My PRHT is completely without power - fobs wouldn’t unlock the doors, opened with the key and no interior lights, won’t turn over, no dash illumination. I suspect a flat battery, but I can’t check the power on that as my voltmeter is not working (flat battery ironically).
Would zero power be normal for a flat battery? I would’ve expected at least a bit of something instead of a total blackout - I drove it yesterday, although I noted at the time it sounded like there was a momentary blip as I turned it over like the battery was low on charge.
I confess I have only been doing short trips the last few months (5 or 10 mins) usually with the lights on, A/C, HRW, heated seats etc, so I can probably only blame myself for draining the juice
Just wanted to check here before buying a new battery tomorrow.
You are probably not alone in draining the battery on short trips with all the ancillaries on, I have certainly done the same with my NBFL this winter. Faktor in the current cold spell and one has a perfect storm for killing the battery stone dead.
Just charge the battery if you have a charger then find out if it will hold the charge?
If you have a Panasonic battery then it could be the original and it’s past it’s useful life.
Yes usually a battery killer this weather, little use and they soon expire.
Having similar troubles with my daily driver it’ll start ok but my battery tester says it needs a charge. Little use over the last 10 days, when used it’s short journeys and plenty of drain with everything it seems on electrical wise.
The battery is a Yuasa brand, so not the original Panasonic. With that said, I think I’ll still probably just buy a new one tomorrow - I have had poor experiences in the past with recharging failing batteries with ever diminishing returns. The car is coming up to 10 years old this year so it’s quite possible, if this is only the second battery, that it too is reaching the end of its lifespan anyway. For the sake of ~£80 I think I’d rather have the peace of mind.
Much appreciation to you for replies, I’ll report back with an update tomorrow once I have replaced it.
Mines a Panasonic.
The car is 19 years old this year, I’ve had it for the last 10 years, there’s no record of it ever being changed, no bills etc, I’m convinced mine is still original.
I think I would want to be pretty sure it is the battery before buying another one. If you have a charger surely it’s worth trying to charge it so you at least see the car come to life when you turn it on. It’s a lot cheaper to buy a battery for your meter.
A total discharged battery points to a drain. Did you open the boot lid yesterday? The boot lid not closed properly has been a favourite over the years, it can look closed but it hasn’t catched and this can leave the boot light on.
Have you sealed the grommets below the windscreen? The seal on these grommets fail and water drips inside often on to the wiring and runs down into the fuse box in the passenger side kick panel. I have heard of two occasions when this water has shorted the fuses and activated the starter motor.
Have you removed and checked that the battery connections are clean?
In your position I would get the multi meter working first.
In light of comments provided I have replaced the battery in the multimeter and tested the voltage on the car battery - it’s at 4.6V which is very low considering it started up twice on Tuesday. I haven’t been in the boot recently, so don’t think its that and there is no water ingress inside the car or fuse box.
The alarm does randomly go off sometimes, but I’m inclined to think it’s likely my recent usage coupled perhaps with an ailing battery. As mentioned above, I have been mainly driving only very short journeys and quite often those trips are 5 minutes one way, stop for 5 minues (at the shop) then another 5 minutes back, usually with lights on as well as fans/AC, HRW, heated seats, ICE/satnav, wipers, windows up/down. In hindsight I think I only have myself to blame
If you can get it running, put the volt meter across the battery terminals. Expect to see about 14.5 volts. If you do, then the alternernator is probably ok and the battery has failed.
Winter can be a battery killer.
I’ve got one of the below tools to keep a check on my two car batteries. Bit late probably for you now, very handy to have though for checks.
I had a functional battery but felt how it started, a slight pause that the battery was suspect. Tested the old but fully charged battery after changing it, it told me how much life it had in it but needed replacing.
I check the batteries regularly and act upon that gizmo telling me they are either ok, good but need a charge and hopefully not a bad battery, replace.
I keep both batteries topped up where necessary as my driving the cars can be very irregular. Probably one or the other standing for days unused then only used for short distances.
Thanks Mick - I think I’ll invest in one of those.
To update, I replaced the battery with a new one and car is running fine. I’ll get the multimeter on the battery terminals with the engine running this weekend and check the voltage is around 14.5 to be sure the alternator is not playing up.
Don’t forget that you need to keep the new battery topped up if you continue to use the car as indicated earlier. An investment in a smart charger will pay dividends in the long run. No need to spend a fortune, the Aldi/Lidl ones will do the job.
If you have an old car a new battery for under a hundred quid should be your first move. So many electrical problems, often quite odd, are caused by old/faltering batteries. Your local sheds like ATS will do a free health check with pro equipment.
