mine on my 2015 GV is to the "cranks but won't start" stage after 10 days sitting. I just have a battery conditioner i leave on it if its going to be unused for a while.

 

Ouch. I was hoping for much longer than that. It wasn’t uncommon for the X5 to be left untouched for over 4 weeks and often 5 or 6. In fact I got more grief from the tracker company than from the battery.

The problem with the new Vitara with stop/start and all the bells is that I think it’s an AGM battery and that means an ECU on the battery terminals as well as all the other gizmos. Hence you have to jump start using an earth rather than the negative terminal.

Progress

 

ummm....you should always jump a car to an earth, never use both terminals of the battery. AGM or wet lead acid, doesn't matter, procedure is still the same.

Being PB start, the new vit's will be drawing on the battery a bit heavier as the ecu is always running monitoring for a fob within range and a button being pressed.

 

Our 1.6 has now been stood for 12 days without being started at all, reason being, we went away on holiday for 7 days and the Wife has just been using my car for work since we arrived back home because before we left for holiday, she ran the fuel down to the orange light so the car wasn't sat at home whilst we were away with a full tank of fuel. The intention is to start the car on Saturday when she goes to fill it up. It will be interesting to see if it starts ok. I have a CTEK trickle charger which I can connect to the battery and run it under the garage door so the charger is away safely secured and thus leaving the battery to charge. I might in fact just do that tonight anyway and run a full battery condition charge on the CTEK because last night, the temperatures plummeted below zero and that often has the effect of knocking out batteries. Chances are, if I went out now and turned the key, it would start, I just can't be bothered though!

 

As the 1.4 Boosterjet has been around for a while now, I thought I’d just ask again to see if there was anyone who had left the car unused for a few weeks.

Dealer, when pushed, advised me to disconnect negative lead but that I’d lose settings etc. I’m a bit wary of doing that seeing as everything seems to be running ok.

Any more experience out there beyond the original responses ?

 

Could really do with views on this now from the 1.4 owners please.

Alternatively, if I disconnect the battery, what do I lose (one for GV I guess) and can I recover it all ?

It’s a new car and battery so I’m guessing it should stand one deepish discharge and I can CTek it back to life on my return hopefully.

Looking for guidance.

 

what do you lose? hmm, sanity, radio tuning, (security code maybe?) tpms, worse case, fuel trims (means it won't idle and runs like rubbish for a few days / weeks) not sure on security system for starting. Can you leave it parked with a 12V smart battery conditioner on it?

 

@GV

Do you have access to workshop manuals for the UK/EU spec 2019 model ? It has a battery ECU on the negative lead so I’m wondering whether to charge on the +ve and body mount.

Much bloody easier when I were a lad.

 

no I don't have a manual for it sorry. Treat it like any other battery, charger + to battery +, charger neg to battery neg. go straight to the terminals.
I always jump bat + to engine ground (assuming -ve earth and not old pommie stuff that was +ve earthed hehehe) but just clamp a charger on at the battery, then you don't have any issues if there is a high resistance connection back from a body ground as most of the "smart" chargers are set up to monitor terminal voltage and are required to be connected direct to the battery terminals to function correctly.

 

I though I’d post an update to let you know the outcome.

I left the car with all interior lights off, handbrake off (in Park) and any accessory cables disconnected, then locked it using the blade key.

Came back after almost 6 weeks and plugged in a cigarette socket meter and it was still showing 12.2V.

Damned thing wouldn’t start. All the lights, fans, etc. came up but it just cycled netwenn ACC, ON, OFF. Dash message said something about Park, so I used the shift release to try N then back to P - no joy. Brake pedal was solid.

Eventually, the car started and the pedal eased off. I think because of the layout of the garage and the hill hold, the brake was left on boost so needed a real boot to make the switch.

Once it started, it never missed a beat.

 

I though I’d post an update to let you know the outcome.



Came back after almost 6 weeks and plugged in a cigarette socket meter and it was still showing 12.2V.

Damned thing wouldn’t start. All the lights, fans, etc. came up but it just cycled netwenn ACC, ON, OFF. Dash message said something about Park, so I used the shift release to try N then back to P - no joy. Brake pedal was solid.



Once it started, it never missed a beat.

