# Dead battery **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** batteries\ **Created:** [May 9, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953 "2014-05-09T17:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mark12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@mark12](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mark12)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/1 "2014-05-09T17:27:36Z")
My daughter left the ingnition on after rolling up my windows last night and killed my battery. My charger is saying that it’s charging not failed. Is there anything else that could of got messed up? ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/2 "2014-05-09T17:34:24Z")
Depending on what type of vehicle you are driving, you might simply need to twist the ignition key and be back in business, or it is possible that some electronic gremlins will pop up. If you are driving a car that was made prior to the advent of electronics, you will likely have no problems. On the other hand, if your mystery vehicle is a modern one with anti-theft features, you may need to have the radio re-programmed, and your power windows may have lost their “auto-down” feature. What type of vehicle are we talking about? ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/3 "2014-05-09T17:36:51Z")
The easiest way to KILL a battery is to drain it. Letting a battery drain completely will kill it short order - unless you have a deep cycle battery. ---
**Author:** ![mark12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@mark12](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mark12)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/4 "2014-05-09T17:38:58Z")
VDC it is a 2008 Fx4 with all the bells and whistles ---
**Author:** ![mark12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@mark12](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mark12)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/5 "2014-05-09T17:39:47Z")
I have no idea if it is or not ---
**Author:** ![mark12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@mark12](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mark12)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/6 "2014-05-09T17:40:21Z")
That last one was for Mike ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/7 "2014-05-09T17:48:51Z")
A 2008 vehicle with “all the bells & whistles” is likely to display some electronic gremlins, but they can likely all be remedied by following the instructions in your Owner’s Manual or–in some cases–by going to the dealership. At the very least, the radio’s stations will need to be reprogrammed, and it will probably be necessary to re-initialize the power windows for the “auto-down” feature. If you have power “memory” seats, they will need to be reprogrammed as well. Whether you will have enter a security code for the radio or for the anti-theft system, I cannot say. ---
**Author:** ![mark12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@mark12](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mark12)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/8 "2014-05-09T18:10:19Z")
Thanks VDC, that’s a good start. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/9 "2014-05-10T04:27:01Z")
Draining the battery shouldn’t cause any permanent damage – except perhaps to the battery itself. Even then, while the battery life may be shortened a bit, you should still be able to recharge it. When this happens to me I remove the battery from the car and charge it using my battery charger on the lower-current setting. Sometimes it takes the better part of 24 hours to get it recharged. On one occasion it took 3 days. 2 days were getting the battery to accept a charge at all. When the battery is completely discharged sometimes you sort of have to coax it to life for a couple of days. You may notice the car doesn’t run or idle well at first. That is b/c over times things clog up and it had learned how to compensate for that. But when you replace the battery it may think it is starting life again as a new car, but the things are still clogged up, so it will take some time to re-learn how to compensate. Some cars won’t even start after a dead battery b/c of this, and the only way to get them to start is to tow it to the dealership where they teach it how to start in the clogged-up condition. ---
**Author:** ![wesw](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wesw/32/2713_2.png) [@wesw](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wesw)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/10 "2014-05-10T04:36:18Z")
gosh, cars are so complicated now ---
**Author:** ![db4690](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/db4690/32/2583_2.png) [@db4690](https://community.cartalk.com/u/db4690)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/dead-battery/84953/11 "2014-05-10T05:28:27Z")
I agree with George Sometimes a battery is so discharged, that it makes more sense to remove it and slow charge it on the bench, for however long it takes for it to take the charge I see this all the time when somebody doesn’t close the door all the way, and the dome light stays on. Sometimes I have to restart the charging procedure 4 or 5 times