In article ,
R D S wrote:
Our car is stop-start, it hasn't performed this 'feature' for many
months. I believe this to be a symptom of the battery not being at it's
best.

It was clicking the other day rather than cranking the engine over,
worked OK upon retrying. Taken it for a couple of decent runs since
(because it's been largely short runs all year, due to the obvious),
it's been OK.

I happened to have a meter in my hand today so checked it and it's
reading 12.1v which is quite low. Battery life generally being 4-6 years
and us having had the car 4.5 years i'm thinking shall I just replace it?

Advice is to trickle charge it first but I haven't a charger and I don't
want to buy a charger *and* a battery.

The voltage of a lead acid isn't a reliable guide. You need to perform a
high current test. But if the battery is fully charged and struggles to
turn the engine that is a form of high current test - assuming the starter
etc is OK.

Look out for the Lidl charger at about £14. It is very good and small to
store - it will easily fit the glovebox. It is powerful enough to charge a
flat battery overnight, and can also provide a maintenance charge to keep
a battery topped up.

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*Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental

Dave Plowman London SW
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