OK Copenistas, guess this is an easy one but I'd appreciate your knowledge on this. Neville's battery has been a little sluggish of late and, of course, when I went to use him today he's not got enough charge to turn the engine over. So, it's battery out, down the hill to my mate with a charger and hopefully get it back to rights. When I reconnect it will there be issues ... like the alarm will need resetting, the central locking won't work, the radio (standard Clarion) has lost its code, etc. Any advice/pointers much apprecaited. Thanks!!
You should be fine, my battery has died before and everything was fine once I recharged it. The only problem I had was when I jump started it and blew up my radio
If the battery is removed without something suppling a current to the car, the ECU will reset, as will the radio and the windows will need some time to reset after you turn her over for the first time. As for an alarm, I dunno. I imagine pulling the power will set it off and it will also need to be reset.
I disconnect my battery through the winter months except for when I take it for a spin on a dry day (it is a second car). I don't have an alarm fitted but I've had no problems from the radio, central locking or anything else after reconnecting the battery.
Sounds like good news there then . Think you might be in the market for a new battery though how long has it been on ? is the car used often.
Well team - what a helpful lot you are! I'm seriously impressed and suitably grateful. As it turns out my mate was prepared to allow a miscreant like to me 'borrow' his charger so in the end I didn't have to remove the battery from Neville - phew! However, your invaluable advice will be there (always) to benefit other Copen-owners. And you're right, hiramscodd, it's probably the age of the car (which is 5.5 years) so it's probably due for a replacement. However, at service in December the battery was declared fit for purpose and I've purchased a trickle charger to keep it happy in winter. Thanks everyone!!
Get a jump pack as well - everyone should have a jump pack with the Copen! Some of the newer ones are great, Lithium Ion battery (like a laptop / phone) and are way smaller than the bulky packs of before. The lithium ones will also self-discharge less (3% over 10%), and can usually be used as a massive battery charger for your laptop / phone. On the topic of disconnecting the battery, I've noted that the windows will NOT go back up after the battery has been disconnected as you'd expect. To make the window go back up (it goes down perfectly fine), HOLD the window up buttons for a long time.
Battery Hello Jules, My wife's 1.3 Copen has always had a drain from the battery and if not used for a while requires the battery to be taken off and charged or the car to be jump started. This has not caused any problems with the ECU or radio when re fitting the battery. Just remember remove earth clamp first and when refitting earth clamp fitted last. Also make sure the radio is switched off or you risk blowing the fuse. Our radio failed to work one day but came back to life after hitting a rough stretch of road. I removed the front panel and radio to find that the radio fuse (at the rear) was 3 amp and the thin fuse wire had snapped due to the road shocks and then made contact again. I replaced this with a higher rated fuse and no more problems. We live on the East coast of Northumberland and are often over to the lakes for a drive out. Car is perfect for the narrow roads over there and is a exact copy of your car silver with red seats . One last thing is my local garage confirmed there was a drain from the battery and they checked every fuse and think it was the alarm system. If you bought the car from new you will have the paper work as this system was fitted in the UK due to EU rules. I have bought a solar panel and some Din fittings and plan to fit this into the car when things warm up.
Thank you, Dinko, for your brill reply. I haven't had to remove the battery yet, but I guess that that need is not too far away as it's already more than 5 years old. It seems to make sense that the alarm is a drain on the battery and after last year's mild winter (no starting problems) I need to be pro-active in ensuring that Neville is ready to go when I need him as we've already had sub-zero nights. Needless to say, the Streetwise trickle charger I got won't play ball! I was expecting to connect the two croc clips to the battery terminals (with the battery in place in the car) but the manual says positive on to the battery and negative on to the chassis or engine block. Well, no matter where I place the clip I can only get the charging light to flicker as I jiggle the clip around. I cannot get a steady charging light, so something's wrong; I've emailed Streetwise to ask their advice. Heyho. You're right, the Lakes is a great playground for the little fellow (have a look for the Top Gear thread I did last year with pics of the fells) and he's certainly given me the archetypal Copen-grin when we're out and about. top down, sun on me back! Enjoy your Copening!
