help .. dead battery

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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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the laptop charger would not be good due to the fact that it is 19.5v and your battery is 12.

The cordless batteries wired in parallel would work.......eventually. But you would pretty much speend a couple days to allow your battery to trickle charge on those (Likely less then 2amp) batterries while also having to keep recharging the batteries.

Get some jumper cables or disconnect your battery and take it to auto parts store who will recharge it for free.
 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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Jul 15, 2011
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if stranded in the middle of nowhere

how they going to get the battery to an auto parts store?

depends what country you are in--and how far you are from any where

but have in the past phoned a taxi company they sent a taxi where the driver had a set of jump leads in his cab

jump started me and i paid the taxi fare from the taxi office to where he came to help me
 
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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If you have a manual you can do what is called "popping the clutch" as mcnumpty suggested.

Your starter is simply turning the flywheel on your engine to allow your pistons to be in the proper position for combustion.

Thus you can put your key in the car and turn it to ignition, press and hold the clutch pedal, put the car in 1st gear, get some buddies (or going downhill even better) to push your car and once you are up to a few miles per hour you can VERY QUICKLY pull your foot off the clutch, and then as soon as your engine starts up press the clutch pedal back in before it kills the car agian.
This works because as you are pushing the car the transmission is spinning and thus so is the clutch disc. Once you quickly pull your foot off the clutch pedal it is now clamped back to the flywheel and thus the discs momentum will be transfered to the flywheel and thus your engine and thus spinning your crank/pistions just like a starter motor would. The key to this is getting good amount of momentum (speed) from pushing the car and trying to get as much as of that momentum to transfer to the flywheel (hence why you need to very quickly yank your foot off the clutch pedal).
 
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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If stranded in the middle of no where they are not going to be able to wire up multiple drill batteries either.
So since OP suggested doing that I assumed they were not on the side of the road.
 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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Jul 15, 2011
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no idea since op hasnt replied

maybe they are a workman with power tools so would have cordless 12v batteries with them

and car should be in 2nd to bump start with the clutch not 1st as far as i know any way

or can do it in reverse as far as i remember

havent had to do it in years thankfully

 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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Jul 15, 2011
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quite possibly its to do with that--in case you get too much speed up but pretty sure you should try for at least around 10mph or so

the faster the better your chance so probably its so you dont drop the clutch in 1st going too fast

 
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bloodroses

bloodroses

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Jan 27, 2013
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I know I'm late in replying due to the nature of the question, but how dead is the battery?

I've accidentally left the lights on my car before overnight and woke up with a 'dead' battery; causing the starter to only make a clicking noise. I ended up shutting the lights off (and anything else that could be drawing juice) and let the car sit for about an hour or so. As a result, I was able to get just enough cranking amps to get the car to barely roll over and start. Once the car started, I let it sit idle for about 10-20 minutes and the battery was fine after that.
 
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nyc499

Commendable
Jul 30, 2016
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thank you every one so much for your replies!

its a 1996 honda civic we got in Philippines to travel for 5 months for $2500 going value here at olx.ph

then resell value is almost the same # of mechanics have cash in hand ready to buy at $1500 .. but if sold privatley ~$2500

hmm not jump starting but recharging the 12v battery with a 19.5V @4.7A laptop charger? why not?

==================
happened once before and we tried jump starting but that didn't work .. will try again ... perhaps because my battery was alao connected and eating some juice ..... will try to disconnect it ... when jump starting ...

what did work was another battery from honda civic!! placed for the moment to start it ...

==================
i connected it with jumpers to a friends battery for 4 hours .. it is more alive but not enough to start :/

==================

as far as manually .. yes people tell me even in 3rd gear ...

==================

 
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bloodroses

bloodroses

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That sounds like your battery is probably bad. They deteriorate over time and become useless. If the battery has died on you before, that speeds up the deterioration process. I usually get about 5 years out of mine before it needs to be replaced. How old is the battery in the car by chance?

The other thing is you might have a bad ground in the car if the battery dies on a consistent basis from sitting.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Bad battery very likely.

