C43 AMG not being used for 30 days

[Riverman]

I will shortly be going on an extended holiday and I plan to leave the car in cruise terminal car park
my car is 2022 C43 AMG Coupe and at home if the car is not going to be used a for a week or two I connect a CTEC trickle charger
That will not be possible in a public car park so how long can I expect the battery to stay charged sufficiently to start the car on my return?

It is not very practical for me to use public transport to get to the holiday terminal, so i prefer to drive
Of course if the battery does run down I can always call recovery to get jump started. But I would like some advice

 

[Pontoneer]

I will shortly be going on an extended holiday and I plan to leave the car in cruise terminal car park
my car is 2022 C43 AMG Coupe and at home if the car is not going to be used a for a week or two I connect a CTEC trickle charger
That will not be possible in a public car park so how long can I expect the battery to stay charged sufficiently to start the car on my return?

It is not very practical for me to use public transport to get to the holiday terminal, so i prefer to drive
Of course if the battery does run down I can always call recovery to get jump started. But I would like some advice

Put a solar charger in the windscreen and connect to the battery . Assuming your car is going to be parked outdoors and therefore will see daylight if not sun ? They normally trickle charge enough to stop the battery going flat . Unless your car has a 12V lighter socket or similar that stays live all the time , you would need to lead the wire out one of the doors and crocodile clip onto the battery terminals - you may need to extend the wires if not long enough .

Otherwise buy one of those emergency jump pack devices and have it in the boot to use if your battery is flat when you return . Another way is just to disconnect the battery when you park up , but you will then need to reset a few things after you connect back up , plus you would need to be able to lock the car up manually as central locking won't work without the battery , and if your battery is in the boot , you need to be able to open the boot manually with the key - check you can do this before disconnecting the battery and closing it !

 

[ALFAitalia]

Should be fine after 30 days.........even before I replaced my battery I used to leave it longer than that and it would start ok. That said more modern cars are more battery hungry than my old 212.

A few years back I left my 3 series at the airport parking for a fortnight.....cleverly I left the glovebox lid open (so the villains could see that it was empty).....completely forgetting that the light in there was independent of the ignition.......upon my return it was flat as a kipper...as they say!! Luckily I always carry jump leads and the first bloke I saw in the car park was happy to let me jump from his car........

 

[Trickythemerc]

Sounds risky !!!!!!! What height did you jump from.

 

[chic0821]

I once left the interior light on as it was an early morning flight & I was checking that we had everything. On return, flat battery The parking guy at the office had a jumper pack which he said was used pretty much every day. Just part of the service

 

[fabes]

I'd go with the jumper pack (charged up !) in the boot for peace of mind if you need it. Should be fine though with a modern battery

You could also pump the tyres up a little if you want belt and braces ...

 

[kcsun]

Read your manual and check where you connect the jump pack to, it might have special terminals under the bonnet that wont fry your ECU's. Better to have the knowledge rather than a big bill after a "helpful" person just connected to anything

kc

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I have CTEK CS Free in each of the cars we’re likely to be away from home in. Amazon have them for £150 at the moment but it looks like there are websites offering it for less.

https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/cs-free

There are less expensive options than CTEK, for example NOCO are also well regarded.

That said I found an old lead acid jump pack in the garage that was well over 25 years old and hadn’t been charged for many many years. Still held a charge though!

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I will shortly be going on an extended holiday and I plan to leave the car in cruise terminal car park
my car is 2022 C43 AMG Coupe and at home if the car is not going to be used a for a week or two I connect a CTEC trickle charger
That will not be possible in a public car park so how long can I expect the battery to stay charged sufficiently to start the car on my return?

It is not very practical for me to use public transport to get to the holiday terminal, so i prefer to drive
Of course if the battery does run down I can always call recovery to get jump started. But I would like some advice

Unless you have a bad battery it’ll handle a month of being parked, especially if you CTEK it the week before you go away.

As mentioned, these car parks have jumper packs that can be borrowed.

If you bought a £80 NOCO jump pack from Amazon, you could always return it after your return.

Have a great holiday !

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Unless you have a bad battery it’ll handle a month of being parked, especially if you CTEK it the week before you go away.

As mentioned, these car parks have jumper packs that can be borrowed.

If you bought a £80 NOCO jump pack from Amazon, you could always return it after your return.

Have a great holiday !

This is good advice. Charging your battery before going away will give it the best chance of it staying charged whilst you are away on holiday.

If you don’t already have a battery charger/conditioner then buy one with a onboard boost pack which can charge from the onboard battery (at the car park in an emergency) or the mains (at home before you go).

The CTEK CS Free I link above can be used for both although you may find a less expensive alternative

Final thought, take the spare car key with you but keep it separate (ie one in your pocket and one in your luggage) for obvious reasons. Also check to make sure you have the key blades, that they work, and you know how to use them.

You wouldn’t be the first person with a flat battery who didn't realise that they they didn’t have the blade, that it was for a different car or didn’t know how on earth to open the car with it!

@MikeInWimbledon raised another blooming good point, have a wonderful holiday!