Battery

[Alan Gunn]

Don't think the alarm will work if the battery is immobilised.

[hennabm]

To resurrect an old thread, I purchased a remote cut off solenoid, as in the link provided in this thread, and finally fitted it today.

I had to buy a new lead to go between the solenoid and the battery - rather than cut in to the existing main +ve wire. Apart from that it was simple to fit.

Seems to work OK and time will tell how well it protects the battery.

I did put an AGM in just before Christmas, so I am protecting my investment.

[Themoog2]

Talking of batteries.. A chap down the road has just bought a new Porsche 911 C4 (I think thats what it is) and he has to have a trickle charger on it all the time or the battery goes flat in a week or two. He has been assured by Porsche Cambridge that the battery is fine.
For a £120k vehicle I think that is outrageous. I can leave my E53 for a month and it will start right up (obviously if the battery is OK).
Is this the case for a lot of new vehicles with loads of electronics on them? There is no way I would buy something that could be unreliable to start if I don't use it every day.

[hennabm]

With a 10 day lockdown so far, I thought i would see if the solenoid had done its job.

Indeed it has and the battery was as fresh as ever when I went to start it yesterday.

So I now have a car I can trust to leave for longer periods of time and know that I have power when I need it.

[henrym3]

Surely you now have to reset clock/date/etc although well worth it if leaving at airport or for long periods. I’d rather reset a clock than try and get a jump start.

[hennabm]

Yes, settings need redoing each time. A small price to pay to protect the battery and my sanity.
I now have confidence I can leave at the airport (when we can do such things again) and know I can get home without needing a jump start.

[Hoppo]

My car gets left at the airport frequently and I bought a lithium ion car jump starter power bank from Amazon. Cost around £60 and will start up to 6.0l diesel (allegedly - haven’t needed to try it yet).

Is fairly light and portable and easily fits in the rear side compartment (would easily fit in the glove box if it was empty).

If your battery is flat, just connect it up and you’re good to start. Much easier than jump leads and trying to find another car to connect to.