Car batteries - I don't use my car very much, how often should I take it for a run?

Question

I've been told if the car is unused the battery will discharge. How often should I take it for a run to keep it topped up and for how long? It's a new battery. Will disconnecting the negative lead stop this happening, and does starting it in cold weather drain the battery more? The problem is that I don't use it for work, and if I take it for a run at the weekend, chances are I will have lost my parking space when I get back. I may just get rid of it and join a car pool - it's a total pain in London.

Answer 1

batteries will all ways discharge even in shops.
as far as driving it well once a week for a good 15 20 miles
disconectind will slow it from discharging but only slightly
you can get a charger what does tricle charging but you have to take battery off for that

Answer 2

Hi

You will have two problems if you don't drive your car very often:-

1) A discharged battery, and once a battery has been allowed to drain down completely there is a good chance that it will only be about 75% efficient once fully charged again.

2) A build up of "mayo" in the rocker cover due to the engine not getting hot enough for long enough to boil out the condensation from the oil, which gives the impression that the head gasket has gone at a first glance, which is not good if you start to have problems with your car and the mayo formation becomes the basis for a false diagnosis.

Drive your car for ten miles at least once a week and you will combat both of the above problems. You could leave it idling but thats just boring, take it for a drive!!

Cheers

Geordie

Answer 3

hi there,
Car battery's will discharged if not used, there is no recommended timetable of when to take your car for a drive, A new battery will last longer if looked after properly by connecting the battery to a smart charger which continually monitors battery condition, disconnecting the battery lead will slow down battery drain, sounds strange, a battery will discharge on the shelf too. Starting the car in cold weather takes more out of your battery, if you only use it for a short time, the alternator cannot charge the battery efficiently in a short period of time.
If you don't use your car that often, why have it? Sorry, with so many means of traffic in and around London, surely public transport is another option.
Cheers
ps I could talk all night about batteries!! bit of a self confessed "anorak"

Answer 4

I would be more concerned about the other problems. Batteries aren't expensive, but if your car sits for long periods you can flat spot the tires which can somtimes only be fixed by replacing them. You also get carbon build up inside the engine and rust build up on the brakes and oxidation of any metal components and the car will deteriorate very rapidly. Also keep in mind that even if you aren't driving the car you need to change the oil every 6 months otherwise it breaks down and when you do go to drive the car you'll be driving on bad oil which can damage the engine.

Basically, if you're not driving the car at all you should look to get rid of it. Cars aren't investments and they depreciate in value over time weather you drive them or not, not to mention you still need to do maintenance on the car even if you don't drive it. So I would sell it, if you're worried you may need a car in a couple of years you can take the money from selling it and set it aside in a CD or some type of bank account that earns interest. Then when you need it you have the cash and chances are if you bought the same exact car you could get it for cheaper than what you sold it for.

Answer 5

If it is a new battery and a new car then theoretically the charge in the battery should last for weeks or even months. However, if you aren't driving a car the bigger issue is the degradation of the fuel and fluids and buildup of deposits on inner engine parts. In order to avoid those problems you should start the car once a week and let it sit in your good parking space idling until it comes up to temperature then rev it a few times and then turn it off until you need to use it again. Also, here is the US there is a product called Sta-Bil that is a gas additive that I highly recommend if you are not using any gasoline engine for a period of time. It costs a few dollars and if added to a tankfull of gasoline when it is new will preserve the gasoline for months. My dad uses this in his lawn mowers and it does preserve the gas for months at a time during the winter months.

Answer 6

2 weeks is an exceedingly couple of minutes, yet all batteries in modern automobiles will discharge in a month or so even at the same time as sparkling. the substantial modern draw is the protection device. because it has got here about various cases (the battery has discharged thoroughly), it purely takes some weeks to discharge and the battery is 3 years previous that is threat-free to assert the battery does no longer have lengthy to stay. The sealed batteries are rather delicate to being thoroughly discharged. in case you nonetheless use the battery you'll locate it is going useless more suitable quickly, purely sitting, and it receives worse very quickly. finally it is going to purely stay charged for a couple of minutes after shutting the vehicle down.

Answer 7

If you disconnect the battery terminal, it may set the security system to not allow it to start. It may also render the radio useless and make you reset it using the code. Never a good idea to disconnect batteries. Once a week should be enough to keep it up.

Answer 8

It's true that if you don't turn on your car every week that your battery will slowly discharge or drain. On the other hand if you do disconnect the pos cable then your battery shouldn't drain. But what ever you do don't store your battery on the ground.

Answer 9

I would sell the car, it sounds like you dont really need it any longer. If you really dont want to then you need to drive it at least once a week. I suggest very early in the morning or late at night so you have less of a chance of loosing that all important parking space.

Answer 10

run your car once a week take it for a short drive five mins round block will keep it topped up if you disconnect the bat you will need your radio code to get your radio working again so check that out before taking any leads out