Help please

[lipsee]

Hi ,I have a 75 diesel auto est.I have had no troulbe until now(in five months anyway)...Last week I had to park under a dirty tree,so next day I moved to our side of the road(the clean side,and yes my car is now covered in NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-NAUGHTY WORD-,but thats the least of my probs)it started as always no trouble..Then after about five days I wanted to use it for work..Put the key in and nothing dead as a very dead dog..I just tried to get some life in it with a small mirco battery,the alarm went off and there was a whiring coming from somewhere around the battery.The battery,s dead,,,question is should I buy a new batt and hope for the best or risk taking it too some ham fisted mech here down in London,,or perhaps get it started and limp up to Lincolnshire my home,then get a local expert to cassed his beedy eye and magic fingers over it.Oh yeah before you asked I did check the drain holes and yeah over night they filled up with crudd..I was hoping to go up to Lincolnshire tonight for my days off,,what to do!!! what to do!!! Things like this always happen when you least expect ,,and you need like a hole in the head!!!!

[T-Cut]

Did the dash lights go wild when you tried to start it? Or did you just hear a click? or did nothing happen at all?

TC

[Arctic]

Hi Phil.
I think after 5 days of standing you will find that it is the battery, recharge it for a full 24hrs if the battery was in good condition before hand if not purchase a new battery.

The reason I say this is that recently a nano crew member as found if he leaves his battery for more than four days the battery will be flat, he as found that there is a drain on his car from a source yet to be found, he checked nearly every diesel at the meet and the same drain is on those too.

So for that reason only I would suspect the battery, or if you have access to a spare battery try that.

http://www.75ztcommunity.co.uk/battery-drain-t9215.html

[lipsee]

thanks for your promt reply T cut,,no ,,there was no flashing lights,,just normal ign stuff,,,I just tried again with my micro batt and I got some clicking and a whirling,I removed the Cd cassett case ...I decide to stay here tonight and get breakdown recovery tomorrow,,and go from there,,if like artic says its a new batt then so be it!!! (but much grumbling)

[lipsee]

Cheers Artic,,you may be right regarding the batt,,if I had a battery charger here in London I would give it a shot...the battery looks in such good condition,,I suspect there some short somewhere on the car,,this car has run fine in the time I,v had it,,and was going to reward it with a small service and a few upgrades..Now the thing will be lucky to get a wash!!! do,nt expect a reply today ,,I,v got to go to work

[Organiser]

Originally Posted by lipsee

I just tried to get some life in it with a small mirco battery,the alarm went off and there was a whiring coming from somewhere around the battery.

The whiring noise coming from around the battery might well be a Webasto heater unit stirring into life and could be the cause of your flat battery as they can go faulty and switch themselves on and off??

Tom.

[kaiser]

About a week not driving will drain my V8 and my wife's 1.8T. My V6 can stand for long, maybe 2 months, and my older Rovers can maybe stand for about 4 or 5 months, and start on the button.

Modern cars!

In any case, buy a battery charger and charge the battery. this is not going to be the last time that happens, and a decent battery charger cost fairly little. You can even get a self monitoring switching charger for maybe 20 Pounds or so. That you can leave on, without fear of overcharging.

[Lotaskin]

Originally Posted by lipsee

thanks for your promt reply T cut,,no ,,there was no flashing lights,,just normal ign stuff,,,I just tried again with my micro batt and I got some clicking and a whirling,I removed the Cd cassett case ...I decide to stay here tonight and get breakdown recovery tomorrow,,and go from there,,if like artic says its a new batt then so be it!!! (but much grumbling)

Where in London are you? I could possibly come and give you a jump start and check your charge state.
Regards Peter

[lipsee]

Originally Posted by Lotaskin

Where in London are you? I could possibly come and give you a jump start and check your charge state.
Regards Peter

Thanks very much for the offer Mr Skin,But I got the breakdown recovery to come out to give me to give me a jump,I was hoping he would also give me a heads up regarding any short,,but no chance he said no time(I,m thinking more likey "No Clue")Sooooo After it started, I took a short trip up the M11 to Laughton and back to a Halfords(My little charging gauge showed a normal 14.2 volts) ,I got them to check the battery(lo and behold) they said it was Kerput and that will be £78 for a new batt..But the route to my wallet is not as easy as that!!! As I have a small recovery batt at home(Lincs) I will make do until winter....So thats where I am with a dodgy battery,I might think about have a isolator switch fitted as I regulaly leave the car standing for more then a week,cos I,m convinced theres a short somewhere most likely the cd player...but mainly for peace of mind that it provides.regards all

[lipsee]

Yeah Artic was right !! The battery was 5 yrs old,,so replaced with a new un!!..thanks again for the replys