[c6152]

hi folks, im after some advice. my father picked up my car this afternoon to take to gary at profile.cat back and cr270

.only problem was the battery was flat! 3 months sitting there whilst im away working.im due back next week and wanted her all good to go.so anyway the aa man comes out and says the battery has had it. only two volts or something.

dad buys a new battery.. £70. and gets it to gary.ive phoned frauds and the department i need arnt in till monday....two questions for you good folks on here then..
1. is it a warranty issue.?the car is still under warranty.57 plate.
2. is it the alternator and is that under warranty.?

was really looking forward to getting home and having a good drive,now im worried im gonna break down.

thanks in advance ste.

 

[troy45]

I don't think you'll have any joy from Fords as soon as you mention that the car has been sat for 3 months and then you found the battery dead. It's simply discharged over time and is not an indication of an alternator fault or a bad battery I'm afraid.

Can't remember the exact figures from work but when we've got cars stored in compounds etc I think the battery care process is to test and recharge the batteries every month or maybe sooner.

By rights you should have had someone starting the car every couple of weeks to keep the battery charged up or taken it off and put it on a trickle charger etc.

 

[c6152]

i did ask on the forum about best practise when leaving car standing and nobody said disconnect battery.. in fact people said it would be fine and that they had left theres for longer. i would expect a modern car to be able to cope with this as well...so that is what is making me think that it was a duff battery caused by non working alternator.
i cant do anything about it now anyway .. will wait till i get back,solve the problem in a nice civil way... if i have to spend my time off with no car and ford garage p i ssing me about then im gonna be mad

.
anyway thanks for all your replies.

 

[troy45]

QUOTE(c6152 @ 12 Dec 2009, 06:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>i did ask on the forum about best practise when leaving car standing and nobody said disconnect battery.. in fact people said it would be fine and that they had left theres for longer. i would expect a modern car to be able to cope with this as well...so that is what is making me think that it was a duff battery caused by non working alternator.
i cant do anything about it now anyway .. will wait till i get back,solve the problem in a nice civil way... if i have to spend my time off with no car and ford garage p i ssing me about then im gonna be mad

.
anyway thanks for all your replies.

Got to say you've been given bad advice there i'm afraid

It's expecting too much of even a modern battery to maintain it's charge even when stood for 3 months.

For various systems in the car to keep working there is a very small current drain even when the ignition is turned off - the alarm and keyfob receivers for example. Over 3 months of standing still this will drain the battery even if there was no deterioration from non-use.

Not sure of the ST's battery spec but if you take it at being 70Ah then being stood for 3 months (2160 hours) you've got roughly 32mA maximum that the battery can be supplying continually over that time without any deterioration in the battery charge over that time. If you were to factor in the hefty amount of current drawn to operate the starter motor after being stood for that time you're lowering that 32mA even further.

If you saw the waranty bill we have for replacing batteries at pdi because the battery care process hasn't been followed during storage you'd soon get the gist that it's not a battery or alternator issue. And that'll be for cars which have intelligent modules which are put into transport mode to limit functionality while the vehicle is in transit with the very purpose of limiting battery drain.

 

[c6152]

ok then.im gonna say that i will be happier if it is down to the fact that the battery has been drained.means £70 and a hard learnt lesson.

but no worrys about having no transport whilst im home.thanks for your time.im really looking forward to the exhaust note and full boost..also will like seeing my son as well

happy motoring and thanks again ... ste

 

[troy45]

QUOTE(c6152 @ 12 Dec 2009, 06:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>ok then.im gonna say that i will be happier if it is down to the fact that the battery has been drained.means £70 and a hard learnt lesson.

but no worrys about having no transport whilst im home.thanks for your time.im really looking forward to the exhaust note and full boost..also will like seeing my son as well

happy motoring and thanks again ... ste
Sorry you've found this out the hard way mate.

Hope it's not long before you're rolling again and having that

feeling