Retired battery?

[Cino]

Hello. I foolishly didn't drive or put the trickle charger on my Elise for a few weeks and now the battery is totally dead, even the red alarm light has gone out so thanks to the great design I can't even open the door. I've tried connecting the trickle charger to the battery in situ (I can obviously still open the boot) but nothing after more than 24 hours. Does this mean the battery has to be replaced? I'm not sure how often you're supposed to change them anyway? I can't even jump start it as I'm locked out of the effing car!

Many thanks

P.S. does it matter what make of battery you replace it with if I have to? Halfords any good?

[Grinnders]

You can use almost any, but you may wish to ensure you have at least the same cold crank rating (preferably higher) and that the dimensions can be accommodated. Last two batteries I've bought (S1 and Porsche 997) have been Bosch with 5 year guarantees. The S1 battery I bought was a slightly different shape so I needed to buy the Eliseparts clamp. 5 years is a good innings for any battery I'd say. Good Luck. BTW the Porsche guys say CostCo is one of the cheapest places (but none near me)

[Rich S]

Had the same problem with the Exige a few days ago.

There is a solution

the front Left service panel (those two diamond shaped bits of bodywork at the base of the windscreen.)
3 alen head bolts out , and you will find a fuse box , and Two extension terminals for the battery that is securely locked in the boot

Charger or Jumper on to these terminals , and you will have enough juice to open the doors on the blipper , then open the boot with the quick release .

Get the charger directly on the battery in the boot .
if you are lucky then the battery will juice back up

if not (like me ) then it is time to whip out the battery and get a new one !

new on e cost me £42 but did make me think that it weighs a lot , and a light weight sealed job may be on the shopping list for the summer !

Hope this helps

Rich

[Rich S]

Sorry , should have said , this is for S2 cars

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

I got a Bosch Silver Top from Costco, 5 year warranty I think from memory - had a higher crank and higher capacity than the OEM for the same size and apparently copes a lot better with deep discharge cycles, certainly been v. good on mine where it can sometimes be stood for a 7-10 days.

[Cino]

Rich S said:

Had the same problem with the Exige a few days ago.

There is a solution

the front Left service panel (those two diamond shaped bits of bodywork at the base of the windscreen.)
3 alen head bolts out , and you will find a fuse box , and Two extension terminals for the battery that is securely locked in the boot

Charger or Jumper on to these terminals , and you will have enough juice to open the doors on the blipper , then open the boot with the quick release .

Get the charger directly on the battery in the boot .
if you are lucky then the battery will juice back up

if not (like me ) then it is time to whip out the battery and get a new one !

new on e cost me £42 but did make me think that it weighs a lot , and a light weight sealed job may be on the shopping list for the summer !

Hope this helps

Rich

Thanks for that, I'll try it out later. It's in my garage the wrong way around so I can't jump start it from the front. Did you say you can connect the trickle charger directly to those front terminals (red and black)? I can open the boot so I've tried connecting the charger directly to the battery but nothing happens. Is this because the doors are locked and so presumably the alarm/immobiliser is on? I don't get why connecting the charger directly to the battery doesn't work

[Rich S]

Hi Cino,

yes you can connect a tricle to the front terminals , but if you have managed to attatch it to the battery in the boot somehow that is aklways a better solution .

it may be that the battery is properly dead ! (you won't be able to tricle charge it) if it is then even with a tricle charger attatched , you may not have a enough juice to open the doors.

If that is the case you need either

1)Cheap Option - connect jump leads to either the front terminals or to the battery terminals to give enough charge to open the doors / open boot replace battery cost c.£40

2)Expensive Option - Buy a Battery Booster (a seperate stand alone High voltage Battery that you can use to help out a car with a weak battery cost c.£50 from Halfords) This will give you enough oomph to open the doors on the blipper when attatched to the front terminals.
However on mine , wiith the battery as dead as it was , even with the battery booster it wouldn't turn over !
So ....replace battery cost c.£40

For me at least , that was problem solved

[noodleman]

Use a proper charger. A trickle charger is designed to keep it charged...not charge it from stone flat.

[theturbs]

Rich S said:

it may be that the battery is properly dead ! (you won't be able to trickle charge it)

Also, a battery will generally last c.4 years - if yours is around this age it would be prudent to replace it, as has been suggested above.

HTH

Edited by theturbs on Tuesday 15th December 15:29

[dunxS1]

LivinLaVidaLotus said:

I got a Bosch Silver Top from Costco, 5 year warranty I think from memory - had a higher crank and higher capacity than the OEM for the same size and apparently copes a lot better with deep discharge cycles, certainly been v. good on mine where it can sometimes be stood for a 7-10 days.

Got mine from Costco as well, been on for a good few years now- no probs at all.
Dunx.