When your car battery dies and you get a boost how long do you have to drive around

[applegrove]

to have your battery "full" again? I was out for 1 hour. Is that good enough?

[Swede]

1. That should do it.

Unless you have other issues (battery,alternator etc).

[applegrove]

4. Nope. The mechanics said it just needed to be recharged. thanks.

[hifiguy]

12. If you did something like leave the lights on

and run the battery down, it's about half an hour to recharge after getting a jump. At least that's what the AAA guy told me.

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. OK, it doesn't necessarily work like that

First, you have to know why the battery died. Loose cable or bad alternator or dirty connections won't necessarily recharge no matter how long you drive. OTOH, if you pour distilled water into low cells, you may be able to wait 5 minutes and fire right back up.

In ordinary circumstances, with a battery drained due to a light being left on, I'd asy a half hour to an hour would do it.

[applegrove]

3. Thank you. My brother took the car into Canadian Tire. They said the battery was absolutely fine

and just needed to be recharged.

[Kali]

5. if it just died from a light on or something it will charge just sitting there slightly above idle

- that will get you enough charge to start it again fairly soon in decent weather, if it is going to sit over night or it is real cold I would drive it at moderate to highway speed for 20 minutes to a half hour

do you know WHY it went dead? that is important - the battery itself may be fine, but something else in the system may be going - usually alternator - they will check it free at a lot of places but especially auto zone.

[TheCanadianLiberal]

6. Depends

If you left you lights on a hour is more then enough in most cases. If the battery was working before and nothing was left on it's time to replace it.

[NoGOPZone]

7. A long time ago, I read half an hour would do it.

If you have a voltmeter, see what the battery reads. Fully charged should be about 12.6 volts with engine off.

http://landiss.com/battery.htm

[Orrex]

8. Quick way to check

Lick the index finger of each hand and place one on the positive terminal and one on the negative.

It helps if you're standing barefoot in a tin pan full of water, too.

[applegrove]

10. LOL!

[hifiguy]

13. And for the complete effect, add a lightbulb in your mouth!

http://www.fanpop.com/spots/addams-family/links/5311128>

[krispos42]

9. That should do it

Remember, it doesn't have to be "full", it just has to be "enough to start up again". :-)


As long as more gets put into it than gets pulled out of it each time you drive it, you'll have plenty of power.


Key problem here, though, is FIND OUT WHY IT WENT DEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE.


Left the headlights on? Okay, then jump start and drive on.


Died for no apparent reason? Check it out. How old is the battery? How's the alternator? Is there corrosion on the battery?

Alternators typically put out between 13.5 and 14.5 volts when the car is in motion. If it's much lower or much higher, then you have a problem.

[RedCloud]

11. So I buried my dead battery for nothing?