How long can you go without starting the 8?
 

Hi guys,

I'll be away for about 3 weeks, and I'm just wondering if I need the car to be started up every couple of days so as to avoid a dead battery by the time I return. So, anyone has any experience to share?

cheers

Starting it up every couple days would be the worst thing you could do for the battery (unless it was also driven 20-30 minutes after every start). I went nearly 3 weeks over Christmas vacation with mine in the garage during pretty cold weather (garage was 30-40* F), and it started right up when I got home. If I were to leave it for more than a month, I'd probably disconnect the battery and/or get a battery trickle charger or similar device.

G8trboy's got me- I've only left mine for about a week, and in warmer weather, although warmer weather will cause the battery to discharge faster. I've also left my Honda for over a month, and it still starts. I'd imagine the battery in the 8 is at least as good as in an 8 year old Accord, so I'd imagine G8trboy's experience holds true- you're probably good up to a month, maybe even 6 weeks or longer.

My rule of thumb for any vehicle is;

2 weeks- No problem

3 weeks- No problem on a new vehicle/battery, but a bit risky with a used vehicle/older battery

4 weeks - Very new vehicle OK, couple of years old a bit risky, an old banger like I drive now and definitely a problem (I would disconnect the battery on the old banger)

More than 4 weeks - I would disconnect the battery on any vehicle if I knew I was going to leave it for more than 4 weeks. Remember you will have to reset the clock and radio presets when you reconnect it.

Thanks guys, I guess I'll try going away for 3 weeks without having to start the car. I think starting the car and not driving it around might get into the flooding problem, and I do by Mr M's theory.

I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed while I'm starting up the car in 3 weeks time:)

Thanks.

I have not driven my car since the third of april and I probably wont get to drive it until at least the end of may. Got the ol license pulled for 30 days and I am having a bitch of a time getting into the class I have to take to get it back. It sucks real bad riding a mountain bike instead of a brand new car. So I really doubt if there will be anything wrong with it. I will probably start it and let it run here in about 2 weeks and maybe go drive it a bit and hopefully not get caught.

Why not put it on a trickle charger with automatic shutoff. It charges for an hour or two a day and shuts off till the volts reach a certain level and than comes back on. It is very low amps, like 0.5 to 1 amp. They have them that will give a pulse to keep the plates from getting sulfated from being constantly charged.

According to the manual, the spec for "dark current" is max of 20 mA. Dark current refers to the amount of current that's being used for the alarm, computer memory, etc. I haven't measured the actual dark current yet, but if it were actually 20mA that would mean you'd be losing an Amp-Hour every couple of days.

This combined with my driving pattern is one reason I am planning to install an Optima yellow-top battery sometime soon. The other reason is that it would be more forgiving if having to perform de-flooding procedures.

For extended storage though, the automatic trickle charger is definitely the way to go.

I picked up my 8 on Jan 31 brought it home, parked it then disconnected the battery and didn't touch the car until April 2/04. I didn't charge the battery and the car was in my garage (not heated) and the car fired up first try with no problems.

I wouldn't start the car, there is more wear and tear on startup everytime, and the rest of the components (driveline/transmission/etc..) on the car aren't warming up with it (from driving) so IMO there is more damage done by starting it up all the time. Check out the storage/winter threads, there is a lot of good info in those.