Jumping a Berlingo with a Golf

JonathanAnon

Hi Lads,

I have an old Berlingo Diesel Van 00, and the battery is down at 2.1v. My own car is a Golf 02 Petrol 1.4.. and I want to jump the Berlingo with the Golf.. Is it okay to do this, given that the Berlingo is a much bigger engine...

thanks.

Golf battery might not supply enough cranking power for the diesel, best thing would be to connect the jump leads and let the Berlingo battery charge for 10 to 15 mins before attempting to start it, may or may not be strong enough. At work a 1.4 Focus wouldn't jump a Berlingo but my 520i did.

Some folks on here maintain that any car will jump any other car.

doOh

When u connect cables just leave Golf running for few minutes before trying to start berlingo, it should do

MiCr0

is anyone else disappointed this thread doesn't involve a ramp?

LIGHTNING

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Would I be right in thinking that it would all depend on the output from the cars alternator?

I don't know to be honest, lots of current needed to jump start a diesel, which small petrol batteries don't often provide enough of. With the car running there wouldn't be over 14V ishseen across the battery so if that provides enough current it will jump the Berlingo.

Michael 09

MiCr0 wrote: »

is anyone else disappointed this thread doesn't involve a ramp?

Took the words right out of my mouth! I opened this thread with great excitement!

si_guru

Have you tried jump starting it from a Skoda?

JonathanAnon

MiCr0 wrote: »

is anyone else disappointed this thread doesn't involve a ramp?

If this doesnt work, the next thread might have a 00 Berlingo being pushed over the edge of a cliff..

JonathanAnon

If I take the battery out of the Berlingo and hook it up to my own battery (- to -, + to +) then leave the Golf running, will the Golf alternator not just charge them both up? I could run a multimeter across the Berlingo battery to check when the voltage is sufficient to start the Berlingo.

Wouldnt this be safer than hooking the two cars up together?

aujopimur

MiCr0 wrote: »

is anyone else disappointed this thread doesn't involve a ramp?

+1

JonathanAnon

JonathanAnon wrote: »

If I take the battery out of the Berlingo and hook it up to my own battery (- to -, + to +) then leave the Golf running, will the Golf alternator not just charge them both up? I could run a multimeter across the Berlingo battery to check when the voltage is sufficient to start the Berlingo.

Wouldnt this be safer than hooking the two cars up together?

Doing that and connecting them both up and not cranking the Berlingo until the battery charges up fully is the same thing. You might have to wait for hours and hours and hours though to charge a battery like that.

O.A.P

JonathanAnon wrote: »

If I take the battery out of the Berlingo and hook it up to my own battery (- to -, + to +) then leave the Golf running, will the Golf alternator not just charge them both up? I could run a multimeter across the Berlingo battery to check when the voltage is sufficient to start the Berlingo.

Wouldnt this be safer than hooking the two cars up together?

I have a battery charger or I can give you a jump start. Where abouts are you? Anywhere near Ennis.

JonathanAnon

O.A.P wrote: »

I have a battery charger or I can give you a jump start. Where abouts are you? Anywhere near Ennis.

ah no man, I appreciate the offer.. it's just an old van I'm trying to sell before it becomes fossilized. I have my number one vehicle working, so I'm not stranded.. As a backup, I can drop the Berlingo battery down to the local motor factors, who fully charge it for 7 quid. But I'd like to have the knowledge to (safely) sort it out myself..

jimmyw

JonathanAnon wrote: »

If I take the battery out of the Berlingo and hook it up to my own battery (- to -, + to +) then leave the Golf running, will the Golf alternator not just charge them both up? I could run a multimeter across the Berlingo battery to check when the voltage is sufficient to start the Berlingo.

Wouldnt this be safer than hooking the two cars up together?

But how would you know when the berlingo batt has enough charge, because if the golf is running all you will get on the meter is the power output from the golf.You would have to disconnect it periodically.

L1011

I've jumped a Citroen C4 1.6 (not my one, one of the other work ones) with a 1.1 Panda before, which is probably a significantly bigger gap in battery/alternator power...

Was the C4 petrol or diesel ?
I would think a battery in a Panda would be more or less similar to a 1.4 Golf battery, when I worked in a factors an 063 battery was found in cars from 1.0 Saxos to Escorts etc.

crosstownk

As stated before - leave the jumper leads connected while the Golf engine runs. Make sure that the connections are good with plenty of surface contact between the leads and the connected surfaces to avoid the leads overheating and also preventing the Berlingo battery from charging. Turn off all current consumers on the Golf (lights, HRW, wipers, etc) to allow the Berlingo to get maximum available current from the Golf's alternator. Be sure that the Berlingo is switched off with the key out of the ignition and the door closed.

After 15/30 mins the Berlingo will start. When the Berlingo starts give it a good run for 50/60kms and don't leave it too long before the next start.

