I have not driven my MCSC for about a month, and may not be able to drive it for another couple of months due to the weather out here. I'm concerned that the battery may get discharged. What should I do about this? Should I start the car in the garage periodically? Or buy a battery tender (if so, what type?) All suggestions appreciated.

 

I wonder about the key batteries as well. What happens when they are not charged as the car is running? How long will they hold a charge before they have to be reprogrammed, and how complicated/expensive is that?

 

I run a battery charger every 2 weeks, but you can use a trickle charger
or, just unplug it.

mine started its hibernation about a month ago too.

since our cars are running synthetic oil, we can easily
go 3months without worring about starting it. i recommend
against starting it actually, since you will build unnecessary
condensation in the exhaust system.

 

Sounds like you are a canidate for a battery tender. I use one on my Miata & will soon buy another for my MCS. I've been using the LSG/1.2 for 5 years without any problems.

The remotes can discharge I guess. When you drive the car again they'll charge back up.

http://www.westcobattery.com/chargers.html

Chuck

 

I own a Battery Tender branded one (Battery Tender Plus I think) for my motorcycle. It comes with a short pigtail that you can wire in so that you can quick connect to the tender. I would think that you could easily wire it into under the hood of the car, or in the trunk.

I've been very happy with it. Although I haven't used any other ones to compare it to.

Depending on where you are storing the car (ie with sunlight available) you could pick up one of those solar chargers that plugs into the cig. lighter. Apparently a lot of car dealers use them now to keep the cars on the lot juiced up.

 

I was told that if the remotes lose their charge that you have to have them recoded to the car. The manual specificly says that you should rotate the use of the keys to keep them both charged. I'm not completely aware of what that would entail.

 

As long as you don't store it for more then 6 months, the batteries in the remotes should be fine. Just make sure you use both keys after taking it out of storage. As for reprogramming them after they're drained, I don't think that's true. Other cars with anti-theft chips in the keys don't have batteries in them (just like the spare plastic key). I believe the batteries in the keys would be for keyless entry only. So if they loose their charge, you simply have to use the key to enter. Once in the ignition, the car should power the anti-theft chip. Considering the way BMW does things, I could be completely wrong.

As for the car battery, make sure you use a battery tender, NOT A TRICKLE CHARGER!!! Trickle chargers will overcharge the battery over time. The tenders make sure it's "topped off" and no more.

 

trickle chargers from our era has a floating feature (tender) when it's fully charged. funny guy.

 

I just wanted to warn some people. I've seen trickle charges that are nothing more then a power supply. They will continue to charge the battery, regardless of its state. If its got some sort of "brain", then it should be fine.

 

how about we start listing the chargers we use instead?
delorian's... come on.. jk

no more of this meaningless "yes you can" "no you can't"
bitchin' and moanin' like little _____'s.


here's mine: I can do both regular and deep cycle.


http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=02871223000

 

HEY! if your gonna say it, spell it right!

DELOREAN

 

oops...

 

Thanks!

Let's just say after dealing with it's very British electrical system, I'm very familar with battery chargers.

 

hehe, btw, which charger do you use for your MINI and DeLorean?

 

I just use a basic off the shelf charger. Both my cars are driven weekly, so I don't need to worry about them. The charger was used when I had a few electrical gremlins that would drain the battery in days.

In the DeLorean forums, plenty of people talk about winter storage. There are several horror stories regarding trickle chargers that are left on. I would not recommend getting something like this for storage:
http://tinyurl.com/b8rsj

Even a basic charger that's "over charged protected" can still kill a battery if left on. The one I have that said it has an auto shutoff nearly fried my Optima. So when buying one for winter storage, just make sure it's designed for battery tending!

 

I see.