okay, i'm deployed to iraq till feb 09 and my wife is taking care of my 8... its in the garage for storage. she is starting it once every two weeks for about 20 minutes, and after about 4 months of doing that the car won't start.. i'm thinking she didn't start it long enough... so what should i tell her to do now? get a new battery and start doing the bi-weekly start ups? please let me know what you guys think!

thanks,

Jesse

 

hey the same thing happened to me when i was away during basic training, you have to ride it and stretch the engine! mazda came and towed it to the dealership and replaced starter and battery, hope this helps

-scouts out

 

Might be as simple as hooking up a battery charger. Does it turn at all or is DEAD.

 

google battery tender jr.

good stuff.

beers

 

stop doing that. You're wasting your money

All you need to do is, go and take ur 8 out for a spin, put a bottle of Fuel stabilizer and give it a bit of highest Octane gas you can find in your area to about 1/2 way full.

Drive it home, park it, unplug the battery and leave it alone.

when you come back, reconnect the battery (or if its dead, jump it), drive it to gas station and fill her up with the highest octane, then drive it to your local autoshop who can test your battery for free (like Autozone)

thats it

Good luck in Iraq ! Remember, your wife and your 8 are waiting for you

 

Good Luck and thanks for serving in Iraq.

Disconnecting the battery is a good idea as there won't be a drain.

 

Yes disconnect the battery, maybe put on trickle charge, and forego starting engine at all.

 

Do any dash lights illuminate when the key is turned?
If the motor turns, then she could have flooded it. Or she could have flooded it, then drained the battery trying to start it numerous times.
Also, if the voltage in the battery is under 5 volts, there will be a very slim chance you (she) will be able to charge it.
Best thing to do is have her take the battery to Autozone to get it checked out (its free).
Once you guys get the car running, do what nycgps said in the post above and leave the battery disconnected.

 

yeah thanks, i think this is what i'm going to do... i have about 2 months left before i go back on leave, when i do i'll do this and hopefully remember to post and let you all know how this goes. Thanks for the info. 5 months down, 7 more to go. cheers

ps. just in case i do need to get a new battery, what do you guys recommend?

Jesse