Will my car start after 18 months?

[HenryHippo]

Mid 2000s diesel. It was laid up 18 months ago and the battery is goosed (it was 9 years old anyway)

If I change the battery is it pretty likely that the engine will start? Give everything else was in good nick before being laid up

It's has a full tank of diesel

[Earthdweller]

Hmmm

One way to find out surely

[Peterpetrole]

A real cliffhanger of a thread this

[ARHarh]

Earthdweller said:

Hmmm

One way to find out surely

All cars will start, just depends on how much work you want to put in

If it was mine I would just try it.

[Snow and Rocks]

Almost certainly - our old 2003 Accord fired straight up with a jump start after 3 years of sitting outdoors over Covid. I gave it a wash and took it down the road for an MOT. Needed new wiper blades but otherwise got a clean bill of health.

[CypSIdders]

We leave a Subaru diesel for over 18 months, (with the battery disconnected), once reconnected it starts instantly.

[RazerSauber]

Very probably be absolutely fine. Have you not got any jump leads to check?

At most, you might need a bit of starting fluid to help it along but I'm sure it'll be fine afterwards.

[AdeTuono]

No, it definitely won't. You'd be just as well phoning someone with a trailer to take it away. Don't even bother attempting a jump start.

[meb90]

I'd be tempted to pull the fuse for the fuel pump and turn it over on the starter to build oil pressure, but otherwise I wouldn't think about it too much.

[HenryHippo]

I tried a jump start from a heavy duty boost pack but the battery was too far gone

I'm happy to buy a battery if I'm confident it will start. I don't want to buy a battery and find it has another problem

Ultimately I'm looking to sell it either as a non-runner or a runner w/out MOT

The latter scenario could recoup my battery investment

[HenryHippo]

Snow and Rocks said:

Almost certainly - our old 2003 Accord fired straight up with a jump start after 3 years of sitting outdoors over Covid. I gave it a wash and took it down the road for an MOT. Needed new wiper blades but otherwise got a clean bill of health.

petrol or diesel accord?

[Snow and Rocks]

Petrol Accord. I wondered if the petrol would have gone off given the 3 years but it ran perfectly well with no apparent ill effects at all.

[LARK F1 GTR]

Snow and Rocks said:

Almost certainly - our old 2003 Accord fired straight up with a jump start after 3 years of sitting outdoors over Covid. I gave it a wash and took it down the road for an MOT. Needed new wiper blades but otherwise got a clean bill of health.

Had the tyres remained round? or had they flat spotted? did you regularly pump the tyres up?

[GreenV8S]

HenryHippo said:

I'm happy to buy a battery if I'm confident it will start. I don't want to buy a battery and find it has another problem

Buy a jump start pack and connect it in place of the existing (now dead) battery.

If it starts and runs, you can decide whether it's worth fitting the cheapest battery money can buy. Either way, you're left with a useful jump start pack.

[Snow and Rocks]

LARK F1 GTR said:

Had the tyres remained round? or had they flat spotted? did you regularly pump the tyres up?

Tyres (Michelin Cross Climates) were fine with no noticeable flat spots. Did nothing at all other than leave it with the hand brake off. Pressures were down a bit but nothing dramatic.

Apart from some mild scrapey noises on the first few brake applications it drove exactly as it did before it was parked up. L.

[ssray]

Try it, if it doesn't even cough, air filter out and squirt some wd40 , get it past the maf sensor

[Gixer968CS]

Left my Mercesdes ML270cdi in the Heathrow long term while we went away on hols for two weeks once. It was about 6 years old at the time. Got back to the car and it wouldn't start. Called Green Flag who attached heavy duty jump leads to their van and revved like hell. Still wouldn't even turn over after about half an hour of trying. Breakdown guy wouldn't give up and somehow managed to get the battery out of his van and into my car to start it and then piggy back my old battery to get it back in the car and me home. Never seen a car so difficult to start from a flat battery but goes to show that a jump may not work and so may not be a sound "test" to see if the car will start.

That Merc was an absolute POS

[ClaphamGT3]

Gixer968CS said:

Left my Mercesdes ML270cdi in the Heathrow long term while we went away on hols for two weeks once. It was about 6 years old at the time. Got back to the car and it wouldn't start. Called Green Flag who attached heavy duty jump leads to their van and revved like hell. Still wouldn't even turn over after about half an hour of trying. Breakdown guy wouldn't give up and somehow managed to get the battery out of his van and into my car to start it and then piggy back my old battery to get it back in the car and me home. Never seen a car so difficult to start from a flat battery but goes to show that a jump may not work and so may not be a sound "test" to see if the car will start.

That Merc was an absolute POS

The battery destruction module in the electronics of any modern Mercedes is a remarkable thing.

Paradoxically, I recently fired up my 1977 Lancia Beta Spyder after nearly five years inactivity with nothing other than a squirt of easy-start and a fair bit of cranking with a jump from the old man's Range Rover

[Belle427]

[RizzoTheRat]

HenryHippo said:

I tried a jump start from a heavy duty boost pack but the battery was too far gone

I'm happy to buy a battery if I'm confident it will start. I don't want to buy a battery and find it has another problem

Ultimately I'm looking to sell it either as a non-runner or a runner w/out MOT

The latter scenario could recoup my battery investment

Booster packs are generally pretty small batteries, you might have better luck with another car and some good quality jump leads.

Also check the manual for priming the fuel system, most modern diesels will do it automatically but some older ones have a little hand pump on a fuel line.