My Fabia vRS (2006) has been stood for some months without so much as a door opened. I did this last year and it started straight away after 3 months. This time the doors wouldn't even open.

I got a jump off the wife (oooerr!) and it started on the key, but I had many warning lights and the power steering was off (no surprise really). I drove it up the drive and back, but I had ABS/Steering/Brake Warning lights blinking and beeping like Blackpool, and even the engine was 'blipping' out every few seconds.

I turned it off and it wouldn't wake up again (didn't want to bother the wife again!) I measured the battery... 5.4 Volts.

So, I've popped the battery out and brought it in for a charge, it's curently trickling until tomorrow.

Advice on the battery please - if I trickle it until tomorrow and get it up to say 12.5 volts, should that be long enough?

The 'magic eye' widget looks clear, I don't remember but isn't it meant to be green? Will it go green if it charges up ok?

It's the original Akuma 61Ah 330A, does it have distilled water or is it sealed gell type? i.e. should I check it for levels and top it up? err... how?

Thanks all, I know.. don't abuse batteries!

Andy.

Driving it up & down the drive wouldn't be enough for it to charge up fully.

Should be alright if you trickle charge it ovenight.

the magic eye is supposed to be green....

when modern batteries die, they don't fade, they just stop.

it may be ok after a night of charging......

if you're gonna leave the car, you could buy one of those solar trickle chargers to leave in the windscreen?

Yeah, I realised it wouldn't charge in a few minutes, but I was hoping the alternator could pick up the slack, I didn't go any further because it didn't feel safe.

Good idea Sharkrider, I was considering taking the battery out for long breaks, but that's a bit of a pain. I think those solar tricklers plug into the ciggy lighter, which should work with the ignition off since the ciggy lighter does. Anyone used one of these?

Cheers, I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

why does your car sit for so long without being used? can you get someone to use it for you as i think leaving it that long wont do the brake discs any good either??

when you no your gona leave it for a while just 'pop' the earth lead off the battery then it wouldnt go flat!! the batteries now-a-days r usually sealed and you cant get in sorry :( it should come up over night

I work away for long periods from time to time, my wife has a car and doesn't like to drive mine, and I was happy to keep the miles low. In hindsight it's not such a good move, I don't think it's great for the car generally. The disks are a shade of pitted red! Problem is, to make it worth starting it up it needs to go for a decent spin to charge again (I presume) so getting Mum to go shopping once a week seems a bit pointless. Then it needs insuring for someone to do this. Oh well, if I've only toasted the battery I'll be ok.

Agree that it's a good idea to disconnect the battery when you're leaving it for a while.

Don't forget lead-acid batteries can "self-discharge" up to 20% per month. so if you leave it standing it will die all by itself.

All's well for now, I got the battery up to 12.8 volts by the afternoon today (about 28 hours trickle charge). It started on the key, all systems back up including power steering.

Only problem is, I get Skiddy/ABS/Airbags light on for a minute then they go out. Is this just faults in the ECU requesting attention? My guess is to clear them with VAG-COM and see if they return? Cheaper than a dealer service.

Thanks for the tips, I'll go with the solar charger, disconnecting has 2 drawbacks, the alarm isn't active, and the battery still droops over time (cheers Ricko).

My 'magic eye' is still clear... but if the battery works I can live with that.

Andy.

There is only one chance to revive that battery. If a battery goes flat over time like yours the sulphate on the plates gets hard. What you need to do is put it on a charger for 2 to 3 days.

This happened a friends battery so we connected a charger. It took 2 to 3 days for the hydrometer to register the green and the battery is fine ever since.

Cheers Micky, I'll do that, in the morning! It'll be interesting to see it it's still got juice. If it makes the green spot return I'll have peace of mind in that.