Car Battery problem

podgemonster

Tried to start me car last night ('96 Renault Laguna) and the battery was flat.

So i got some jump leads and connected them positive to positive and negative to negative and left the booster car running for 3-4 minutes! Went to start the car and nothing...

My car battery has screw caps on them so i connected the leads to the metal connected to the caps. I didn see any sparks either.

Do i have the leads on correctly?
Should i connect the negative to ground on the car?
Or is my car battery jus f*cked...

T-Maxx

How to jump start a car.

The receiver car should start immediately, even without the othter's engine running.

I think either the leads didn't make proper contact, or your problem lies elsewhere. It's not the immobilser by any chance is it?

podgemonster

no, its not the immobiliser in this case.

The car has been idle for 3weeks.

crosstownk

Follow the instructions in the link in the post above and you should be OK. Make sure that the jump leads are making a good solid connection with maximum surface contact area. If your leads are getting quite hot then the connection needs to be better.

What car were you using to jump start it ? Is the Laguna petrol or diesel ?
Quite oftne a car won't start off a jumpstart if the battery is really completely discharged. I couldn't get a car jumpstarted with leads but it started straight away off a booster pack.

Atomic Pineapple

So it does have an immobiliser?

If so and the car hasn't been started for 3 weeks then the battery could be seriously flat and wont have enough power to "jump over" the immobiliser.

I had dead cells in my last battery and the battery running too low to deal with the immobiliser was a constant problem.

The car will need a good charge to get the battery back up to a sufficent level to deal with the immobiliser

podgemonster

Its Petrol (1.8L)
I was using my mates Golf, petrol to charge this up!

My battery has these plastic screws on them that if i screw of i disconnect the battery and i can't jus hook the leads on top of them like i can with the Golf.

Where can i get one of these booster packs. I live near Landsdowne Road.

podgemonster

podgemonster wrote: »

Where can i get one of these booster packs. I live near Landsdowne Road.

If you can't get jump leads on a booster pack won't be much good, any chance you could take a pic of the set up for us

Atomic Pineapple

RoverJames wrote: »

If you can't get jump leads on a booster pack won't be much good, any chance you could take a pic of the set up for us

+1 take and post a pic of the battery

biko

The setup you did is what I do too (pos/pos & neg/neg), never had issues with that. It sounds as if you didn't connect properly, otherwise the flat car should start or at least make a noise immediately.
Try again and make sure there is proper contact? It has to be metal to metal.

Btw, some do it this way

podgemonster

RoverJames wrote: »

If you can't get jump leads on a booster pack won't be much good, any chance you could take a pic of the set up for us

Can't at work at the moment.

LookBehindYou

Try a stronger set of jump leads.

T-Maxx

Mmmm, might be a bad set of leads alright. (Usually the connection between the cable and the clamp on the cheap-n-nasty sets.)

I asked for a pic to understand the issue you have with the plastic covers

podgemonster

Turns out the problem was the leads!

Purchased new ones and as soon as i saw the sparks i breathed a sigh of relief. Car sprang to life. Was about to pull off for a spin and next thing i feel the back wheel is seized as it drags along the ground. I reversed and jerked forward and the wheel seems okay now, drove for a mile of so.
Is this normal a wheel seizing up when a car hasn't been in use and i presume the cold weather is a factor!

I have definitely learned one important lesson and its not to leave my car idle for so long.

biko

I take it you left it parked on the hand brake? It can happen when the handbrake has been applied over a long/cold period.