Battery dead on Renault Clio (98/R-Reg)

[chriswood_7]

How do guys,

To cut a long story short we got a Clio in March for my girlfriend who has since then fail 4 driving tests , now the MOT is coming up I need to get the battery charged up to drive it to the test centre at the end of the month. Anyone any ideas on how best to do it? Is it gonna be jump leads and patience, new battery time, or buy a battery charger and leave it all disconnected for now?

Any advice appreciated, cheers!

[Lowe]

Buy a charger, leave it on overnight - sorted.

[chriswood_7]

Weheeey, battery is now charged up and ready to go! Just a quick question though, the car has been there for about 12 weeks or so without moving.. will the remaining fuel have vaporised, and is it worth putting a gallon or so in before tyring to start it?

Cheers

Chris

[kempez]

Can't really go wrong but I doubt the fuel has gone

[5lab]

the fuel will be fine, but give it a good kaning to blow the dust out of the system. literally. 70 down the motorway in 3rd, a couple of emergency stops to strip the rust off the disc and calipers (and drums, probably), check all the tyre pressures too.

[Lowe]

Not straight away on the motorway though - the oil will *all* be in the sump and it'll take a good 15 mins or so before the engine's warm and the oil properly distributed.

In fact, you ought to check the oil, coolant, tyre pressures etc and ensure everything's kosher before you take her out if she's been standing.

[chriswood_7]

Yeah, I checked the oil the other day seems fine... however the coolant looked a bit low so im gunna drop into halfrauds on the way home and give it a 50/50 top up, got the tyre pressures to boost. Just hope the rain stays away!

Cheers for the help guys, ill post back (hopefully all goes well)

[chriswood_7]

Hey guys, quick update...

Got the battery installed yesterday evening, quick topup of coolant and a few more things checked and it started first time! Was very suprised, but once I got it going i left it for about 20 mins before moving it, just enough time to blow the tyres up, blast the aircon on all levels and clean the windscreen.

Give it a good caning, noticed that the front brakes seemed to be rubbing a bit when braking and also a bit of rubbing when I first started driving but I dont think it was the driveshafts or CV joint making the noise just the brakes. Got it on the A19 and give it a good run (70 in 4th gear). Just hope it passes its MOT in a coupla weeks!

Cheers for all your help guys,

[Lowe]

Right - next time you start a car up, don't leave it.

When you fire a car up, get in and drive it. 'Why?' I hear you cry. Well, the oil pump that pushes the oil around your car is linked to the engine - that's what drives it. So, it's linked to engine RPM. The higher the RPM, the faster (and better) the oil pump works. When the car is idling, it's typically turning over at about 800rpm. This means the oil pump is barely working too, and means oil isn't getting pushed around the engine properly meaning it's not being properly lubricated! As you can imagine an engine without lube is not going to last long!

So, to warm a car up - fire it up and drive. Don't take it above 3k rpm, but don't let it drop below 2k either. Lots of gentle throttle inputs (don't floor it, then change up at 3k thinking you're doing the engine good!) and after 15 mins or so she'll be up to temp properly. One other thing, don't rely on the water temp to gauge when the car's warmed up. Oil temperature and pressure are the key factors to tell you that, and sadly most cars don't come with either of those gauges.

[GoNz0]

should be a sealed fuel system on a r reg, due to fuel injection, so it will be fine after 3 months

[chriswood_7]

Thanks Lowe, I dont think I would have turned it over straight away and driven it to be honest. I wanted to make sure that everything was flowing properly before I set out, as where we are its pretty much straight onto a Dual carriageway without a hard shoulder. Once I knew everything was working ok (not just dying on me after a minute of running) after me giving it a few mins of steady revs only then I took it out.

Must admit I was a bit apprehensive at first taking it out when its stood for so long but I was impressed, running spot on...

Cheers