Hey all,

 

Tomorrow I'm about to sell my old MK1 Fabia! It's not been used for 6 weeks so the battery is flat as a pancake. I've jump started the car on many occasions before, however sod's law won't let me do it this time.

 

I do all the usual things:

 

1. Connect the donor positive then connect to the dead fabia positive.

2. Connect the donor negative, then connect it to one of the bolt heads that's attached to the engine chassis.

3. Turn on the donor and wait 1 min making sure all the electrical items are off in both cars

4. Turn on the dead Fabia and hurrah, it turns on no problem... however, this *is* where the problem starts.

5. I leave it for a couple of minutes (once I left it for about 8 mins) while they both idle.

6. Turn the donor off and disconnect all the cables in the opposite way.

7. Get in the old Fabia which then seems to have LOADS of lights on inside the dash. As I try to drive it, I can't accelerate the engine just idles up and down and I can BARELY move the vehicle. Moments later the car gives up and it all shuts down. I've done this three times and it just doesn't seem to be accepting the charge.

 

NB. I find this odd because when the engine turns over at first all the lights go out and it appears normal. I can even rev it properly while it's connected. Even when I unplug it, it's still running... surely the idea is that when it's running the battery doesn't matter because it can charge? Something's very awry but I dunno what.

 

- I do have AA but I'm within 1/4 mile of my home so I can't use them. Can I do something sneaky like change my address and wait a day then call them out? I don't need the policy once the car is sold anyway?

- The battery is the most expensive Bosch one I could buy and it's only 3.5 years old. I can't see that it would be dead already?

 

Please help.

 

Oh and here's a video of what's going on on the dash as I try to use it.

 

Thank you all!

 

 

The battery is too flat and needs a proper charge, suggest you remove it from the vehicle and charge it overnight before trying again tomorrow, if you don't have time or a charger then you need to bite the bullet and throw a new battery in it, ECP has or had 063 batteries on special at £35.

Thank you Sepulchrave, I think perhaps you're right (in which case the AA wouldn't have been able to help me anyway!). I wonder if one of my mates has a charger....

 

Also as I've jumped it 3 times today... is there like a limit for doing this? I don't want to damage the £500 left of car that I'm trying to sell! 

No, jumping is only harmful when excess height is involved 

No, jumping is only harmful when excess height is involved 

 

Hahaha, yes okay, I asked for that :P

Sorted. My mate had an external car starting device. Revved the engine while connected for 10 mins, 40 min ride and we're cooking on gas again Thanks!