Will I have Trouble starting Car after being parked for 5 weeks

borntoshop666 · 05-03-2016, 12:41 PM

just a General Question, maybe someone can clarify:
I am planning to leave my MD Mondeo Diesel for 5 weeks at the Airport Car Park while I am on Holiday.
Will the Car start when I get back??
My Ford Dealer recommended to do the following, pop the Bonnet, shut and dead lock the Doors, disconnect the Battery and close the Bonnet. When I get back open the Driver Door with the Key, pop the Bonnet and connect the Battery and hopefully drive off.

any Thoughts would be greatly appreciated

cheers

**Giant Cranium** · 05-03-2016, 02:29 PM

I have left my car for 6 weeks before and it only took half a crank more for it to start. I imagine a new car like the mondeo will be fine with no extra measures in place

rondeo · 05-03-2016, 03:57 PM

Depends on battery state of charge and standby current. A calculation could be made on the assumption of a fully charged battery and an acceptable amount of discharge, but the standby current is unknown unless Ford can tell. I'd guess it's somewhere between 10 and 100 milliamps.

Another speculation is that a voltage regulated solar panel on the dash could feed into the supply pin on the OBDII connector. The cigar lighter disconnects after a while so no good there.

No personal experience though.

steve289 · 05-03-2016, 04:43 PM

Had the same concern with my MB last year.
Left at airport for 5 weeks, came back, and it started like it does every day. No hesitation at all.

**98TLS** · 05-03-2016, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve289

Had the same concern with my MB last year.
Left at airport for 5 weeks, came back, and it started like it does every day. No hesitation at all.

Fwiw my old GTR Skyline sat for 8 months once and started fine,theres a motorcycle in the shed that if lucky gets started twice a year and has never failed to start.

rondeo · 05-03-2016, 07:23 PM

My lawnmower hasn't got a battery and it still won't start.

SYZ · 05-03-2016, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rondeo

My lawnmower hasn't got a battery and it still won't start.

I'm guessing your wife isn't pulling the starting cord briskly enough. Tell her to put a bit more muscle into it.

sailaway · 05-03-2016, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giant Cranium

I have left my car for 6 weeks before and it only took half a crank more for it to start. I imagine a new car like the mondeo will be fine with no extra measures in place

That is reassuring seeing my Mondy MC will have been sitting around a month by the time I get home on Good Friday.

Mate did say he would give it a 5 minute idle but not drive it.

NZ XR6 · 05-03-2016, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by borntoshop666

just a General Question, maybe someone can clarify:
I am planning to leave my MD Mondeo Diesel for 5 weeks at the Airport Car Park while I am on Holiday.
Will the Car start when I get back??
My Ford Dealer recommended to do the following, pop the Bonnet, shut and dead lock the Doors, disconnect the Battery and close the Bonnet. When I get back open the Driver Door with the Key, pop the Bonnet and connect the Battery and hopefully drive off.

any Thoughts would be greatly appreciated

cheers

Really??? It should not be a problem after that length of time.

rondeo · 06-03-2016, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SYZ

I'm guessing your wife isn't pulling the starting cord briskly enough. Tell her to put a bit more muscle into it.

Good guess. Crook shoulders. Anyway the thought that put me on to lawnmowers was the magneto ignition system on old motorbikes.

rondeo · 06-03-2016, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rondeo

Depends on battery state of charge and standby current. A calculation could be made on the assumption of a fully charged battery and an acceptable amount of discharge, but the standby current is unknown unless Ford can tell. I'd guess it's somewhere between 10 and 100 milliamps.

Another speculation is that a voltage regulated solar panel on the dash could feed into the supply pin on the OBDII connector. The cigar lighter disconnects after a while so no good there.

No personal experience though.

Assuming a standby current of 40 milliamps (0.04 amps) the following calculation results in nearly 50% discharge of a 70Ah battery after 5 weeks.

5 (weeks) x 7 (days) x 24 (hours) x 0.04 amps = 840 hours x 0.04 amps = 33.6 Ah

50% discharge of 70Ah battery = 35Ah

So if the standby current were half that (0.020 amps) then the time would be 10 weeks, 20 weeks for 0.010 amps etc etc

The unknown standby current, state of charge of the battery and factors like temperature, charge capacity versus discharge rate etc make the calculation more or less useless, but an interesting exercise. Measuring standby current might be worthwhile when I change the other battery soon. Probably have to shut the bonnet and lock the car to get the right reading.

Excuse me it's not much practical help at the moment.

prydey · 06-03-2016, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by borntoshop666

just a General Question, maybe someone can clarify:
I am planning to leave my MD Mondeo Diesel for 5 weeks at the Airport Car Park while I am on Holiday.
Will the Car start when I get back??
My Ford Dealer recommended to do the following, pop the Bonnet, shut and dead lock the Doors, disconnect the Battery and close the Bonnet. When I get back open the Driver Door with the Key, pop the Bonnet and connect the Battery and hopefully drive off.

any Thoughts would be greatly appreciated

cheers

i would do this.

while it should be ok if the battery is good, can you be sure of the state of the battery? and can you be absolutely sure it will start if you don't disconnect?

for peace of mind, and the small amount of time and trouble to disconnect the battery, i would do it.

borntoshop666 · 06-03-2016, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NZ XR6

Really??? It should not be a problem after that length of time.

I thought the same, I will have the Battery checked out before I go. Car has done 45000 k's since August last Year.
I will reverse park into the Spot so the NRMA can get to it easily, just in case...

NZ XR6 · 06-03-2016, 03:09 PM

One problem with disconnecting the battery is it will rest all of the control units. So it will take the car a little while to "relearn". You might also need to enter the unlock code for the stereo.

borntoshop666 · 06-03-2016, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NZ XR6

One problem with disconnecting the battery is it will rest all of the control units. So it will take the car a little while to "relearn". You might also need to enter the unlock code for the stereo.

that's true, didn't think of that.
I think I just take a Punt, but have the Battery checked out before
cheers

mik · 06-03-2016, 04:11 PM

it may start if the battery is up to it(64dollar question ) , it may also take some life out of your battery though letting it sit idle .... again depending on your battery.
if the cars is left outside i would think about one of those cheap little solar chargers $ 20 ), 5 watts would be enough i think, i used to have one on one of my old clunkers that would sit for months without being touched and it would still start.

rondeo · 07-03-2016, 07:27 PM

This might be a bet. I'll put my money on it starting.