very flat battery

Fred gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Or, to be frank, cares. What car is it? Is it even worth thinking about, or is the most sensible route just ringing a man with a HIAB?

I'd put money that tt'll take a charge, maybe even enough to start a (healthy) car, but if it were put back into use, it'd struggle if left over a night or two.

If it's a basic charger with no voltage regulation, it will likely produce quite high volts into a flat battery. Which will tend to reverse (to some extent) sulphation. I doubt the battery will recover to full performance, but may to a 'good enough' state. I keep an ancient trickle charger for just this.

How old is the car, what is it, and how long has it been unused?

If you are looking into making it a runner, first step is to see if the cambelt is rotten (if it has one). Next try to turn it using a spanner on the crank pulley bolt, or by pushing it in gear with the plugs out. Then see if the clutch will free by trying to push it in gear with the pedal held down.

If it fails any of the above, unless it's particularly valuable, it may not be worth doing anything with.

Whatever, the battery is likely to be the least of the problems!

Chris

On Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:41:44 +0000, Chris Whelan boggled us with:

I dunno, I got given a 2CV back in 2002 that hadn't even moved for 5 years. It had been stored under a car port. A fresh battery and some new oil and petrol, and it started first turn of the key. I took it for an MOT, and it needed only a new silencer. One of the brake calipers showed itself to be knackered a few weeks later, but other than that , it was sound.

[...]

Yebbut if it started and ran, it passed the criteria I've given ;-)

Chris

Sadly the car would cost more to repair than it is worth so I shan't be doing anything to it but thanks for the reply.

I wasn't going to make a special trip to get rid of the battery, so whilst it was waiting for me to go in that direction, I thought I would have a play and try to charge it. After a day it was only taking an amp or two and at that point I gave up. I finally went in the direction of the scrap yard and got £3 for the battery. Is that about right? I was hoping for twice that.

A couple of replies said that even if I had managed to revive it, it wouldn't have been good for much and I rather expected that but if sulphation is reversible, why does the battery fail afterwards? If it was truly reversible, wouldn't the battery be as good as before?

TIA

Lucky you, I thought a 2cv would be nice but they don't seem to sell for less than a couple of thousand pounds now. I don't know why, there's not much to them. One thing I did wonder about was security, since they've got soft tops are they easy to break into? Thanks.

In article , Fred writes

Yes;- very easy; just leave the doors unlocked so the scrotes don't slash the soft top to get in.

You're assuming scrotes have that much brain?

Recently the fibreglass sportspack wheelarches were stolen from the back of my wife's classic Mini, one front was also attempted and broken. This was between me leaving the house at 6.45 and daughter getting up an hour later. These things only fit Minis and you can't get them off without breaking them (unless you can get inside the car to the fixings).

£50 for a new set (copies), plus driving 30 miles to fetch them, plus a days work, plus car off the road in the meantime. Part of the irony is that my Mini next to it has a brand new front grille which cost £70, attached only by grille buttons which come off in 30 seconds flat. Muppets.

Where did you say you lived? ;-)

Chris