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Starting 2015 C4 Picasso Diesel after 18 months inactivity	Please Register to enjoy additional Member Benefits

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GSouthall United Kingdom

Sun Feb 09 2020, 07:36am

Member No: #55532

Joined: Feb 03 2020
Location: SW London

My Father-in-law stopped driving his 2015 C4 Picasso Diesel 18 months ago, and he has now been moved into a nursing home. It is my job to MOT the car and then sell it, and we live 200 miles away from where the car is based.
The battery is completely flat.
I will be travelling down next weekend to start the car and take it to the garage.
How best to approach this?
I won't have time to charge the battery fully, but would a standard battery charger work?
Should I buy a jump-start device, so I can get the car going?
Does the C4 engine stop at traffic lights (etc) - if so, what can I do about this?
Grateful for advice and tips.
Thanks

vexorg United Kingdom

Sun Feb 09 2020, 08:26am

Member No: #48843

Joined: Jul 06 2017
Location: Scotland

I'd take some jump leads and charge off your car, give it 10 minutes on jump leads before trying to give the battery a bit of a charge. After it starts, leave it running for 20 minutes or so.

I'd also try prime the diesel bladder to give it a better chance.

Handbrake (and brakes) may be stuck on a bit.

1 User said Thank You to vexorg for this Post :
GSouthall (09 Feb 2020 : 09:10)

routemaster1 United Kingdom

Sun Feb 09 2020, 08:39am

Member No: #574

Joined: Jul 08 2007
Location: Dorset

GSouthall wrote ...

Does the C4 engine stop at traffic lights (etc) - if so, what can I do about this?

At that age a 2.0HDi will have stop/start, and a 1.6 may as well. If fitted with stop/start, you can disable through the settings, but it will reset after each time you switch the engine off. However, the system will not stop the engine when the car stops if the system, including the battery, is not in a condition that will allow it to restart. So I don't think you need to worry about that.

1 User said Thank You to routemaster1 for this Post :
GSouthall (09 Feb 2020 : 09:10)

GSouthall United Kingdom

Sun Feb 09 2020, 09:13am

Member No: #55532

Joined: Feb 03 2020
Location: SW London

I'll be traveling on train, so intending to take a charger/jump starter with me - the one FiL has is very old! Halfords have traditional chargers, alongside the new USB-type. Most seem to be just chargers, but not jump-starters. Though there is a heavy duty one doing both. Thoughts? And Thanks for your time.

rusky

Sun Feb 09 2020, 10:26am

Member No: #27768

Joined: Oct 13 2012
Location: Hove

My dad has one of these - Click Here - it works really well even on flat batteries

1 User said Thank You to rusky for this Post :
GSouthall (09 Feb 2020 : 10:37)

GSouthall United Kingdom

Sun Feb 09 2020, 10:39am

Member No: #55532

Joined: Feb 03 2020
Location: SW London

Thanks rusky - this is the kind of thing I've been thinking of. I'll order one now.


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