SantiSuk Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Fully charged and stable battery obviously the answer is no, totally unnecessary. But my battery is now 3 years and 70k clicks old and its performance when starting indicates it is on the way out. Meant to replace it before I visited the UK for two weeks but I arrived in BKK this evening having forgotten to do that (idiot) and I leave my condo for the airport at 9:00am tomorrow (by taxi). I can sort it all out on return but would prefer not to be lugging large batteries around or trying to explain what jump leads are in pigeon Thai to my condo management So do I improve my odds of having a passable charge to fire up if I remove the leads from the battery? It's a Fortuner - when I did the same on my Jag in the UK the windows didn't close properly in addition to the obvious settings disappearing on clocks and radios. Anything I should look out for if I do disconnect/reconnect which means I might be better keeping it connected? Don't think the standard Sportivo radio is password protected - if it is I don't know the number! Don't need advice on how to disconnect batteries - have replaced many over the years (pus most parts of the transmission chain - I used to be quite handy as a student with a clapped out Escort!). Thai ones look much the same as UK and indeed the fixings look a lot easier to get the thing out than I remember them 45 years ago. Negative terminal first and don't touch metal with the positive terminal etc. Bought myself a natty little spider wrench for 20 baht at Big C in case (but need to go back for a 10mill ring spanner as well now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nokyai Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 When you are in the UK, pick up a solar charger, £15-25 from eBay or Halfords. You connect it and it keeps the battery topped up when you are away, useful if your car has an alarm etc which flattens the battery. Won't help you this time, but useful to have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunBENQ Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) I would (and have) do it for a Vios and a Mazda 2. Don't know about the Fortuner. Does it have a removable radio/audio with a PIN code for theft protection? If so, do you know the PIN? EDIT, just reread: Don't think the standard Sportivo radio is password protected - if it is I don't know the number! So no problem that I can see. Sure you might have to setup the clock (do you know how) and the trip meters will be reset. Edited January 11, 2016 by KhunBENQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2fishin2 Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Absolutely no reason to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Unless the rig is defective and pulls the battery down now, there should be no loss of charge from leaving it hooked. I recently had to replace the stereo in my F150 pickup because it was pulling about 1 amp when turned off and was therefore defective. It would run the battery down. But lacking a problem like that I'd just let it sit. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantiSuk Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 Thanks guys. Will leave it connected and hope it holds enough. At least I have the wherewithal now to remove it and get a taxi to a battery shop if it's DOA! Must look into whether there's a radio code and will look up that solar thingy when I'm back - but normally I'm parked on a roofed floor at my condo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxo Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 For two weeks only, there is no need to disconnect the battery, just leave it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpokaneAl Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 With all the electronics in modern cars I am reluctant to disconnect the battery. We leave our car garaged in the US each year for six months or so at a time and hook it up to a trickle charger that keeps the battery topped off and shuts off when not needed. We have never had a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangkapi Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I did thirteen 30 day rotations in Africa in 2012-2013. Not once did I disconnect my car battery. The same battery is in the car and it is still working. The cost of a new battery really isn't that much anyway. No need to disconnect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerzy Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Please don't disconnect your battery as your central locking system backup battery may be old or faulty and run done in that period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddyjoe41 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Seems to me you already know enough about batterys and their functune,so apart from telling us you have a duff battery in your fortuner,what do you think we can do NOW? when you seeem to know the result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbmcn Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 II have a 3 year old Fortuner- 40,000 kliks. Often leave it 2 to 3 weeks unused. Battery works fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crutchy26 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Battery should be fine. Next time you go shopping, buy some DISTILLED water. top your battery up and go for a drive. Went through many a litre of distilled water in Aussie, topping up visitors cars. Dead give-away: slow cranking, hard-to-start. A squeeze tomato-suace type of dispenser is great to get the water into the top of the battery, with minimum fuss & mess. Happy motoring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpokaneAl Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Battery should be fine. Next time you go shopping, buy some DISTILLED water. top your battery up and go for a drive. Went through many a litre of distilled water in Aussie, topping up visitors cars. Dead give-away: slow cranking, hard-to-start. A squeeze tomato-suace type of dispenser is great to get the water into the top of the battery, with minimum fuss & mess. Happy motoring Aren't most batteries maintenance free with no way to add water these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatOilWorker Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 My car alarm is using 40 mA or about 1 Amh/day and it totally drained my brand new 90 Amh when I was gone for 2 months. Now I always disconnect the battery if leaving for more then 2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Battery should be fine. Next time you go shopping, buy some DISTILLED water. top your battery up and go for a drive. Went through many a litre of distilled water in Aussie, topping up visitors cars. Dead give-away: slow cranking, hard-to-start. A squeeze tomato-suace type of dispenser is great to get the water into the top of the battery, with minimum fuss & mess. Happy motoring Aren't most batteries maintenance free with no way to add water these days? No..... Many, but not most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PETERTHEEATER Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I have an eleven year- old Fortuner (gasoline) model and at just under 200,000 kms it is on its fourth battery. In my experience a -Toyota brand battery, properly maintained' gives the best life but when it starts to die it goes down fast. If you have noticed a hesitation in starting of late leaving it for two weeks uncharged may result in a dead battery. Even disconnecting it to reduce current drain may be too late. 'Maintenance Free' batteries are crap and seem to have disappeared from the market, happily. Many new batteries have flush fitting filler caps with 'D' shaped screwdriver slots making it difficult to remove them without damage. A coin usually does the job but often you don't have one in your pocket! I have always transferred the knurled filler plugs from my original battery to a new battery to make it easy to check levels and top-up with distilled water or electrolyte. My in service battery, a genuine Toyota replacement, is now 4 years and four months old since installed (by me) and I hang on every start waiting for any hesitation to signal time for a new one. Note: On auto transmission Fortuner, following a battery replacement, the service engineers say that it should be driven immediately for about ten minutes at up to normal cruise speed to allow the engine management system to reset. If not, this can result in an inconvenient drop in idle speed to around 500 rpm or lower resulting in the engine stalling if left in gear during traffic stops. Been there, done that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