JonathanAnon

okay lads here's the story...

Started the Golf and hooked up jump leads.. left the Berlingo with the ingnition off and everything else off as well.. Battery charged from 2v to 12.2v after about a half hour... unhooked cables (so that Berlingo was only connected to it's own battery) but 12.2v was not enough to get it running.. Hooked it up to the Golf again and gave it another 20 minutes and the battery was at 12.35v. Disconnected from the Golf and with 12.35v on the battery the Berlingo started first time..

Ran the multimeter across the Berlingo battery when it was running and it read 13.88v so the alternator is working and can recharge it fully.

thanks for the help..

L1011

RoverJames wrote: »

Was the C4 petrol or diesel ?
I would think a battery in a Panda would be more or less similar to a 1.4 Golf battery, when I worked in a factors an 063 battery was found in cars from 1.0 Saxos to Escorts etc.

Diesel.

mawk

RoverJames wrote: »

Some folks on here maintain that any car will jump any other car.

They can. Just might need to be left charging a while first. It can probably absorb about 8a consistently, but will draw 200a or something else huge to crank the engine. From cold. Let it charge for 20 mins at a few amps and then it will start regardless of the size disparity

unkel

JonathanAnon wrote: »

okay lads here's the story...

Started the Golf and hooked up jump leads.. left the Berlingo with the ingnition off and everything else off as well.. Battery charged from 2v to 12.2v after about a half hour... unhooked cables (so that Berlingo was only connected to it's own battery) but 12.2v was not enough to get it running.. Hooked it up to the Golf again and gave it another 20 minutes and the battery was at 12.35v. Disconnected from the Golf and with 12.35v on the battery the Berlingo started first time..

Ran the multimeter across the Berlingo battery when it was running and it read 13.88v so the alternator is working and can recharge it fully.

thanks for the help..

Good to see you got going

But why did you unhook the cables at 12.2V in the Berlingo? With the cables still connected and the Golf's engine running, for sure the Berlingo would have started. Or were you just experimenting?

mawk

mawk wrote: »

They can. Just might need to be left charging a while first. It can probably absorb about 8a consistently, but will draw 200a or something else huge to crank the engine. From cold. Let it charge for 20 mins at a few amps and then it will start regardless of the size disparity

True, but they weren't including the charging up a bit first

crosstownk

unkel wrote: »

Good to see you got going

But why did you unhook the cables at 12.2V in the Berlingo? With the cables still connected and the Golf's engine running, for sure the Berlingo would have started. Or were you just experimenting?

Yep - leave the jump leads connected until the Berlingo starts as it will need all available current. Sometimes revving the 'supply' engine (the Golf in this case) can provide an extra push.

But glad to hear it's all sorted. And as I stated earlier be sure that you don't leave it too long before the next start. You'll also need to determine if the Berlingo battery is not faulty and is capable of holding its charge. Time will tell.......

JonathanAnon

unkel wrote: »

But why did you unhook the cables at 12.2V in the Berlingo? With the cables still connected and the Golf's engine running, for sure the Berlingo would have started. Or were you just experimenting?

Well my main issue was not putting the Golf battery in any danger of being drained. I reckon if I'd hooked them up with the battery initially (which was only about 2v), hooked up the jumper cables and tried to jump it with the golf running... I could have drained the Golf battery to the point where it couldnt start either...

I wanted to see if I could use my Golf effectively as a battery charger.. it's slow, and I used a bit of petrol.. but it does work..

crosstownk

JonathanAnon wrote: »

I wanted to see if I could use my Golf effectively as a battery charger.. it's slow, and I used a bit of petrol.. but it does work..

Yes you can use the Golf as a charger but it's not optimal - grand for emergencies.

Better to keep an eye on the LIDL/ALDI offers and get a 220VAC plug in charger. Just be sure to disconnect the battery negative before charging.

unkel

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Well my main issue was not putting the Golf battery in any danger of being drained. I reckon if I'd hooked them up with the battery initially (which was only about 2v), hooked up the jumper cables and tried to jump it with the golf running... I could have drained the Golf battery to the point where it couldnt start either...

I see where you're coming from and it was wise to let the Golf's alternator charge the van's battery first. But it you were still worried about the Golf's battery when the Berlingo was at 12.2V, it would have been as safe to leave the Golf connected and running. No chance jumping at this stage would have stopped the Golf's engine completely and after the Berlingo started you could have disconnected the cable but left the Golf's engine running so it would fully charge up again

Anyways, the battery in my old 7-series was so knackered at some point that I needed it hooked up to a 5-series with a running engine AND hooked up to a fully charged jump pack to get the engine started

Jape91

MiCr0 wrote: »

is anyone else disappointed this thread doesn't involve a ramp?

yes!