Vacation time. Car not going to be in use for 4 weeks. What all to take care of the car ?
By Cars & Motorcycles on Apr 12, 2009 with Comments 6
JITHIN asked: I want to make sure that when I return, my car is in good shape , and ready for use. Its a 2001 elantra..Battery is almsot 2 years old.
Filed Under: Car Care
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First plug out the battery connection. it should be sufficient if you just plug out the negative contact wire from the battery.
For the most part, that would NOT be a problem.
There is a chance that your battery might be dead when you return, but it is already 2 years old, and it isn’t too far from dying anyway.
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Last year, I went away for 3 weeks (in Aug) and when I returned, my car started up the first crank. This is my 94 Civic with 187K miles. So it can easily handle that kind of vacation.
Good Luck…
4 Weeks is not a really long time. As long as you are not worried about losing your radio presets, you should be fine with just undoing the black (-) terminal from the battery. You may want to get an oil change just prior and make sure that the radiator is full (to prevent oxidation). If the car will not be in a garage or under cover, you may want to buy a car cover to prevent bird crap damage to the paint.
Maintenance free batteries have only 2 years life span and after that they are disposed and changed for a brand new. If you will not be using your car for 4 weeks or I would say 1 month, you will have to disconnect the terminals of the battery so as not to completely discharge it. If you don’t do this, it will be very hard to start the car unless you have the strength to push and start it. For a brand new battery, it will be quite ok since it has the reserve power if not being recharged by the alternator.
Nothing. Four weeks is really a short time. I ‘m a teacher, and I used to take my vacations in Europe and be gone for~ 10 weeks every Summer. Unless you’ve got problems with it before you go,or leave some electrical device on when you leave, it should be fine. You didn’t state whether or not you had a garage or where it’s to be parked. I hope it’s not on the street. If you’re not worried about security then, once again, it should be fine. If you are, leave it with a friend or someone who will keep an eye on it while you’re gone.
Your battery will be fine. Only thing that drains a battery is the burgler alarm and the radio/CD as well as remote entry if you have that. Instead of going and mucking around under the hood, getting your hands dirty and risking stripping the batter bolts just go to your fuse box and take out the fuses of those three components if you have them. If you have it parked at home in a garage then lucky you, invest in a $25 trickle charger or buy one of those $20 solar chargers that you leave out on your windshield…they turn sunlight to electricity and keep your battery topped up.