"Battery Tender Unnecessary" (carac)
01/27/2014 at 23:31 • Filed to: None
2
7|
"Battery Tender Unnecessary" (carac)
01/27/2014 at 23:31 • Filed to: None | 2
| 7 |
The switches in the dash aren't connected to anything but computers...so whatever killed your battery is going to continue to drain it until there is enough power to boot the computer, read the new position of the switch, and change the state.
In this case, the Range Rover Sport lights were left on. They were on manual instead of automatic because I was driving in overcast skies with snow but it wasn't dark enough to trigger the auto-headlights. Since 99.99% of the time they're on auto, I forgot to switch them off.
Now the battery is dead. I turned the switch to "OFF" and plugged the charger up...but it didn't turn the lights, that killed the battery, off. The LEDs are on and I can hear the xenon ballast trying to fire without enough power. Come to find out that the car won't turn the lights off until there is enough power for the ECU that controls dash switches to read the new position of the headlight switch and turn them off...but the drain from the lights slows the charge...and the tug-of-war continues.
Long story short to make any progress charging it I had to disconnect the terminals to keep it from draining the charging battery.
Oh bright and glorious automotive future...
On a side note, the engine bay on a Range Rover Sport is so tight, they don't even bother putting retention/hinge tabs on a lot of plastic covers, it's just wedged in the edge of the engine bay on one end with a clip on the other.
(Update) Expected jokes about my name...did not leave disappointed.
All Motor Is Best Motor
> Battery Tender Unnecessary
01/27/2014 at 23:32 |
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Oh my god, the irony between this and your name is absolutely overwhelming.
Tim (Fractal Footwork)
> Battery Tender Unnecessary
01/27/2014 at 23:36 |
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but I thought you're battery tender was unnecessary?...
bahahaha, sorry but someone had to.
Jayhawk Jake
> Battery Tender Unnecessary
01/27/2014 at 23:48 |
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So would you say that a battery tender is...necessary?
Gizmo - The Only Good Gremlin, but don't feed me after Midnight
> Battery Tender Unnecessary
01/28/2014 at 00:15 |
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As usual, battery tender is useless with a dead battery. ;)
But, on a serious note, sometimes I feel like my '06 Caddy has more computers than moving parts. I've learned over the years, if the battery fails - remove it, put it on the charger, and short the car's positive and negative battery terminals for 15 seconds before reinstalling the battery (several systems have capacitors that need to be discharged before everything can be reset, especially the hardtop convertible system/sensors).
BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> Battery Tender Unnecessary
01/28/2014 at 06:16 |
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Ugh.
My friend's Porsche Boxter ran its battery flat the other day. Turns out, the boot switch is electric. What a colossally stupid idea. You hook one lead up to a remote terminal and the other you've got to find a bit of body work, just to pop the bonnet and get to the battery.
I reiterate. Colossally stupid idea :)
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
01/28/2014 at 09:46 |
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I've been there exactly. Boxsters seem prone to it if they spend any time sitting at all. There is a way to access the boot latch cable from the wheel well, but that's a pain in its own way.
Casper
> Battery Tender Unnecessary
01/28/2014 at 10:57 |
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That sucks. We had a 5 series BMW that the wife ran the battery dead on. After getting it jump started, the damn thing had reset it's self into some kind of limp mode and back in the day you couldn't just find the answer to how to reset it on your phone. I had to limp the thing back to our place with a 3,000 rpm rev limiter.
I think we are evolving in the wrong direction automotively.