Battery drain after only 60 days

[1966 Sunbeam Tiger]

Hello all,

My car is in storage as I am in Afghanistan. The car was placed in a garage for storage just over 60 days ago. A friend went to crank it and let it warm up. Battery is dead. Had to jump start it with a 2016 Ford F150 that was in storage for longer with no dead battery.

I will not be back till FEB and know the battery will die again. I took delivery on this car in Jan 2016, should this battery be under warranty? I don't want to put a trickle charger on it or disconnect it.

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[Oryx]

First, Thanks for your service! Not sure regarding the battery coverage but would highly recommend some sort of battery "maintainer" while being unused.
Lots of modern electronics can cause slight draws and it will be far better for the life of the battery. Why the reluctance?

 

[WhiteyDog]

Somewhat the same thing happened to me. Bought the car in October of '15, battery dead by March of '16. I didn't have a tender on it, but I sure as h*ll did after I got the new battery. I took the battery to my local Ford dealer and they told me "the battery has to be in the car for us to test it so we can confirm it's dead". I put my battery on their counter and they wouldn't except it that way. I wasn't playing their games. I just bought a battery, and have a tender on it each day I don't drive it. (Which I only drive it on the weekends).

 

[VinnAY]

You really can't blame a battery, it's in storage for 60 days, shouldn't be expected to have full cranking power at that point, and then you won't for bizarre reason not use a trickle charger on it.
When we'd come back from some 90 TDY somewhere those with trickle's started up and drove away. Most without had to be jumped.

 

[airfuel]

Battery Tender.
The name says it all.

 

[jasonstang]

60 days is a long time. If I am parking the car for more than a week, I am using a battery tender.

 

[tsunami]

Battery drain...

If the cables are removed:
1) will the battery keep a charge similar to other OEM batteries?
2) without continuous power...will all of the electronics preserve their settings?

 

[JohnD]

Charge the battery fully and disconnect the ground. There is a crapload of parasitic draw on most new cars and this one is no exception. I store my car for 6 months like that with no issues.

 

[at_t_2d]

My 2008 Corvette will go a little over 2 weeks sitting before it won't crank. Which is common for them. There are a lot of electronics pulling power when the newer cars are not running.

 

[Hogie]

I just disconnect my battery on anything that is going to sit. You don't even need to top off the battery beforehand.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Somewhat the same thing happened to me. Bought the car in October of '15, battery dead by March of '16. I didn't have a tender on it, but I sure as h*ll did after I got the new battery. I took the battery to my local Ford dealer and they told me "the battery has to be in the car for us to test it so we can confirm it's dead". I put my battery on their counter and they wouldn't except it that way. I wasn't playing their games. I just bought a battery, and have a tender on it each day I don't drive it. (Which I only drive it on the weekends).

My dealer told me the same thing but I talked to the Service Manager and it turns out the reason is really to confirm the mileage. I wore him down until he checked the battery I brought in and approved a replacement for me to pick up if I sent him a pic showing the mileage I told him. So, I installed the battery, pulled up the VIN on the touch screen and held the paperwork for the battery in frame with the VIN and Mileage.

Sorry to necro post but might help someone else in the same situation.

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