed 4 years already.

On the other hand, my car has been idle for 3 weeks at a stretch but usually sees some running every 7-14 days. I go for grocery runs over the weekends and while at it, I try to take a longer route, idle the car a bit longer and make sure it remains on for 20-30 mins each time I step out. No trouble for me so far.

[abhishek46]

I am currently, the custodian of 3 vehicles (1 Self-owned Polo, 2 Balenos (owned by friends, who are away)).
The Polo & one of the Baleno (a CVT one) are doing fine, with a 10min warmup & workout once every 15days.

The Other Baleno was lying idle since 5months, when it was brought under my purview.
Unfortunately, it's battery (4year old) has gone permanently dead.
I tried to revive it with trickle charging at the Battery Guy's place, however, it is completely gone.
Not just the battery, I have noticed that one of tyres have also developed deep cracks, due to being parked at the same position for long time.
Fungus and mold have infested all the plastics inside as well. (In just 5 months!)

Extremely low usage and prolonged storage does takes a heavy toll on cars.

[ph03n!x]

I did the mistake of vaccuming my wife's Nano - which has the same battery that it rolled out of the factory in 2015 a couple of weeks ago. Sure enough, it lost juice needed to start the engine.

Luckily, I have my Thar and a jumpstart cable handy...

[INJAXN]

My Swifts battery went dead during the lockdown, but it was in its last leg anyways. Stock battery was 6.5 years old already. I got a new battery at the start of this year and since then I fire up the engine and keep it running for 5-7 minutes, take it for a spin also, if possible.

My 2 wheeler, a Honda Aviator, is standing idle in Pune ( while I am at my home town) for more than 14 months now, I am sure avaitor's battery is also dead forever. I am sure I will have to tow it to nearby workshop even to get it started.