off road pat Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 (edited) A Fortuner eh ? good looking but DELETED cars....all Plastic .....A Fortuner rear ended my Land-rover two years ago, Ai ai ai,...i the damage on the Fortuner was enormous and my car had nothing , just the attachment for my spare wheel was bend a little... Edited January 13, 2016 by seedy language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SantiSuk Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 Expected the usual anti - Fortune post! To the guy who thought I knew the answer already so why did I bother posting? You know the answer to that already, so why did you bother posting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgenon Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 When you are in the UK, pick up a solar charger, £15-25 from eBay or Halfords. You connect it and it keeps the battery topped up when you are away, useful if your car has an alarm etc which flattens the battery. Won't help you this time, but useful to have Isn't there a danger of overcharging and a fire? I was told this by a mechanic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpokaneAl Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 When you are in the UK, pick up a solar charger, £15-25 from eBay or Halfords. You connect it and it keeps the battery topped up when you are away, useful if your car has an alarm etc which flattens the battery. Won't help you this time, but useful to have Isn't there a danger of overcharging and a fire? I was told this by a mechanic. We use a charger for several months each year and it automatically shuts off when the battery reaches full charge, and then starts back up again when it senses that the battery charge has dropped. It is specifically designed for long term use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvr181 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 A Fortuner eh ? good looking but DELETED cars....all Plastic .....A Fortuner rear ended my Land-rover two years ago, Ai ai ai,...i the damage on the Fortuner was enormous and my car had nothing , just the attachment for my spare wheel was bend a little... Thats what a front crumple zone is for,,,,,,,,, Yup. Mini-van drivers test them out all the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pib Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 (edited) When you are in the UK, pick up a solar charger, £15-25 from eBay or Halfords. You connect it and it keeps the battery topped up when you are away, useful if your car has an alarm etc which flattens the battery. Won't help you this time, but useful to have Isn't there a danger of overcharging and a fire? I was told this by a mechanic. It you are going to trickle charge a battery be sure you have a quality charger. A lot of cheap, low quality chargers being sold now days which can overcharge your battery...cause the battery electrolyte water to bubble/evaporate off exposing the top of the battery plates which in turn causes battery plate sulfation...and if it's a maintenance free battery you can't readd the loss electrolyte water. Don't go cheap on a trickle charger. Edited January 19, 2016 by Pib Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgjackson69 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 When you are in the UK, pick up a solar charger, £15-25 from eBay or Halfords. You connect it and it keeps the battery topped up when you are away, useful if your car has an alarm etc which flattens the battery. Won't help you this time, but useful to have Isn't there a danger of overcharging and a fire? I was told this by a mechanic. We use a charger for several months each year and it automatically shuts off when the battery reaches full charge, and then starts back up again when it senses that the battery charge has dropped. It is specifically designed for long term use. aka "battery tender" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgjackson69 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 When you are in the UK, pick up a solar charger, £15-25 from eBay or Halfords. You connect it and it keeps the battery topped up when you are away, useful if your car has an alarm etc which flattens the battery. Won't help you this time, but useful to have Isn't there a danger of overcharging and a fire? I was told this by a mechanic. It you are going to trickle charge a battery be sure you have a quality charger. A lot of cheap, low quality chargers being sold now days which can overcharge your battery...cause the battery electrolyte water to bubble/evaporate off exposing the top of the battery plates which in turn causes battery plate sulfation...and if it's a maintenance free battery you can't readd the loss electrolyte water. Don't go cheap on a trickle charger. You want a battery tender, not a trickle charger. A battery tender contains the circuitry to sense when the battery is fully charged and will stop charging. Some of the "smarter" ones will even cycle the battery, partially discharging and recharging, similar to what driving the vehicle would do. An old-school trickle charger will overcharge the battery and eventually boil it dry, just at a slower rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgjackson69 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 In my storage/workshop in USA, I have two motorcycle batteries and one Jeep battery on battery tenders now, have been for a few years. When I get there (twice per year generally), I check the Jeep battery for electrolyte levels and fill with distilled water as needed. The motorcycle batteries are maintenance free (AGM). The Jeep always gets taken out for a bit of exercise; weather permitting, the motorcycles get taken for a ride as well. My USA "daily driver" (F150) is garaged at my sister's house. She drives it periodically when she needs to haul her kid's bikes or otherwise needs a truck and/or 4 wheel drive. I do not bother with a battery tender on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpokaneAl Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 When you are in the UK, pick up a solar charger, £15-25 from eBay or Halfords. You connect it and it keeps the battery topped up when you are away, useful if your car has an alarm etc which flattens the battery. Won't help you this time, but useful to have Isn't there a danger of overcharging and a fire? I was told this by a mechanic.We use a charger for several months each year and it automatically shuts off when the battery reaches full charge, and then starts back up again when it senses that the battery charge has dropped. It is specifically designed for long term use. aka "battery tender" Yes, Battery Tender is the brand name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgjackson69 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 We use a charger for several months each year and it automatically shuts off when the battery reaches full charge, and then starts back up again when it senses that the battery charge has dropped. It is specifically designed for long term use. aka "battery tender" Yes, Battery Tender is the brand name. Yep, that is one of the brands....it has also found use as a generic term, distinct from trickle charger. I think one of the three I have is Battery Tender brand...the other two are Schumacher brand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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