Car Battery problems

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chris98
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Posts: 1
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 1:11 pm
Drives: 2008 1.2 Match
Location: United Kingdom

Car Battery problems

Post by chris98 »

Hi,
Due to the current COVID situation my car hasnt seen much action. I have recently had to solve the problem of my back two wheels not spinning.

Due to its prolonged standstill I had to jumpstart it and took it for a spin for around 1hour, I noticed the radio wasnt turning on. Could this be a fuse blown?

On turning on my car this morning it did start however, due to a stall as it was left in gear the battery died again. Could this be a larger problem with my battery linked to blown fuses, or do I just need to jump start it again and go for another drive to charge it up before replacing the radio's fuse?

I do apologise for my naivety, however, any help will be appreciated.

Cheers,
Chris
RUM4MO
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Posts: 5876
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Car Battery problems

Post by RUM4MO »

I'm guessing that you can not just buy a battery charger and charge this battery up frequently while this car is not being used very often?

If you can not connect up a charger due to parking on the street etc and so away from a convenient mains outlet, then you will need to buy a starter pack from somewhere, Halfords sell one for £50 which should be adequate but you will need to make sure that it is kept fully charged.
Bongoboy
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Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:57 pm
Drives: POLO 9N3
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Car Battery problems

Post by Bongoboy »

As suggested already charging the battery would be the first port of call. If you are then driving the car 'regularly' now that restrictions are starting to lift this should keep it charged as it did in the past. If you started the car and it stalled immediately then it may have been the first start of the car took the remaining charge out of the battery and since the car stalled it didn't get a chance to re-charge the battery hence you couldn't start the car on the second chance of trying.The radio not working could be a blown fuse or related to the battery being low (my Jetta radio wouldn't turn on when I had a low charge in the battery, it flagged up a warning actually, and when a fully charged battery was installed the issue went away).

Not sure if you can link to third party websites so I won't but if you look at one of the large breakdown organisation websites in the UK, the one with orange vans and begins with an 'R', they have a "how to look after your car during the coronavirus crisis" section which gives handy tips about maintaining your car when its not being used as often which covers the battery also.

Its always worthwhile looking at the date stamp or manufacture date of the battery. Some even have indicators to show when a battery is nearing replacement but this is not a common feature. If its over 5 years old it may be the battery itself is on the way out. I tend to get around 7 years max from a battery in my experience before I start to see issues with them not holding a charge etc.
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