got a company car so SORNed the skoda, keep it on private land with private road system, so every week or two i strike it up, leave it 20 mins or so to warm up, then drive it round the roads. its deserted so i can keep it in low gear and rev it up a bit, i like to think it ‘blows off the cobwebs’. it doesnt have a dpf so i assume these ‘small journeys’ dont affect it.

last time i went it struggled a bit to start, but it did, so did the same as usual.

this time it wouldnt start, just a clicking noise when turning the key. the site has a portable battery starter type thing, so connected it up, struck it up, started ok, so i thought id leave it longer this time. was doing a bit of work for a few hours, so drove it a bit, left it ticking over for an hour, bit more of a razz, tick over an hour etc, probs left it around 4 hours tickover/short drive.

parked it up, switched off and thought ill just see how easy it is to start again, but it wouldnt at all. just the clicking noise again.

id guess leaving it all this time hasnt done the battery any favours then, but im surprised that 4 hrs of ‘charging’ hasnt given it enough juice to start again.

its been SORNed since january.

now ok, if its knackered i can get a new one, but i still dont know how long its going to be SORNed, so im reluctant to splash out on new battery, and another 6 months down the line the same thing happens. im on a temp contract, if it finishes i lose the company car and go back to mine.

i could gamble and sell the car, but am loathe to do so as i love the car, its the one id want if i ever need to drive my own again. so…… i could just ‘jump’ the car from the portable battery pack each time, just to keep the parts moving, use the brakes, stop stuff from seizing, and then buy a new battery when i ever sell it or use again myself.

from my description, what would you say has knackered the battery, and can it be rescued?

i know it doesnt do a car any favours ‘not driving it regularly’, but i thought this was the best way of keeping it ‘ready to go again’.

WWSTWD?

thanks

You can try a smart charger with a desulphate mode which might possibly save it. Ctek or Optimate do decent ones then keep the battery on trickle charge out of the car. Pop it back it if you want to move it around.

There’s no guarantee that the smart charger will save the battery, but ime there’s a good chance it’ll do it.

Get a solar powered trickle charger. Should provide enough power to keep a new battery healthy. IME once a car battery has completely discharged it’s knackered.

Buy your new battery from a battery website, loads cheaper than Halfrauds and the like.

If one of the cells has died completely then no amount of smart charging will save it. You can get battery testers which will tell you if and how many cells are dead, CCA etc. But that’ll just tell you it’s dead and you still need a new battery.

I’d get a new battery (it’ll only be ~£60 from euro car parts or similar) and a solar panel trickle charger (about £20-£25) which will trickle 1A into the battery to keep it in good condition.

edit: beaten by 2 minutes.

Solar chargers in the UK are a bit crap ime, a lot of the time there simply isn’t enough sunshine for them to work. Or may it’s just my location in the gloomy rain shadow of the Pennines. Great in theory, not so clever in reality ime.

I’d be buying a smart trickle charger – Ctek / Optimate etc – seeing if you can salvage the existing battery. If not, new battery and keep it off the car on trickle charge. Ditto if the old battery is okay.

hmmmm…. as feared theres a plethora of different types of trickle charger, im not sure which would be best for me. anyone care to provide a link or two to either solar, smart, desulphate etc?

if it matters, its a 57 octavia 2.0 turbo diesel.

thanks

I’ve got one of these. Does the desulphation and trickle charge / maintenance thing. Around 50 quid. No idea on the solar charger front.

https://www.ctek.com/products/vehicle/mxs-5-0

Solar chargers in the UK are a bit crap ime, a lot of the time there simply isn’t enough sunshine for them to work. Or may it’s just my location in the gloomy rain shadow of the Pennines. Great in theory, not so clever in reality ime.

It’s not meant to charge the battery, just provide a float voltage when it’s left for long periods. It would take weeks to charge a car battery from flat with one (if ever once the alarm etc have all drawn a few mA each).

Most just sit on the dashboard and plug into the cigar lighter socket. Check it’s switched on when the ignition is off otherwise you’ll have to connect it with croc clips to the battery and run the wires through the door.

right, so am i right in thinking that a solar charger would be better for a healthy battery, to stop it from decaying? and wont bring a poorly battery back to life?

so as mine is poorly right now, my best option is to buy the ctek, take my battery off the car, bring it home and keep it trickling away in the garage for a week or so? then plop back onto car and give it a whirl?

if it rescues it, then its roughly the cost of a new battery anyway?

thanks

I’m going against the general consensus a bit here, but I wouldn’t bother trying to revive a dead battery, I’d fit a new one. If it just clicks when asked to start a warm engine after running for a couple of hours it’s goosed. And once I’d fitted the new battery I wouldn’t bother with the trickle charger either, a new battery will be perfectly happy sitting for a couple of weeks between starts without one.

You’re killing your car. Starting a diesel letting it idle for 20 mins to warm up. Then revving it high to blow out the cobwebs is causing nothing but problems. If you’re not using it, don’t use it. Slightly over inflate the tyres then leave it alone if it’s just six month. Then when you put it back on the road buy a new battery or second hand from a scrap yard and drive it normally for about and hour. Mostly under load.(Not revving it, at motorway speeds normally). It’ll be fine…. I’m a mechanic btw

I was going to say just what rich did. The diesel you burn will cost more than a new battery let alone the other bits you’re wearing out e.g. glow plugs and rotting the exhaust.

