Car battery help

Aylesbury_Duck

tussylucille said:

Nothing else plugged in and by local I mean 3 - 7 mes regularly

Which is almost certainly not helping.  At this time of year, the draw on the battery's power to start a cold engine is not being replenished by such short journeys.  Lots of local driving like that also puts disproportionate wear on the engine, which is probably rarely getting up to temperature at this time of year.

Whatever the solution for the battery problem, you need to take the car for a decent drive every week or two.

kaMelo

tussylucille said:

Yes driven car most days locally since 'new ' battery. When the second breakdown came he placed a machine on the battery and said even stationary the battery was losing voltage. The company in Rochdale have said they are bound to replace it as it is under warranty but just keep fobbing me off as to when/ if  they are coming. Due to health related issues this has left me as good as stranded. What "legally" or otherwise can I do? Is there a body who oversees issues like this?
Thank you for your responses thus far. 

 With the engine running the battery should be recording a steady voltage, usually somewhere around 13.5 - 14 volts, no matter what is turned on or off in the car. 
If the battery is losing voltage with the engine running it would indicate the fault is elsewhere in the charging system rather than the battery itself. This is backed up by the fact one battery has already "failed" and now a second one is having problems too. 

mobileron

Got Halfords to change the battery on my wifes I10 cost £55 with a 5 year warranty,why did you pay so much money to this outfit in Rochdale.
Have u tried a battery charger to top it up?

tussylucille

I do not have a battery charger. I am 65 with health related issues the car has been stationless for 10 days now. I cannot afford taxis or to pay anyone as have just had the MOT. I was hoping someone could give me some advice that I could quote to them re their legal obligation.

tussylucille

I have driven locally for 40 years and never had a problem re taking it for a long run? Also the first battery was flat as a result of the back door being left slightly open up to then it was the original battery. Just to vlarify the battery was losing voltage with no engine running .

Ditzy_Mitzy

tussylucille said:

I have driven locally for 40 years and never had a problem re taking it for a long run? Also the first battery was flat as a result of the back door being left slightly open up to then it was the original battery. Just to vlarify the battery was losing voltage with no engine running .

I'm afraid there is no legal obligation.  The battery was replaced in good faith by the lot in Rochdale, but unfortunately doing so has not solved anything as the problem is with your car and not the battery itself.  No battery is going to survive being fitted to a vehicle that drains it with the ignition off, and fitting another battery won't help in the slightest.  You need to speak to a proper mechanic in order for diagnostic tests to be run on the electrical system.  

Phantom151

tussylucille said:

I have driven locally for 40 years and never had a problem re taking it for a long run? Also the first battery was flat as a result of the back door being left slightly open up to then it was the original battery. Just to vlarify the battery was losing voltage with no engine running .

There will be a slight battery drain with the engine off for alarms and whatnot. Batteries get drained a lot quicker these days as there are more things still using it when you aren't driving. Do you have cover with someone like the AA/RAC/Greenflag, possibly even through your bank account? Local garage thay may come and take a look? Anybody that could come around and jump start it for you so you can go on a decent length drive to charge it up fully?

Yes, batteries should last longer than a year but short journeys and left standing for a while may well have damged it sorry to say.

Local independant garage is probably your best bet. Do you have a relationship with the garage you had the MOT done at? They may help out of goodwill. You might still be on the hook for a new battery but it won't be another £100-odd.

cx6

kaMelo said:

tussylucille said:

Yes driven car most days locally since 'new ' battery. When the second breakdown came he placed a machine on the battery and said even stationary the battery was losing voltage. The company in Rochdale have said they are bound to replace it as it is under warranty but just keep fobbing me off as to when/ if  they are coming. Due to health related issues this has left me as good as stranded. What "legally" or otherwise can I do? Is there a body who oversees issues like this?
Thank you for your responses thus far. 

 With the engine running the battery should be recording a steady voltage, usually somewhere around 13.5 - 14 volts, no matter what is turned on or off in the car. 
If the battery is losing voltage with the engine running it would indicate the fault is elsewhere in the charging system rather than the battery itself. This is backed up by the fact one battery has already "failed" and now a second one is having problems too. 

This is your best clue. If the battery voltage is declining whilst the engine is running and the car stationary then you have a fault somewhere. Maybe the alternator, maybe the wiring.

You need to book it into your local garage for diagnostics.

You asked about legal options. As far as I can tell you have none. Certainly none until you get the tests done and find out what is happening.

Aylesbury_Duck

tussylucille said:

I do not have a battery charger. I am 65 with health related issues the car has been stationless for 10 days now. I cannot afford taxis or to pay anyone as have just had the MOT. I was hoping someone could give me some advice that I could quote to them re their legal obligation.

tussylucille said:

I have driven locally for 40 years and never had a problem re taking it for a long run? Also the first battery was flat as a result of the back door being left slightly open up to then it was the original battery. Just to vlarify the battery was losing voltage with no engine running .

I'm afraid they aren't obliged to do anything at this stage, until you can prove the battery they supplied is faulty.

As for driving locally, it will cause more wear and tear on the car generally if you only do short journeys, and certainly won't help battery life and performance.  As you say, this sounds like a more fundamental problem with the second battery or the electrics of your car, but a decent 30-45 minute drive at speed (rather than tootling around town centre roads, for example) will charge a battery fully, whereas your short journeys won't be doing so.

My money's on there being an electrical fault in your car that is causing the battery drain.

born_again

tussylucille said:

I have driven locally for 40 years and never had a problem re taking it for a long run? Also the first battery was flat as a result of the back door being left slightly open up to then it was the original battery. Just to vlarify the battery was losing voltage with no engine running .

So who came out & tested it? Did they not get you running again? How long were they there for?

A unused battery will discharge. If they got your battery running it would read something between 13 & 14V. Turn engine off and it would drop to say 12.6V and over the next hour or so drop down further. That is natural battery behaviour. If you start with a flat battery then it will drop faster.
https://www.optimabatteries.com/experience/blog/what-is-the-voltage-of-a-12v-battery-after-a-week-without-starting-the-engine