Car Battery

[Atomnaya]

Hi,

I seem to have an issue with the car battery. I had not driven my car for about a week. My third party car alarm still makes the beep, however the factory central locking (which can be found on the key itself) does not work.

Basically all electrics do not work as well as the obvious, i can't start the car.

Question is does this always happen when you don't drive the car for a long period of time. Also i'm thinking of replacing the car battery itself as the battery is really quite small compared to the other batteries i see. Can i buy a replacement from say SuperCheap or Autobarn and which model of battery.

Cheers

[mad082]

a week isn't exactly a long time. i had a car sitting for 8 months and the battery still had enough charge to turn it over (but not start it).

it could be caused by 1 of 3 things. you alternator isn't working properly (not charging the battery fully). there is something in the car that isn't functioning correctly and it is draining the power off the battery when the car is turned off, or most likely, the battery is dead. if the battery is a few years old then i would put it down to it being the likely cause, especially as the nights are starting to get cooler. winter is always the time when weak batteries start to die. they can be fine 1 day, then the next day won't even have enough charge to turn the car over. then you can jump start the car and drive to work, leave the car all day, go back to it in the afternoon and have it start straight away, but the next morning it will be dead again.

so if the battery is 3 or 4 years old, i'd invest in a new battery before bothering to look at other things as it is the most likely cause.

[Atomnaya]

cheers for the reply.

Yes the battery is 3-4 years old. Basically it hasn't been replaced when i bought the car.

Any recommendations on which battery as a replacement?