Car Sitting Up for a Week Needed a Push Start

Kintarō Hattori

Folks, since buying the new (used) car the K11 Micra has been sitting up for a week. As my sister is a single mother I thought it'd be great to give her a little more freedom and so I'm going to give her the Micra with tax paid and the brother will cover her insurance.
Before handing it over to her I thought it'd be prudent to check it over and after having sat for about a week unused it wouldn't start without a push start.

Up until a week or so ago it was a daily driver with no reliability issues, it's serviced regularly so that has me a little stumped. My sister won't be driving this every day- so I really need to make sure that when she hops into it, it starts when needed.

Sitting up for a week isn't all that long to be idle- we've been away on holidays and it sitting in the airport car park for longer than that, so any ideas as to what may be up would be most appreciated.

colm_mcm

The cold weather probably isn't ideal if the battery isn't tiptop. At least micra batteries are cheap.

OREGATO

How old is the battery? With the colder mornings, if it's an older battery, it wouldn't be uncommon for it to need a new battery.

If it's new enough, I'd be checking the alternator to see if it's holding charge but from your description I think it's the battery.

Halfords or a local motor factors would be your best bet and they should be cheap enough as well.

Kintarō Hattori

It's most likely the battery so. I'm not sure if it's ever been changed to be honest. I'll see if I can get one in the morning or have one sent to her and her handy neighbour would most likely change it.

OREGATO

Halfords and some local motor factors normally offer up to a 2 year warranty with their batteries. Just make sure you keep a proof of purchase.

Shop around for batteries and you can possibly save a few quid.

Also, some batteries on those k11s are different depending on if it's a jap import or not, maybe take some measurements and take note of the layout of the positive and negative wires, make sure the battery you get has these on the right side as well.

BillJ

Had to change the battery on the girlfirends micra about a month ago. Left idle for two days and wouldnt start without a jump, battery was the original i'd say so was at the end of it's life.

New battery and no problems since. €63 for a new bosch battery.

Kintarō Hattori

BillJ wrote: »

Had to change the battery on the girlfirends micra about a month ago. Left idle for two days and wouldnt start without a jump, battery was the original i'd say so was at the end of it's life.

New battery and no problems since. €63 for a new bosch battery.

Excellent. Where did you find a battery for €63 if I can ask?

BillJ

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Excellent. Where did you find a battery for €63 if I can ask?

Got it in my local motor factors.

naughtysmurf

Recently got a new battery for €61.50, online from micks garage, delivered the next day

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Recently got a new battery for €61.50, online from micks garage, delivered the next day

Thats expensive enough for something you have to wait to get and have ti fit yourself !

naughtysmurf

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Thats expensive enough for something you have to wait to get and have ti fit yourself !

Wasn't an emergency, car was starting ok but knew the battery was on the way out after 8 years, delivered to my workplace where I have tools handy & took 20mins to fit,

Thought the price was pretty reasonable,

Cleveland Hot Pocket

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Wasn't an emergency, car was starting ok but knew the battery was on the way out after 8 years, delivered to my workplace where I have tools handy & took 20mins to fit,

Thought the price was pretty reasonable,

I've paid double that for a battery from a brickandmortar store so yeah I would say it was reasonable alright

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

I've paid double that for a battery from a brickandmortar store so yeah I would say it was reasonable alright

nope

i just did a comparison on micks garage and its a tenner more expensive for the exact same battery on micks garage except we supplied and fitted ours on the spot.

both bosch, us tenner cheaper and fitted inc vat.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

nope

i just did a comparison on micks garage and its a tenner more expensive for the exact same battery on micks garage except we supplied and fitted ours on the spot.

both bosch, us tenner cheaper and fitted inc vat.

I think you'll find I did.
The battery for the golf before I sold it was €110 and change.

So you can't just say "nope" to things that are "yup"

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

I think you'll find I did.
The battery for the golf before I sold it was €110 and change.

