Aaarrgghh!
So went out in the Freelander yesterday but first had to free off the rear brakes (bit smelly) but got going. Then I thought better check the MG as I haven’t used it for a good fortnight maybe three weeks. No stuck brakes but battery flat i.e. so flat there were no dash lights. Bearing in mind this Bosch battery was new on 27/11 last. Light was fading so left it. Removed it today and checked the voltage before putting the CTEK on it - 4.7V! Any opinions on whether it’ll recover? I put the CTEK into ‘Recon’ mode so I’ll see what happens tomorrow probably now as the 12 hours apparently required is late on tonight. As Cobber has said in my previous battery post he always removes the battery when his is not going to be used for a while. Has anyone fitted a battery isolator switch as per Rally regulations? At least that should stop the immobiliser etc draining it. Anyone know what if any insurance implications this would have given that your are effectively turning off the alarm and immobiliser. I should add that I haven’t got anything else cameras, etc that are permanently active, so unless there’s a faulty circuit I’m assuming it can only be the alarm etc. Once I’ve got a reliable battery again I’ll do some investigating to see what the drain current is.
Cheers,
Michael.
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Even if its recovered they would need to prove the thieves hadn’t disabled it.
But if you go putting isolator switches in, well that might give the game away.
Our cars aren’t worth the cost of them forensically testing everything , they will only give it a quick glance at best.
So long as there isn’t anything obvious they’ll just use their traditional method of swindling you by using the fine print in the policy!
Despicable lowlife bastards that they are!
"Keep calm, relax, focus on the problem & PULL THE BLOODY TRIGGER"
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- Airportable
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An old fashioned brute of a transformer & a crude metal rectifier, once in a while, is great for keeping order. Too much bullying can knacker a perfectly good battery though, so don’t connect some Frankenstein device & walk away, leaving it for weeks on end.
M
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- Notanumber
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The modern charger is fine for say bringing a slightly discharged battery back from 12 volts to 12.6 volts but just turns tail and runs for the hills when expected to cope with anything that is at all seriously discharged, doesnt register its even connected to a battery. The last time this happened I had to fool the charger by putting a spare battery in parallel with it on jump leads. After charging the pair for a couple of hours I was then able to remove the leads to the 2nd battery. Pretty useless really.
2003 TF 135 sunstorm
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Since I haven’t abused it I’m expecting it to be covered by the supposed 5 year warranty. I’ll see that too.
Cheers,
Michael.
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- bryan young
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Yes, bad combination of cold weather and using lights, heater and fan on the last few times I did use it, on short journeys - read under 10 miles. I’ve just looked at my mileage records and I’ve only done 237 Miles on the battery.Coupled with the period of non use due to the seemingly incessant rain we’ve had up here…..
Regards,
Michael.
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- Airportable
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Lift either & you feel like you’re paying for an element from the right part of the periodic table & enough of it to fulfil its obligations. A Varta Silver 075 sits obediently under f bonnet.
On the charger front; I’d like to bet you’d find the old fashioned charger at boot sales, although the legalities might be questionable.
My grunter original had control circuitry in it until it was placed under where the hose reel lives & it involuntarily became a welder, but only for a very short time. Short being the operative term. I ripped out the charred mass, found a few fat stud diodes added an insignificant amount of smoothing & called it a day. The meter still works although the calibration is ; “a bit, some more, about half, quite a bit & my cup runeth over”, accompanied by smoke.
M
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If you have ever wonder how far you can travel if the alternator drive belt fails in your TF then the answer is 33 miles, A few months ago the belt on ours started to squeal on a drive, we turned round and started to head for home, the alternator light came on just as it was getting dark and a quick inspection showed that the belt had disintegrated. I decided to carry on until we ground to a halt, after 33 miles we got to where I keep it, the lights had been fading for the last couple of miles though. After parking it I tried restarting but there wasn't enough power left for more than a couple of clicks from the starter motor.
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“We’ll done old boy (24) near do that time, debrief & I’ll take you for a pint. What say?”
M
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2003 TF 135 sunstorm
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