Phil G.

So, I put my car in a friend's garage for the winter, on an OEM battery maintainer. When I bought the car 2 years ago, a new Porsche battery was installed before I took delivery. The maintainer is reading green when put away in November. When I go to see the car today, and light is now red, and when I attempt to start the car, hear sound of starter only - engine doesn't turn over. I did have the presence of mind to pop the hood. I hook up the unit to the car again, leave it for 30 mins, come back and it's now green again. Car (reluctantly) turns over and starts up. I ran it to operating temp, and when put away, the maintainer is still reading green. I'll check again in 2 days. Is my car telling me something? Like DRIVE ME, YOU MORON? Not sure what the deal is on the battery or maintainer, but I'll keep a close eye on it.

Barn996

You are brave Phil to start a new thread on storing vs driving. As far as the battery charger/maintainer goes, it is saying "drive" your P car and forget about that new Audi.

gota911

Phil, your car is pretty smart! I couldn’t have said it better myself? Did you leave the Cruse Control button engaged when you stored the car?

OK seriously, when was the last time you checked the water level in the battery? If the water in the cells gets too low, the battery won't hold a charge as well as if they are full.

Is there something draining the battery? Have you installed any after market appliances (a.k.a. coffee maker, espresso machine, popcorn machine, waffle iron, etc.) I-pod? You could test it with a volt/amp meter to see if there is a drain on the battery. If there is a drain, then you could remove one fuse at a time to see which circuit(s) are causing the drain.

It could be that your battery is weak from non-use (I mean that seriously THIS time) and not getting charged enough? My guess would be the latter issue as the cause of your battery drain problem.

I guess the worst case scenario would be that the battery doesn’t survive the winter and you have to drop a new one in the car in the spring. Don't worry about the radio code, because you won't need it. The code is stored in the car's memory and will initiate a startup when you put the new battery in the car.

Good luck and let us know what you find out.

hwk72

I agree with Barn996 and overall the Audi has a much newer battery so you can save power as you probably don't need the maintainer for it if you just park the S4 and drive the Porsche; both have AWD, so no need to drive the "listener".

aben8057

I dont bother with a battery maintainer because it's just another item that could fail. I prefer to disconnect the battery, leave the hood slightly open and place an object by the lock preventing it from closing.

Stefan Richter

I agree with Tim. Your battery was probably on its last leg when you took the car to your friend's house. My guess is that you only drove it a few miles and then stored it. If it were my car, I would disconnect the battery entirely, and buy a new one next year.

Stefan

Phil G.

I am indeed brave (stupid?) to post on this again! I'll check the water levels - since the battery's only 2 years old, it should maintain a charge. Ouch - damn, my *** hurts from all the flames.

Phil G.

I was actually wondering about the radio code. Yeah, Tim sometime I think ALL my cars are smarter than I am.

Riad

FYI..Just for the record that's only true with 2002+ MY.

Phil G.

Well friends here's a follow up. Checked the battery today and all cells low fluid level. Filled them - then heard dripping under the car. The 3 cells on the left side are empty, and the right 3 are full. Nothing I can do tonight - going to either drive to dealership (if I can start it Wednesday) for new battery, or take it out and get replacement (if I can't get it to start). I had a no good, very bad day. I flushed out the battery compartment with distilled H2O, but it will need to be thoroughly cleaned out to avoid corrosion. Damn it.

Barn996

Too bad, that kinda sucks.

gota911

Sorry to hear that Phil. At least you found the problem and you can clean out the compartment before yoy get a lot oc corrosion.

Phil G.

Yeah, thanks Tim. I PM'd Wayne on this - I may need his help on Wednesday. Gotta work full day tomorrow, so no time to get fixed. Battery clearly needs to come out and be replaced. Pisses me off since battery is less than 2 years old - assuming Isringhausen replaced it when I bought the car like they claimed they did. Not worth fighting witht them over it. I'll take it to my dealer (Holbert) for new OEM battery - and full cleaning. If I can't get it started, I'll put the battery myself and hose out the compartment and underside of the car. Anything else you'd recommend??

ArneeA

It's 2007 (actually, almost 2008) and your car is a 2004 but you say the battery is only 2 years (or less) old? Are you sure they put a new battery in when you bought it?

Also, why do you need to buy a battery from the dealer when you can buy one from an auto parts store for [most likely] much cheaper?

Phil G.

I was told when I bought my car in 2005, that a new battery was installed before the car was shipped to me. Hopefully, my dealer can check the date on the battery and see if that's the case - if not, since it's an OEM battery, it may be covered under warrantee.