I assume the car started without a boost start?
The reason your brake pedal became solid was that the servo had lost it's vacuum. Because the way the servo gives assistance to the brakes once the vacuum is gone you don't get the extra push on the pedal (without extra effort). This then goes back to normal when the engine is started.
This then becomes an issue as you can't push the brake pedal down far enough to operate the brake light switch. As you know you can't start it without depressing the brake pedal (or at least with most cars these days or clutch on a manual)
I regularly leave my Vitara for over 3 weeks without using it.

If leaving it for longer without the option of a battery maintainer/conditioner you could always invest in a decent solar maintainer that can sit on the dash.

 

Remind me to put the auto lights back on in the morning !

 

BarnsleyRob

Did you do anything in particular to get the car started, or was it just perseverence?

I am going to be away in November for 17 days, leaving my car parked at the airport. I am now concerned that I am going to have problems when I return to collect it. I have the 2017 SZ5 Allgrip. Clearly I can't connect my CTEK charger, I am wondering if one of the solar trickle chargers would be if use?

 

Loops,

Other than the steps I outlined, such as leaving it fully charged and turning off all the automatic lights, wipers etc. you should be fine.

Do you have the stop/start system ? If so, the stop/start only activates with a fully charged battery so if it doesn’t cut out you may not be fully charged. Mine has taken a further 50 miles of driving to get there today.

Edit. Should add that a/c and other factors may prevent the auto engine stop.

 

just remember that car charging systems don't actually fully charge a battery due to the way they operate using a "constant voltage" charge system. As the voltage on the battery rises, the charge current drops off and enters almost a "trickle charge" like state so a battery may appear charged but only be at 80% capacity. Terminal voltage will drop off over 24 hours if its in this state, and sit about 11.8 to 12.2 volts.

Only way to really properly charge a car battery thats been run down is via an external charge, or a really long run, even 200 miles or so may not return it to a full charge depending on initial charge level.

as an aside, my GV sat here for 3 days, barely started, did a 100 mile trip, following day, started fine drove to work and home again, left another 2 days barely started. Charging system on car is fine, checked under load and its well within spec.

Charged it fully on a decent charger and its been fine ever since.

Best thing to do if you are unsure about things when you get back is to carry a portable jump pack in the boot to put on the battery if you need to after its been sitting. I have a nice small one about the size of an Iphone and 4 x as thick, jump starts cars easily.

 

Thank you for your reassurances. I do have the auto stop/start but always disable it prior to driving.

2013GV I am interested in the Jump Pack. I have just had a quick look online and am trying to work out whether it's use to jump start the car - like you would using another car to assist - or whether it's a battery pack that you use to recharge your battery so it has enough juice to start it?

 

its a jump starter, clip it on, start the car. This is the one i have. And strangely enough, it works just as in the utube vid as well.
I recommend it, used it many times to jump the lawn mover as well as the sons V6 mitzi

https://www.repco.co.nz/en/brands/p.../en/brands/powerall/powerall-jumpstarter-powerbank-400a-12000mah-12v/p/A1246634

 

Thank you for the information.

A speaker is an interesting addition, maybe they had a lot lying round their workshop and didn't know what to do with them, so attached them to a jump start system, the obvious choice!! I will have a look around and see if there are any similar systems available in the UK, without the addition.

 

sorry, i edited my post while you were posting, the speakers a gimmick heheh. There will be something about. Biggest thing is that you need to keep the jump pack charged, at least mine only needs a top up every couple of months.

 

That looks quite an impressive piece of kit and would probably be useful for my motorbike as well.

 

+1 for the boost pack as mentioned by GV.

I bought a cheapish one off Amazon and it was invaluable with my Copen when the battery started to fade. It’s also useful for the damsel in distress who leaves the lights on at the supermarket because you don’t have to muck about with your own car.

They also hold the charge very well betweeen uses and can charge phones, satnav etc if you’re light on power sockets (which my MX5 Copen replacement is).

 

BarnsleyRob

I am so pleased you posted on the forum regarding starting your Vitara after a lay up.

I have just been away for a week and when I got back to the airport I found that my brake pedal was solid. I recalled this thread and by pressing my back into the car seat I was able to produce enough pressure to slightly move the brake pedal and get the car started. Had I not seen your posting I would probably have gone into panic mode! Once the car started, the brake pedal recovered to normal and the car performed as expected.

 

Loops,

Glad you found it helpful.

I left mine for another fortnight and didn’t think twice about mashing the pedal. Again, it started first time.

Cheers,

Rob.