Insufficient charge - low battery

[Michael Hollar]

New cabrio 4/19/2008 - love it. Wife went out to drive to work this AM and it won't start. Everything electric seems okay, but engine doesn't turn over. Service Mgr says jump it or tow it in. I put on battery charger for 3 hours, now everything works fine.

Problem is ... what happened? will it happen again? what can I do to insure that it doesn't happen again?

Possibility ... we're in Florida, it's hot, AC all the time, radio loud, fan blowing, lights on, etc. Is that the problem? What to do?

[JPaul]

Shouldn't be the heat: the "caravans" had their cars running hours at a time, in sometime very hot locations, with AC and stop/go testers, without any problems.
One new owner had his car delivered with low battery to start with. Once the two hours paper work done, the car didn't start. At first, it was diagnosed as the radio being left "on". But that was not the cause. Probably discharged a bit too much during oversea transport.
Hint: have battery charge checked upon delivery...

[Chassol]

Originally Posted by Michael Hollar

New cabrio 4/19/2008 - love it. Wife went out to drive to work this AM and it won't start. Everything electric seems okay, but engine doesn't turn over. Service Mgr says jump it or tow it in. I put on battery charger for 3 hours, now everything works fine.

Problem is ... what happened? will it happen again? what can I do to insure that it doesn't happen again?

Possibility ... we're in Florida, it's hot, AC all the time, radio loud, fan blowing, lights on, etc. Is that the problem? What to do?

Battery may not have been fully charged OR somehow was discharged by something left on OR bad battery OR can fluid level be check in these batteries or not - I don't have my smart yet.

[mike-in-sa]

Dome lite stays on if the back hatch is not closed. Can run down a battery.

[oldbike]

Due to the nice, tight fit of the doors, it is very easy to not fully latch them when exiting. Perhaps the dome light was left on as a result

[jwight]

Originally Posted by mike-in-sa

Dome lite stays on if the back hatch is not closed. Can run down a battery.

Does the dome light have a manual setting which would prevent this?

[mike-in-sa]

3 position switch-always on, on when door is open, & off. I leave mine set to off. I leave the back glass up when I take the dogs with me.

[24-42]

Speaking for the '450s';
The door or back window ajar, or the radio left on ......all go off after a predetermined length of time. If I remember, I think it's 1/2 hour.

Yes the liquid level in the battery can be checked and brought to proper level.

Donald LaFavor