Galaxy mk3 2.0tdci won’t turn over (low battery)

[jackrmee]

Hi all,

I’m a bit stuck. 
Parked up and drained my battery using a ***** 12v coolbox.

I noticed Low battery warning, so switched all electrics off. Next morning she turned over but was clicking a bit and lights were flashing/flickering. Then stopped turning over at all.

All lights come on on dash and all seems normal, but not turning. No clicking, nothing.

Some guys stopped to help me. Tried jump leads, but still nothing. Didn’t really leave them on for long, as it was pouring with rain, but 5mins or so. Surely this would have got enough power to turn at least once? (Or do these engines only turn when they have enough power to potentially start the vehicle, as opposed to older cars which will continue to turn VERY slowly until totally dead?).

anyway…we thought starter may be stuck, so tried to bump start, but wouldn’t go. She did slightly seem like it was going to catch when clutch was out and in 2nd, but didn’t really sound like it when clutch pedal and throttle stepped on. Still not turning afterwards, so assume the starter wasn’t stuck.

Its my first time driving a newer for like this, but I think it may not have enough charge to start the turning process and the jump leads were not sufficient.

Anyone have any experience with this problem please?

 

[unofix]

It would seem from your post that you are a bit lost as to what you are doing.

When you 'jump start' a vehicle you leave the leads connected. Then on older models you start the car with the good battery and slightly rev the engine to a fast idle (1600 RPM), then you attempt to start the car with the flat battery whilst the jump leads are still connected.

So now to the present moment get yourself a decent battery charger, ( @StephenFord need a picture 😉) and put the battery on charge  for at least 8 hours, probably more like 12 hours.

[StephenFord]

33 minutes ago, unofix said:

So now to the present moment get yourself a decent battery charger, ( @StephenFord need a picture 😉) and put the battery on charge  for at least 8 hours, probably more like 12 hours.

Great advice, and yes, 12 hours may seem excessive, but often a battery in need will likely take even more! I now have 2 x old bangers, and as @Unofix pointed out, this is my battery charger of choice. Cheap as chips and does most the same as chargers 4 times the price...

MayPole batter charger - click here...

 

[jackrmee]

32 minutes ago, unofix said:

It would seem from your post that you are a bit lost as to what you are doing.

When you 'jump start' a vehicle you leave the leads connected. Then on older models you start the car with the good battery and slightly rev the engine to a fast idle (1600 RPM), then you attempt to start the car with the flat battery whilst the jump leads are still connected.

So now to the present moment get yourself a decent battery charger, ( @StephenFord need a picture 😉) and put the battery on charge  for at least 8 hours, probably more like 12 hours.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I didn’t explain very well.

The leads were still connected, but weren’t on very long in order for the battery to charge a bit, before we tried turning it over.

My problem is, I’m stuck on the side of the road in Portugal. No one here speaks English and I don’t have breakdown cover. I have managed to get a recovery, but nothing is open until Monday so I can’t move until then, unless I can sort this myself.

Hence, I don’t have a battery charger and wouldn’t have access to electric even if I did, unfortunately 😞

I may be able to get a taxi to the nearest part shop. Maybe I can get a battery there. But I don’t want to spend €100 on a battery, only to find out it’s something else.

[jackrmee]

5 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Great advice, and yes, 12 hours may seem excessive, but often a battery in need will likely take even more! I now have 2 x old bangers, and as @Unofix pointed out, this is my battery charger of choice. Cheap as chips and does most the same as chargers 4 times the price...

MayPole batter charger - click here...

 

Ok thanks 🙏

I will definitely invest in one when I get home. But for now, this will not help.

im really stuck here until Monday 😫

[jackrmee]

Ok so I’ve found a store that is open for another 3 hours and an Uber which is near.

Can anyone help with what tools I will need, as I’m going to have to buy them too?

From what I can see, the air box needs to come out. Then a battery cover (any torx or anything on there?), and the negative terminal thing is a long stud thing to the left of the battery itself (do I remove that? what tool is it?). The battery is locked in solid, so I’m guessing there is a clamp on it (anyone know the size there?).

What an awkward place to have the battery 😣

This is going to cost me quite a bit tonight, but as long as it saves me having to wait and pay a recovery truck on Monday then I’ll be happy.

[jackrmee]

16 minutes ago, jackrmee said:

Ok so I’ve found a store that is open for another 3 hours and an Uber which is near.

Can anyone help with what tools I will need, as I’m going to have to buy them too?

From what I can see, the air box needs to come out. Then a battery cover (any torx or anything on there?), and the negative terminal thing is a long stud thing to the left of the battery itself (do I remove that? what tool is it?). The battery is locked in solid, so I’m guessing there is a clamp on it (anyone know the size there?).

