Battery died while garaged

cjeezy

Hey everyone,

My Z's been garaged since Dec. I went to start it up today and it won't start (it tries, but won't turn over). This may be a dumb question, but do I just need to jump the battery? Never jumped a higher end car before so I want to make sure that's what I should try.

Thanks in advance

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SouthArk370Z

Put a charger on the battery overnight. If the car starts after charging, you are probably OK although the battery may be weak. I suggest using a float charger while the car is in storage.

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vrfreak

Yes doesn't matter if higher end or not just jump it or you could hook it up to a charger and charge the battery


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SouthArk370Z

I don't suggest jumping modern cars unless you have to. It can be done without damage to the car but why take the chance if you don't have to? If you can't wait for a charger to charge the battery, go ahead and jump it but be very careful.

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cjeezy

Thanks for the quick response everyone. I don't have a charger or cables...but I can borrow cables off a coworker if needed.

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cooltoy

Car's computers will drain your batter in as little as a month. Invest in a trickle charger if you are going to garage a car. Keep your car hooked up to it while in storage.

cjeezy

I have a trickle charger I used on my motorcycle. I'm assuming that probably won't work on a car lol

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RonRizz

You can use it.. Amps is amps.

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SouthArk370Z

If the charger can be set for 12V and the car battery is in good shape, it may work. Check the current draw with the charger connected - if greater than current listed on charger label, buy a bigger charger.

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wstar

Pretty much any trickle charger should be enough to offset the drain while stored. You can always check on it once a week or so and see how it's doing. Just pull off the trickle charger, wait a few minutes for surface charge to dissipate, and then check the battery voltage with a voltmeter.

Another option for winter storage is to just disconnect the negative battery cable completely while stored. You may *still* need a trickle charger or an occasional hit with a real charger (because lead-acid batteries lose charge slowly on their own, but AGM or Gell-Cell do it much slower), but you definitely won't have drain. Only real downside is it resets the ECU, so you have to deal with that (mostly: you have to reset the window motor controls by running them down then back up + hold for several seconds, and take it easy for the first few miles while it re-learns fuel trims).

Jump-starting the car is just as fine on a 370Z as it is on any other car. ECUs have been around a long time and they're in pretty much every vehicle on the road these days. As long as you don't do something stupid that's as likely to cause a fire or electrocute you as hurt the car, nothing will go wrong. I jump-start mine constantly in the cold now (with one of those portable jump-start battery pack things) because its tiny little lithium battery never starts well on a winter-cold morning at the track.

While I'm pontificating: change the oil ASAP. Oil that's been sitting there for a season sucking up moisture and becoming acidic is no good for the car.

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TheGreatOne

Currently using my buddies motorcycle trickle charger on the Z, did last year also and it was fine.

I used to always just disconnect the battery during storage. Most annoying thing you'll have to do is the 3 second window reset again, thats it.

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40 to 332

In the future, if you're hibernating your Z over the winter months, you may want to simply consider disconnecting the battery by removing the cable from the negative battery terminal. You may need to perform some re-sets in the spring after you re-connect the battery, but the battery should maintain its charge. The alternative is a trickle charger. Right now, I'd recommend placing the battery on a charger over-night to restore the charge. I would only recommend boosting when you're stranded, without access to a charger.

LMBmikeZ

if storing it just disconnect the negative and keep it well away from battery terminals

done it for years both my Z32 and Z34 have started every spring no issues, just some resetting to be done

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kenchan

wow, search button must be broken today...

kenchan

easiest is jump your car, drive for 1hr on hwy.