Flat Battery....after 3 Months!

[Robit28]

Hi All,

Well I've had the phoon for just over 3 months now....all seems to be going well.

Last night we went out for dinner and parked the car where we could see it all night.

Came out about 3 hours later, tried to start the car and the starter motor was just ticking.

The lights looked dim and the interiour lights would dim as I tried to start the car.

Funny thing is:

• The lights were not left on at all during the night
  
• The interiour light was not on at all during the night
  
• The boot light was not on at all during the night
  

Got home and attached a multimeter to the battery, 13.9v whilst idling (Good), 12.5v when switched off (Good) and falls to 10.3v when cranking (Not too bad either).

Interesting to see if it starts this morning.

Anyone else had this problem before, without leaving lights on etc?

Rob.

[ZAP]

There seems to be a fair few people who have had their batteries replaced in the first 12 months.

I am sure Ford get the cheapest batteries and there is a decent failure rate.

If it does not start make sure you get it replaced under warranty.

[tab]

Hopefully it's just the battery - the only thing that would flatten it though is the headlights as all of the interior lights will turn off after an hour in any case.

Not the sort of thing you'd expect on something three months old though

[ENVY-T]

Mine died on Anzac day 2005. What a bitch!

August 25th 2004 build, battery lasted exactly 8mths. I have had the current one in since, and have not had a problem since. I <3 Bananas Cheap arse sh*t Ford use.

[mbjunior99]

Damn, better keep an eye on mine then

[ColinT]

Batteries are only replaced under warranty in the first 12 months.

[Robit28]

Battery was flat again today.

Rang FPV roadside service and RACQ came out within half an hour.

Tested the battery and said is was stuffed. Was fully charged but had no cranking power.

New battery in under warranty and all good again.

He said the OEM batteries are crap and sometimes sit on a shelf for ages before being installed into vehicles.

Glad I got a new one!

Rob.

[PIT STOP]

that's true most batteries sit around for ages and just get a calcium build up and wont charge .I worked for a company that distributed batteries and generally we would find the batteries that sat at the bottom were stuffed by the time they did sell (upto 12 months) they wouldnt even run a single globe so dont stress just one of those unfortunate things. also most batteries come cheap from china nothing wrong with that but better built items like the optima battery are awesome.

[Phoontastic]

Mine did the same thing. Parked it at the airport, came back the next day to drive home and it was stone motherless dead. Not even enough to get the alarm excited when I opened it with the key. Wouldn't crank, wouldn't even power the interior light. Got a jump start from the NRMA and it worked fine ever since, that is until the Nizpro II went in and the old battery was tossed.

I'm not sure why it happened, but I did deadlock it before I left it (second push on the lock button). I was wondering if some bad juju happened when I did this. Consequently I've never deadlocked it since.

[Robit28]

Can I ask what the 'deadlock' is all about?