Nissan Micra electrical failure

At a first guess I'd say dead battery. They have quite bright interior lights these cars - it wasn't left on was it?

I did this once to a colleague's car that we'd taken to a conference for

Tony

Of course when I say "dead", I might just mean "flat".

Tony

Hi Tony. Thanks for your quick response! The only thing that could have drained the battery is the light, but I haven't used it for a while. I can't think if there's anything else that could have been left on. The car hasn't been touched by anyone (that I know of) since Wednesday, so I'm not really sure what could have caused it!

Sam.

flat battery, may just be a very old battery or may have been caused by something. first step is a charged or new battery, then check for charging/draining.

Mrcheerful

Hi Mr. Cheerful. I don't have access to either a charged or new battery, and I don't know how to check for charging/draining anyway (I'm a complete novice at car maintenance). Thanks.

Sam.

"MrCheerful" wrote in news:CrhIh.115564$HO5.68618 @fe1.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

If the battery is original, it's about due a replacement anyway. Fit a new or recharged battery, and before connecting the second battery lead, tap it against the terminal a few times. If there are any sparks, do not connect the battery, as this indicates an electrical fault which must be rectified first.

Stu

Tiit snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote in news:1173466310.092101.138880 @v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

Both new batteries and chargers are available at your local Halfords. If you don't wish to own a battery charger or a set of jump leads, I strongly recommend you upgrade your cover to home start. You're going to need one of those three things at some point in your motoring career, unless you change your cars often and are very lucky ;-)

Stu

I do have a set of jump-leads, which were given to me by my parents. I'll have to ask someone on my street if I can use their car to jumpstart mine. I'm not quite sure how to use them, but it shouldn't be that difficult (I hope!) I think I will upgrade my cover anyway. It should only be another =A330, hopefully.

Sam.

Or, phone round some local car accessory shops to see if they will deliver the battery.

Sometimes they just die, especially at this time of year.

Beats me why the interior light doesn't have a 15 minute timeout. I often see cars left parked overnight with the interior lit up

-- bucket

Depends what you do in parked cars, I suppose. And whether you prefer the lights on.

Decent cars do :-)

Chris

Errr? They always spark a bit whenever you first connect the battery, it's called a startup surge and happens as capacitors charge up in the power supply circuits in all modern cars.

To Sam:

If you get a big fat spark (you'll know it if it happens) disconnect immediateley and check that everything is off, especially the ignition switch and headlights, then double check that the doors are shut before continuing.

-- Chris

"Chris Dugan" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com:

I know about that, but it would have been pedantic of me to mention it, since the spark you're talking about is barely visible IME. If you tap it a few times you might get tiny pinhead spark on the first tap and subsequently nothing.

This is the kind of thing I was warning against.

Stu