Is it normal for my battery to run out in 2-3 weeks?

[VaasL]

Late 2016 model, is it normal for the battery of the car to run out after being parked for 2-3 weeks?

I try get someone to turn it on and leave it at idle for 5-10 minutes or so every couple weeks when I’m on holiday but i always come back to a dead car.

Others told me their germans don’t give them those issues. Wondering if the battery might be faulty, as this is majorly inconvenient, specially in today’s day and age.

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[GR11M]

The battery on my 2016 died about a year ago, batteries only last 3 - 5 years.

 

[Andy13186]

You could disconnect the battery when you go out of town. I wouldnt think a battery should die that quick though.

 

[wenklaw]

Sounds like you need a new battery mate. Definitely shouldn't die after 2 weeks and even after 3 weeks it should still start the car. BMWs as I understand after a week idle or so turn off certain features to protect the battery life my m2 after about 2 weeks plus would pretty much always report battery low and disable sat navigation, music, keyless entry then after about 5 or 10 mins driving it would all turn in again

My GT if I know I won't be driving it for 5 plus days always gets connected to a trickle charger

What are the repercussions of disconnecting the battery,?

 

[WD Pro]

I’m on 18 days in reasonably low temps and the battery voltage is still good :

What I don’t know is what level CTEK choose to warn me to ‘Charge Soon’ (orange) and ‘Charge Now’ (red).

What I can rule out is that A) I got a bad battery from the factory and B) my car has some unexpected drain - both issues seem to me reasonably common on S550’s.

At least for my car, what I am seeing at the moment is that I should be OK (pending normal battery degradation) to leave the mustang for a two week period without too much worry.

Unless the weather and salt clear up or I have some other reason to start it up, I intend just to let it sit to see at what point the warnings start to kick in

WD

 

[Silver Dragon]

18days without hitting the start button too long to wait!

 

[Harebear72]

It appears you need a new battery.

Also, it does seem to be hit and miss on the cars batteries. I have a 2016 GT which i purchased new March 2016, the car has only done 24k miles wise and never speant a night in a garage and I'm still on the original battery, the car only gets used a couple of times a week and some of that is for only very short journeys.

Every time I read a thread like this I think I'm going to need a new battery soon, but fingers crossed this has not happened yet - It will be sods law now that I'm going to need one now !!!!!

 

[raptor17GT]

It appears you need a new battery.

Also, it does seem to be hit and miss on the cars batteries. I have a 2016 GT which i purchased new March 2016, the car has only done 24k miles wise and never speant a night in a garage and I'm still on the original battery, the car only gets used a couple of times a week and some of that is for only very short journeys.

Every time I read a thread like this I think I'm going to need a new battery soon, but fingers crossed this has not happened yet - It will be sods law now that I'm going to need one now !!!!!

yeah my 17 GT gives me a slow crank if i leave it undriven for a week or so, just a slight delay in the starting to crank but then it spins over and starts just fine. My excuse for doing the shopping couple of times a week . 5yrs for a car battery is asking a lot without any kind of battery tender.

 

[WD Pro]

I’m on 18 days in reasonably low temps and the battery voltage is still good :

What I don’t know is what level CTEK choose to warn me to ‘Charge Soon’ (orange) and ‘Charge Now’ (red).

What I can rule out is that A) I got a bad battery from the factory and B) my car has some unexpected drain - both issues seem to me reasonably common on S550’s.

At least for my car, what I am seeing at the moment is that I should be OK (pending normal battery degradation) to leave the mustang for a two week period without too much worry.

Unless the weather and salt clear up or I have some other reason to start it up, I intend just to let it sit to see at what point the warnings start to kick in

WD

Just to follow up, I'm now on 23 days / green / 78% / 12.55v.

I questioned Ctek on the colours / charge recommendations and they responded with :

"'Charge Soon' is based on an OCV below 12.6V and 'Charge Now' is below 12.4V

The % figure is not directly related to Open Circuit Voltage but is a calculation based on voltage readings over time, so due to that, the OCV at the moment can vary."

Which makes sense (I would have been a bit pissed if it just a simple indication based on instantaneous voltage) and is roughly in line with generic lead acid recommendations :

After three and a bit weeks I am expecting to see the 'charge soon' message at any time, especially if the temp consistently drops below 0°C again.

WD

 

[69mach1-395]

WD, tell us about that battery app please

 

[WD Pro]

WD, tell us about that battery app please

Its a Ctek 'Sense' unit : https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/ctx-battery-sense

The unit cost me £41 and the app is free. I already have a Ctek charger which I have been very happy with so it just made sense to keep everything with the same brand.

I spotted them on a thread on here and to me it seemed like a good idea, especially for my very sporadic winter usage and the fact I never want to be caught with a battery that wont open the doors so I need to lever off the handle cap and risk scratching it etc.

It's given me a bit of confidence to leave the car without having to get the charger out. I would be comfortable with two weeks now (three at a push) where in the past, if it didn't get driven in a week I would be panicking and getting the charger out.

The nice thing is it reports what the battery is doing when its left untouched - If you just rely on a voltmeter after unlocking and lifting the hood etc, you wont get an accurate measurement as by the time you get to the battery you've already woken up a lot of the cars systems that will start to suppress the voltage that the meter would see.

Quick simple install, I did a little loom to incorporate the charging pigtail (also Ctek) and to keep everything hidden in the battery box :

Hope that helps

WD

 

[VaasL]

Thanks for all your answers, yeah definitely needed a battery change.


Question:

Is it safe for the car for me to unplug the battery when travelling and leaving it like that for say 2 months?

Besides obviously having no alarm but not detrimental to any of the car’s components right?

 

[WD Pro]

Yeah it’s safe, but can you got run power to the car and leave it on a maintenance charger ?

WD

 

[Monty]

Repaced my (2015 car) battery last year. I put it down to the dash cam (with parking mode) sapping the battery, but like others have said, 6 years isn't totally unreasonable. I try not to leave the car more than a week in the winter as also get other issues such as condensation build up inside.

A solar trickle charger is worth looking into. Haven't used on a car, but an absolute battery life saver for a seldom used motorbike.

 

[raptor17GT]

Repaced my (2015 car) battery last year. I put it down to the dash cam (with parking mode) sapping the battery, but like others have said, 6 years isn't totally unreasonable. I try not to leave the car more than a week in the winter as also get other issues such as condensation build up inside.

A solar trickle charger is worth looking into. Haven't used on a car, but an absolute battery life saver for a seldom used motorbike.

solar powered trickle charger, that through the OBD port as i presume the accessories ports are all powered down when the car is off

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