Monday, January 03, 2005
it isn't dead until its warm and dead!
Don't panic - we're talking car batteries here! This is just a quick post on what to do when your big jeep won't start after sitting idle for 4-5 days in temperatures that haven't climbed above minus 20 degrees C.
We went to go shopping yesterday, but when we turned the ignition key in the jeep, all we got was a rather dead sort of a moaning sound from the engine - in fact, it sounded classically like a very flat battery. We tried another couple of times, but decided that we were flogging a bit of a dead horse. Not to be thwarted from getting to the shop, we then tried the Honda, which started perfectly (despite also having sat in the same garage for 4-5 days in the same low temperatures). We got to Safeway, did the shopping, and then stopped off in a petrol station on the way home to buy a set of jump leads (in Canadian = 'booster cables").
We then hooked up the booster cables between the poor wee Honda and the monster jeep, but still not a peep out of the jeep. I (P) was convinced that there was no way that the Honda battery would pack enough charge to start the jeep, but we then figured out that the jeep might just be so cold that it couldn't possibly start. That (finally!) was when we remembered about the block heater cable. So we unravelled the cable and plug that are attached to something in the engine in the jeep, and plugged it in to a normal socket in the garage. There was a bit of a hissy sound (which we hoped meant that it was working - despite the copious quantities of insulating tape wrapped round the cable just by the plug) and we left it alone for about half an hour. When we went to work with the booster cables again, the big jeep started up first time (thanks to the very reliable Honda). So, it just goes to show, you can't pronounce the battery completely dead until the engine block is warm...So, the emergency kit in the back of the jeep has now been augmented by a set of booster cables and an extension lead in case we end up somewhere where there isn't a plug socket just right beside the car... (by the way, the emergency kit also contains a snow shovel, a small bag of sand, an ice scraper, a snow brush, a spare blanket, emergency rations, several tea lights, a box of matches, a swiss army knife (not sure why, but it makes me feel better!), and a bottle of water).
So, the moral of the story is to remember to plug in before you attempt to start the jeep. However, I also think that we'll get the battery tested to see if we should get a new one.
Thought I'd just finish with a couple of icicle pics...
This one is hanging off the outcropping on the house which houses the gas fire...
while this one is just hanging off the corner of the house...
And finally, some very blue sky with a big blob of snow which looks like its going to drop on to the deck any day soon...
Bye for now...
P
We went to go shopping yesterday, but when we turned the ignition key in the jeep, all we got was a rather dead sort of a moaning sound from the engine - in fact, it sounded classically like a very flat battery. We tried another couple of times, but decided that we were flogging a bit of a dead horse. Not to be thwarted from getting to the shop, we then tried the Honda, which started perfectly (despite also having sat in the same garage for 4-5 days in the same low temperatures). We got to Safeway, did the shopping, and then stopped off in a petrol station on the way home to buy a set of jump leads (in Canadian = 'booster cables").
We then hooked up the booster cables between the poor wee Honda and the monster jeep, but still not a peep out of the jeep. I (P) was convinced that there was no way that the Honda battery would pack enough charge to start the jeep, but we then figured out that the jeep might just be so cold that it couldn't possibly start. That (finally!) was when we remembered about the block heater cable. So we unravelled the cable and plug that are attached to something in the engine in the jeep, and plugged it in to a normal socket in the garage. There was a bit of a hissy sound (which we hoped meant that it was working - despite the copious quantities of insulating tape wrapped round the cable just by the plug) and we left it alone for about half an hour. When we went to work with the booster cables again, the big jeep started up first time (thanks to the very reliable Honda). So, it just goes to show, you can't pronounce the battery completely dead until the engine block is warm...So, the emergency kit in the back of the jeep has now been augmented by a set of booster cables and an extension lead in case we end up somewhere where there isn't a plug socket just right beside the car... (by the way, the emergency kit also contains a snow shovel, a small bag of sand, an ice scraper, a snow brush, a spare blanket, emergency rations, several tea lights, a box of matches, a swiss army knife (not sure why, but it makes me feel better!), and a bottle of water).
So, the moral of the story is to remember to plug in before you attempt to start the jeep. However, I also think that we'll get the battery tested to see if we should get a new one.
Thought I'd just finish with a couple of icicle pics...
This one is hanging off the outcropping on the house which houses the gas fire...
while this one is just hanging off the corner of the house...
And finally, some very blue sky with a big blob of snow which looks like its going to drop on to the deck any day soon...
Bye for now...
P
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