So you can't just say "nope" to things that are "yup"

like i say, exact same battery from today and on the website and i came out a tenner cheaper and it was supplied and fitted on the spot.

naughtysmurf

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

nope

i just did a comparison on micks garage and its a tenner more expensive for the exact same battery on micks garage except we supplied and fitted ours on the spot.

both bosch, us tenner cheaper and fitted inc vat.

I said the price was reasonable not cheaper, sometimes it suits me to go to my local motor factors sometimes online suits me better

Some batteries are handy enough to change, some are positioned in a spot where it's a pain in the ass to get out

This time it wasn't an emergency, I was happy with the price & it's an easy change anyway

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

like i say, exact same battery from today and on the website and i came out a tenner cheaper and it was supplied and fitted on the spot.

Nope :cool:

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

Nope :cool:

cant exactly say nope on something i did only today

more like "YUP" :cool:

DeFinch89

Micra K11's are a great reliable little car, with a new battery it should be back on form

Expect to pay anywhere between €60- €75 for a new battery.
Make sure battery has at least a 2 year garantee.

Best bet is to bring old battery in to a local motor factors and they will have a new replacement identical to the old one and its a very simple swap with a 10mm spanner to loosen the terminals and replace battery its a very easy D.I.Y job, but lad in motor factors will generally fit for you free of charge if you ask nicely

another important thing to check is the distributor which is located at the side of engine where spark plug/HT leads connect to, unscrew off cap and check all contact points to make sure no corossion or excessive wear is present as this can be a very often overlooked issue with many petrol engined cars and will result in an engine failing to start

sometimes just brushing inside the cap with sandpaper or even wiping with a dry cloth (if damp) on all contacts will help to get a more direct connection.

hope this helps

Kintarō Hattori

DeFinch89 wrote: »

Micra K11's are a great reliable little car, with a new battery it should be back on form

Expect to pay anywhere between €60- €75 for a new battery.
Make sure battery has at least a 2 year garantee.

Best bet is to bring old battery in to a local motor factors and they will have a new replacement identical to the old one and its a very simple swap with a 10mm spanner to loosen the terminals and replace battery its a very easy D.I.Y job, but lad in motor factors will generally fit for you free of charge if you ask nicely

another important thing to check is the distributor which is located at the side of engine where spark plug/HT leads connect to, unscrew off cap and check all contact points to make sure no corossion or excessive wear is present as this can be a very often overlooked issue with many petrol engined cars and will result in an engine failing to start

sometimes just brushing inside the cap with sandpaper or even wiping with a dry cloth (if damp) on all contacts will help to get a more direct connection.

hope this helps

Thanks DeFinch. We had an issue with it about 6 months ago where it just wouldn't start full stop. Got it sorted with Atlas who determined that the distributor needed replacing so I think that should be OK. We bought it in 2011 and I don't know if or when the battery might have been replaced so it'll be no harm to do that regardless.

They generate a lot of disdain the old K11 but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed having ours. It was very reliable and nippy about town with just enough space for the two of us. That said however I'm happier that she's in something a lot safer.

DeFinch89

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Thanks DeFinch. We had an issue with it about 6 months ago where it just wouldn't start full stop. Got it sorted with Atlas who determined that the distributor needed replacing so I think that should be OK. We bought it in 2011 and I don't know if or when the battery might have been replaced so it'll be no harm to do that regardless.

They generate a lot of disdain the old K11 but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed having ours. It was very reliable and nippy about town with just enough space for the two of us. That said however I'm happier that she's in something a lot safer.

ya can rule out the distributor so lol,
ah yeah any micra pre '00 is a tough, reliable one, I had the older boxy shape K10 as my first car and many years (and cars) later I still have it lol.

had the distributor issue myself in my N15 almera and after countless WD40 and cloth cleaning it was time to just replace it altogether, could have saved myself the hassle earlier ha