Battery Dying

[Lancer1993]

Okay the battery in my old coupe is less than 2 years old but I think it might be on the way out.

Right now the car is not being driven as it has a major oil leak and is currently out of rego. So it's only being started even couple of weeks to mow the grass but can't be run long with the oil leak. Now it's not starting on it's own, either needing a jump or charge to get it going. I just went to put the windows back up fully and found no power at all, no lights, nothing.

Got it on a trickle charge for the next few hours, maybe until morning just to put the windows back up, the down side out retro fitting electric windows LOL Lucky I have weather shield and they are only down a few cm.

So does it sound like the battery is just old, under used or could there be other issues I'll need to check when I do the engine swap for a twin cam 4G93?

Update, just 2 hours on a charger and I have power, didn't try starting the car but the windows work and the lights.

Yes I've cleaned the terminals recently.

Should I disconnect the battery while it's just sitting there in a locked back yard?

[himynameisdaniel]

there is no need to disconnect the battery unless you have a constant drain.
You can use a multimeter to figure out if something is constantly draining the battery.
keep in mind some accessories can linger for 1-2 mins after say door close.
Simply jumping a flat battery and not running it long enough is pretty bad. it wont have enough CCA to perform another start.

i think your battery only needs a good 2-4 (engine running) hours to properly try to charge it self.
If this fails then i would look at another battery.

Otherwise if you have one of those battery health check tools handy they will tell you a lot of information and also store a charge to jump the car from 240v AC.

address the oil leak first.. do you know where it is coming from?

[Lancer1993]

Yes I know where the leak is and its the major reason I stepped up to get a CJ, my old CC needs and engine transplant and I have most of the parts just not the time or knowledge to do all the work.

The leak is pretty bad, when running you can see it leaking down the block from the head casket. Quote was at least $1600 just to replace the gasket, why do that when I have a 4G93p sitting in the garage?

I plan to do the work over the next 6 months, as I get the time and other parts needed.

I figure the battery is just being under used and for now I'll just have to give it a boost any time I need to move the car under its own power.

[Lancer1993]

Not too worried about the battery, right now its the least of the cars issues. I can get a new one later if the old one doesn't hold a charge.

Anyone in Caloundra have some spare room in a garage so I can swap the engine out

[Lancer1993]

I do have one more question, reading through the CJ manual and it says you should not jump the battery using the negative terminal, instead place this on the chassis, or some other place that is earthed.

The reason being gas from the battery can catch fire if there is a spark.

Now I've been driving for some time and jumped my share of cars and always placed both ends of the jumper cables on the batteries.

And it also said to turn off the car you're jumping from before connecting it to the other car. Is that to protect the cars electronics?

I mean in the end it wouldn't take any more time but its a life time of jumping cars I'd have to relearn how to so this simple task.

BTW I have modern jumper cables with built in safety lights to tell you if you've not connected the leads correctly, like crossing the cables positive to negative.

[sleeper]

lol, jeezus, get over it
phone racq.

fmd

we ere a CJ moderators club, live with it.

[Lancer1993]

I just asked is there a right or wrong way to jump a modern car?

[himynameisdaniel]

correct with the chassis. its best practice and safety first.

Also safer and much less risk to have donor vehicle turned off prior to connecting leads.
Just because you can perform hot work on a electrical system doesn't mean you always should.

[sleeper]

i apologise Craig, i was a bit grumpy last night with family problems

[Lancer1993]

Thats okay.

As for turning the other car off, its just easier for them to pull up and do the jump, but I'll keep that in mind next time I do it.

[sleeper]

also i was told by a mechanic that its best to remove the positive terminal first, i always thought it was the other way around

[Jason-VR]

also i was told by a mechanic that its best to remove the positive terminal first, i always thought it was the other way around

No that's wrong. You take off the negative first and put on the positive first.
You do this so if the spanner touches the body with the positive it does not earth and spark which is really easy to do in such a tight space.

[sleeper]

that makes more sense to me too, thanks jason

[Lancer1993]

I didn't think there was a lack of space under the bonnet and BTW if you're starting the engine its good practice NOT to put any tools on the flat surfaces, always put them back in your tool box. Failing this ALWAYS check and double check you have left nothing under the bonnet before jump starting it, even with all the plastic covers you don't want a spanner slipping down and getting caught up with the drive belts or something.