What an awkward place to have the battery 😣

This is going to cost me quite a bit tonight, but as long as it saves me having to wait and pay a recovery truck on Monday then I’ll be happy.

Ok, so just watched a video on the tube.

seems like it’s… Airbox off (flathead screwdriver for hose clip and I assume the box itself?). Then it seems I can get the actual negative battery terminal off when the battery slides out, so no need for that stud thing to come off. Guy on the vid said 10 and 13mm for terminals and wires, then there’s a small one for the clamp. 
So a spanner set and screwdriver set should be fine. Or does anyone know if I need a socket anywhere? Doesn’t seem so.

I’ll get wd40 as well just in case. The vids all seem to use petroleum jelly for the terminals. Why is that? Doubt they’ll have that there so anything else I can use, or just leave that part?

[unofix]

39 minutes ago, jackrmee said:

petroleum jelly

= Vaseline

[StephenFord]

4 minutes ago, unofix said:

= Vaseline

 

...and not a joke in sight LOL

[jackrmee]

8 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

...and not a joke in sight LOL

I’m running out of time guys. Got to sort this before 19:30 when the shop shuts. Please help.

Its peeing down with rain, I’m in the middle of nowhere, I’m about to summon an Uber to take me to the next town to a car parts shop to buy parts that I may not even need.

Do you guys think that I need anything else?

Does it sound like a battery will fix this problem? If so, will I get it out with screwdriver and spanner set? I can’t get Vaseline from the auto part shop so is it ok to not use it, or can I buy something else there instead?

thanks 🙏🙏🙏

[unofix]

Buy a battery and a set of jump leads, that's all you need. Connect new battery to old battery with jump leads make sure that the leads have a VERY GOOD connection wait 5 minutes. Leave new battery connected and then start the car.

[jackrmee]

And one more thing…

if I get the battery out, is there any procedures I need to know about so that everything works ok when the new one goes back in? Such as immobiliser etc?

thanks

[StephenFord]

1 minute ago, jackrmee said:

I’m running out of time guys. Got to sort this before 19:30 when the shop shuts. Please help.

Its peeing down with rain, I’m in the middle of nowhere, I’m about to summon an Uber to take me to the next town to a car parts shop to buy parts that I may not even need.

Do you guys think that I need anything else?

Does it sound like a battery will fix this problem? If so, will I get it out with screwdriver and spanner set? I can’t get Vaseline from the auto part shop so is it ok to not use it, or can I buy something else there instead?

thanks 🙏🙏🙏

Stupid question, but rather than faffing about in pouring rain on a fix that may or may not work, can't you just call the AA or RAC or someone? Even if not a member, you can usually strike a deal on the phone to get rescued and signed up at the same time... (that's what I would do in your situation,  but obviously, it's your choice) Maybe you may also have breakdown cover included in your car insurance, I paid double for 2 years before I reealised I had cover on my policy as well as payng out seperately!

[jackrmee]

1 minute ago, unofix said:

Buy a battery and a set of jump leads, that's all you need. Connect new battery to old battery with jump leads make sure that the leads have a VERY GOOD connection wait 5 minutes. Leave new battery connected and then start the car.

Ah ok! So I don’t even need to take the old one out!! Happy days!!! Thank you!! 🙏🙏🙏

[jackrmee]

1 minute ago, StephenFord said:

Stupid question, but rather than faffing about in pouring rain on a fix that may or may not work, can't you just call the AA or RAC or someone? Even if not a member, you can usually strike a deal on the phone to get rescued and signed up at the same time... (that's what I would do in your situation,  but obviously, it's your choice) Maybe you may also have breakdown cover included in your car insurance, I paid double for 2 years before I reealised I had cover on my policy as well as payng out seperately!

I’m in Portugal though. That’s the problem. 
I managed to find a Portuguese recovery, but nothing open til Monday. They are coming Monday morning, but I really need to get this sorted before then if I can.

[jackrmee]

Well I didn’t really get much help in this topic.

I thought I’d finish it up with what happened and what I did to fix it…

It turns out that when you turn the ignition on, when the faults come up on the dash (ie my dash was telling me that my tyre pressure was low), if you press ok, it scrolls on to the next fault, until it shows you them all.

Mu faults were 3 tyres and the next one said “Immobiliser Active”. So if I’d known how to view this, I would have known why it wasn’t turning over.

Anyway, after almost 2 days at the side of the road, I read some other threads on this fault coming up after running the battery low. 

All I had to do is charge the battery up a bit and disconnect it for a while in order to reset the immobiliser.

Simple as that.

[StephenFord]

1 minute ago, jackrmee said:

All I had to do is charge the battery up a bit and disconnect it for a while in order to reset the immobiliser.

Simple as that.

With respect, @Unofix suggested the battery issue on the 1st response. But glad you got sorted anyway...