I’d also not bother with trying to save the old battery, even if you got some life back if you’re not using it daily it will not last.
Also consider disconnecting the battery when you leave the car, just the stereo drain will flatten the battery in my camper in a month and once a car battery goes below about 50% charge its already damaged.
A charged battery should be good for upto 6 months left in attached, if its going to be left longer then charge fully periodically.

if it rescues it, then its roughly the cost of a new battery anyway?

Yes, but it’s a fairly remote “if” IME. I’ve never actually had one rescue a dead battery. It might recondition one that’s slightly less than perfect and keep a healthy one in good condition. But if it’s dead, it’s dead. Essentially the plates inside short circuit and it’s not coming back.

So you’re just doubling the cost of replacing the battery.

You’re killing your car.

+1

Just leave it alone! If you want to be super cautious: give it an oil change, then leave it alone.

You could have brought the battery home and charged it occasionally, but it sounds like it’s gone past that now. Just buy a new battery when you decide to use the car again.

I was going to say just what rich did

Yes, me too. I don’t know what the weekly or fortnightly run around these private roads is supposed to achieve. Leave it in gear with the handbrake off, the battery earth disconnected and the weight off the tyres would be my choice if I had to store a car but had nowhere to store it properly. I’d prefer to lend it to a mate for the duration or if possible (assuming the job doesn’t involve starship-type mileages) take an allowance in lieu of the company car and just carry on using my own.

Just sell the car, put the money in the bank for when you need to replace it. It’s just dead money and it’s losing value.

Its not like it’s a rare car!

If you keep it, how old is the battery? If its old then it’s probably fubard anyway

If the battery is the original in a 57-plate car, it’s well past it’s useful life. The battery in my 51 Octavia died on me while I was camping in South Devon, it would be roughly the same age as the OP’s, and the AA bloke said it had barely 50% of its original capacity, so he fitted a new one. That was around four years ago.
Some relatively new cars have batteries that go flat if they’re left for a couple of days to a week, Kia Venga being one such – it’s a surprise when I go to move one and it starts, because the majority of them don’t. PITA.
I’d go with what most say, get a new battery, but leave one terminal disconnected, to avoid any power drain, which can be something like a bootlid not quite closed, and the light staying on, or clocks, or anything like that.
We have cars that sit in storage for weeks, and most of them start, most are two to three years old; but some, like the Venga are problematic.

Where in the UK are you? If anywhere close to Stratford in the Midlands you’re welcome to try my CTEK to see if it can rescue it. It’s saved a couple of my batteries.

thanks for all the info, much appreciated.

to answer some of your questions…..

I don’t know what the weekly or fortnightly run around these private roads is supposed to achieve.

i looked back at my original thread asking for advice on what to do when i SORNed it back in january. there were stories of brake calipers seizing, cars having all sorts of problems if they were stood…. also ‘if youre going to warm it up make sure its properly hot’ type advice, hence trying to not just warm it up, but drive it around the compound too, in my eyes im minimising the chance of anything seizing, just keep it all moving.
i dont understand enough about engines to know what damage that does to glow plugs, exhausts etc…..

the last few answers seem to imply it may be better to leave it alone, and that would certainly be easier, so i may go down that route for a month or two now.

i get the advice about selling, ive considered it a few times.

i think after the start of september, if im still in this temp post then i probably will be for the rest of the year, so a good plan may be to wait another month or so with the car stood, then if it looks like another few months in this post then ill sell it. begrudgingly. and stick a new battery on at point of sale.

i serviced it back at point of SORNing, its MOT will be up late september, so it all makes sense if im selling it to just bang another MOT and battery on it and wave goodbye in september.

submarined, im in lincoln but thank you for the offer.

thank you very much everyone.

TAYNA.Co.UK for a new battery

Your local metal yard will weigh the old one in for about a tenner

Disconnect the battery when you leave the car

No need to keep driving the car, just leave it in gear handbrake off

SLA Batteries do not like being flattened

SLA Batteries do not like not being used either

Just buy a new battery when you come to use the car again. If you must keep ragging it on private roads (sounds like fun) just jump it

well, ive brought it home today……

itll now sit on the drive, no battery, handbrake off, and ill try and find enough bricks to jack each corner and rest it so its not loading the tyres.

when i either drive it again or sell it, ill buy a new battery and send it for an MOT first.

itll also give me chance to give it a good old clean inside and out.

thanks for your advice.

one quick question if you dont mind……

im thinking that if i lock the car and then take the battery out, i may not be able to get into it again, so ive left it unlocked.

am i ok to just leave it unlocked and remove it? there wont be any implications for access due to central locking?

thanks

Your key will open the drivers door, no matter if there a battery fitted or not.

What z1ppy said, but do check your key works in the lock. It’s a few years old now and it sounds as if the lock’s never been operated so worth a quick wiggle. I’m presuming the battery’s under the bonnet which has a cable release? I mention that because mine’s behind a panel in the boot which has an electrical release so getting back in to reconnect it would be a wee bit more awkward…