Winter battery woes

[markeyszoo]

I sat in the car, engine off but lights on (big mistake) for only 10 minutes and when I tried to start her she coughed once, threw an engine warning light and died.

I got my brother to come with jump leads and she fired up first time. The curious thing is that within a 5 minute drive home I was getting a reading of 13.1 volts?

much higher than I expected? Any thoughts

[malcolmw]

Your Battery has very low capacity. Instead of, typically, 70Ah it may be down to, say, 5Ah. Thus, it will appear to recharge very rapidly but still only have a small capacity available.

You need a new one!

[markeyszoo]

45 minutes ago, malcolmw said:

Your battery has very low capacity. Instead of, typically, 70Ah it may be down to, say, 5Ah. Thus, it will appear to recharge very rapidly but still only have a small capacity available.

You need a new one!

Unfortunately I suspected that. It did start the car again four times once charged.

Are Halfords batteries any good?

[scudney]

Time for a change,halfrauds sell main stream batteries as well as their own brand,the choice is yours depending on how much you want to spend,yuasa,varta,bosch are good brands 

[Brechin Slate]

See pic, this is the Battery you need. Changed mine 4 years ago and it hasn't missed a beat.

[Texas]

Cheapest I can find at the moment, inc  Del,

Mega Battery store,

 

[Brechin Slate]

If you go for an alternative to the Bosch, it's important to check the terminals are in the same position as the one you are replacing

[markeyszoo]

when i put the new Battery on what systems will need resetting?and how

[Texas]

If after a Battery disconnect the window switches little green LED is flashing then Electric windows will need re-learning as they will only work from their respective buttons and not from drivers door panel. 
you need to open each window about half way down with its own button and then close it but keep button pressed for about 2-3 seconds after it has closed ( you may hear a click) Do this with each window in turn and then you will have control back at drivers door panel,

If you have a Moonroof as Lexus cell it then that will need re-learning as  it is completely separate to window system even though it works via Global Closure using the key fob.

Note.
There are No codes required for factory fitted audio equipment

[markeyszoo]

1 hour ago, Texas said:

If after a battery disconnect the window switches little green led is flashing then Electric windows will need re-learning as they will only work from their respective buttons and not from drivers door panel. 
you need to open each window about half way down with its own button and then close it but keep button pressed for about 2-3 seconds after it has closed ( you may hear a click) Do this with each window in turn and then you will have control back at drivers door panel,

If you have a Moonroof as Lexus cell it then that will need re-learning as  it is completely separate to window system even though it works via Global Closure using the key fob.

Note.
There are No codes required for factory fitted audio equipment

All seems to be as before with exception that memory seat positions forgotten. Easy fix, Happy days

[markeyszoo]

In other news and without any sensible explanation the mpg seems to have greatly improved since fitting the new Battery.

or am I just kidding myself?

[Texas]

The car will be in a ‘re-learning’ phase after the Battery dis-connect so if the indicated mpg was mostly done by another driver ( previous owner )for instance then the driving ‘style’ will be different, it may take a while to settle down to your style.

[Ala Larj]

Does this also happen when the Battery goes flat or only after disconnecting?

[Herbie]

9 hours ago, Ala Larj said:

Does this also happen when the battery goes flat or only after disconnecting?

It happens whenever there isn't enough power (by whatever method) to hold the 'memory'.

[Texas]

So could still happen if you didn’t disconnect Battery but if Battery goes below about 10v it make cause all sorts of other ‘problems’ that will be rectified with a healthy Battery,