It is a matter of both voltage and amperage. If the car is cold - has not been run for awhile, more energy is needed to start it. In cold climates it requires even more energy to get the car started.

Then that energy must be returned to the battery. Otherwise after some number of starts (or other power uses; i.e., the lights left on) the battery will be out of energy. Dead.

Both high and low weather temperatures are hard on batteries. And especially for old, low quality, and failing/defective batteries.

You must also look into the charging system. May not be properly recharging the battery.

Plus all of the associated electrical wiring should be inspected for breaks, loose connections, corrosion, any sign of damage.

Such physical problems may or may not be visible - mechanics usually have testers of one form or another.

Starting a car by pushing or jumping is indeed becoming problematic. Much more so for newer vehicles than older vehicles. [Edit: corrected typo.]

The only way to know for sure is to read the car's manual.

[Side note: Many new vehicles cannot even be towed or pushed.. Need to be pulled up on to a flat bed truck and transported without any wheels on the road at all. Again, you need to read the manual to be sure. Tow truck people do not always know....]

And try to learn more about your car and battery - for example.

http://www.autobatteries.com/en-us/how-car-batteries-work/overview

We all just want our things to work but there is never any harm in knowing something about the "why's &how's".

Plus the extra knowledge may help prevent you from being taken advantage of by some not-so-honest shop or mechanic.

 
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nyc499

Commendable
Jul 30, 2016
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Thank you everyone !!

I was able to get it started ... (by not giving up)

but I will need a long term solution

so short story:

we tried pushing & starting - that didn't work ... it's easier said than done ... i should learn and watch videos how to do it

then rolled-up with a 4x4 and disconnected my battery and connected to 4x4 while rolling .. that sounded like almost but no cigar

I also connected my battery ... still didn't work ... waited 10 minutes almost ...

everyone said OK let's push again

I said please let's wait another minute and try one last time

AND IT WORKED!!

========================================

OK I need a long term solution - and so I could do jump start on my own?

and how to prevent this happening again - leaving the lights on - and it will - hopefully not on some beach far away from any civilization

any advice?

they do sell those jump start batteries here but they are $100+ ..... I only need this for 4 months while here ...

thank you
 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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Jul 15, 2011
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go to a garage get them to put a battery tester on it

they can check both the voltage and ampage

if you need a new battery then buy one

or buy one of the portable power packs/jump starter

yes it might be $100 but at the end of your 4 months you could always sell it

or if its the old style battery--ie not sealed--check it doesnt need topped up with distilled water

or if its cheap buy a spare battery and keep it charged and carry it with you in the car
 
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nyc499

Commendable
Jul 30, 2016
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1,510
thank you
battery is good
its just that i forget the lights on .... rarely .. but thats the problem ..
OR my 800 Watt inverter...

how can i prevent forgetting to turn off front headlights?

1 in 200 times but i can forget .. (i turn them on sometimes during the slday - its like a good idea to do that ... so others can see you better during the day)

and i do not see they are turned on when say we go say for lunch ..
and after 30 min bettery is drained :p

>or if its cheap buy a spare battery and keep it charged and carry it with you in the car

seems like best and cheapest solution .. $50 for new battery
yes its my plan ..
i have a battery isolator - i will put that to always keep the old battery charged .. so it can alway give a jump start
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Where do you park your car? Can you put a mirror or some other reflective object in front of the headlights to draw your attention when the lights are left on?

Or park the car where you can see the headlights and happen to notice that the lights are still on?

Are you on good terms with your neighbors? Ask them to give you a call if they notice the lights on.

Be proactive but keep a spare battery/charger etc. handy as has been suggested above.
 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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Jul 15, 2011
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and if you dont turn on your headlights during the day it will help since if its daytime and you get out the car its easy not to see you left the headlights on

could always stick on some led daylight running strips if want people to see you better

cheap as anything for those and as long as you wire them to something that only comes on with the ignition no problem

though forgetting and leaving those on would use way less power than headlights any way
 
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