Car battery dead - help required

[david_carnell]

Stupidly I left my car lights on and now have a flat battery.

It's an automatic so a push start is a no-go. Have tried jump leads from a neighbour's car but no joy after 10mins of charging.

A few questions:

I connected the negative lead from his car to an earth point. Should I have connected it to the neutral point on my battery instead? Does anyone have a jump pack I could borrow?

If my battery is kaput what now? Replace it? Should/could I do this myself? Expensive?

I'm not an AA member but do any local garages send men out to fix cars at your house?

[Saffron]

Cable connection sounds right. Were batteries of the same voltage? What happened when you attempted to start the car with the dead battery? Did the engine turn over then die, or not start at all?

There's some addl info on the AA website even if you're not a member.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I changed my battery myself. Easy peasy. My MOT guys sold me one at cost price but you could do an internet search for the cheapest option and have it delivered to you door. Lugging a battery for 3/4 mile is not fun.

[Mustard]

I have an automatic car too. AA will change the battery for you. I have used them twice for battery problems. You can join now but you can't use them immediately. Kwik Fit sell batteries and will replace them if you can get the car there. I had to get one from them the last time (I used the one in the Old Kent Rd because Grove Vale didn't have the right kind) after the AA charged me up but didn't have a suitable one to put on my car. It's possible your battery is too old to charge, do you know how old it is? The first time I had to replace my battery was when the original factory battery went kaput on my car, and I had already had the car for 2 years so the battery was a total of 7 years.

[Mustard]

Sometimes Quidco have good deals on joining the AA, with cashback.

[ruffers]

Dont you just go positive to positive neg to neg? Then just start the car, its not a matter of charging the dead car, more starting it using the power of the good car. That's what I've always done anyway.

As for changing a battery that's as easy as it looks. Disconnect old and replace with new, job done.

If you still need help tomorrow give me a shout. I'm not a mechanic but have had the same problem a couple of times.

[Saffron]

Positive to positive, negative to earth (ie, usu just clip it to frame). I think this is to prevent feedback in the circuit playing havoc with the leading car.

Then start the dead car with the power from the lead car. Dead battery charges while the car is running, if it's not totally kaput. At least that's been my experience, but how you proceed might depend on what type of battery/car/jump leads you're using.