Is a battery check part of the standard car service?

[Cyclops]

'Cos mine has gone flat days after a service

[Vimto]

I doubt there is such a thing as a 'standard' service.
Your mechanic should have advised you what they were going to cover.
Some provide a tick list on the work receipt.

[sneggyblubird]

Nothing to do with your garage.Inactivity plus a cold snap will always find out a battery that was probably ready to give up the ghost in the near future anyway.I've just come in after jump starting a neighbour with that very problem.

[bluethrough]

I think it is with Tesla

[headlight]

Back in the day car batteries would generally give you some warning that they were on their way out.
That doesn"t happen nowadays as they are squeezing more performance out of them & where as gradual sulfation was often the cause of battery failure nowadays it is more likely to be sudden failure of a cell.
My last 2 batteries (different cars) have just suddenly died completely with no warning.
Start the car fine, no sign of sluggishness, next time nothing not even a click.
On my latest car this happened 3 days after buying it & it had had a full main dealer service the day before I picked it up.

[Jimmy the Jock]

Most batteries are sealed nowadays,(in the old days the cells were topped up) the correct way to test a battery is to put in on a charger for 18 hours and then test it.
If a modern car senses there isn't enough voltage to start the car it will just stop sending the voltage to the starter motor.
If you had put your car in for a service and the garage had replaced the battery, probably costing in the region of £100, would you have questioned the garage as you had never seen any signs the battery was due to fail?
The answer to your question is no it isn't anymore.

[Cyclops]

Thanks for all your comments.
@Jimmy the car was purchased from main dealers during the week - they said it had been serviced. It was driven for 50 miles on the M-way and then my wife attempted to set up the bluetooth with the engine not running. When she tried to start the car, there was no charge. We'll have the battery tested.

[Jimmy the Jock]

Thanks for all your comments.
@Jimmy the car was purchased from main dealers during the week - they said it had been serviced. It was driven for 50 miles on the M-way and then my wife attempted to set up the bluetooth with the engine not running. When she tried to start the car, there was no charge. We'll have the battery tested.

Could just need a good charge, may have been on the forecourt for a few weeks. Dealer would just boost it to start it
If you have a charger, charge the battery properly overnight.
You will have had a bare necessity service, enough to stamp the book and tell you they had done a service.

[Cyclops]

Could just need a good charge, may have been on the forecourt for a few weeks. Dealer would just boost it to start it
If you have a charger, charge the battery properly overnight.
You will have had a bare necessity service, enough to stamp the book and tell you they had done a service.

Yeah that's exactly what I did. Hour and a half charging last night and started this morning.
Thanks again.
Will still get it tested.

[Igovernor]

As Jimmy said you have to charge it overnight (12 hours+) not for a hour and a half, not long enough at all

[Cyclops]

As Jimmy said you have to charge it overnight (12 hours+) not for a hour and a half, not long enough at all

Will do.
Thanks for all the advice.
I was just surprised that a M-Way run didn't boost the charge more. Tho I suppose the lights were on and she probably had the radio on etc

[bobh]

Will do.
Thanks for all the advice.
I was just surprised that a M-Way run didn't boost the charge more. Tho I suppose the lights were on and she probably had the radio on etc

/Radio takes a small charge.Lights and heating will kill it.

[Igovernor]

If it's modern car then assuming the battery is ok, the alternator will put a charge into the battery more than the lights will take out, also assuming the alternator is working ok

[ian gibson]

Don't know about now but Halfords used to test batteries for free a couple of years back, might be worth ringing them.

[Steve R]

Most batteries are sealed nowadays,(in the old days the cells were topped up) the correct way to test a battery is to put in on a charger for 18 hours and then test it.
If a modern car senses there isn't enough voltage to start the car it will just stop sending the voltage to the starter motor.
If you had put your car in for a service and the garage had replaced the battery, probably costing in the region of £100, would you have questioned the garage as you had never seen any signs the battery was due to fail?
The answer to your question is no it isn't anymore.

Crikey! The last new car battery I bought (long time ago) was £17.99!
#feelingold

[Mrs Steve R]

Will do.
Thanks for all the advice.
I was just surprised that a M-Way run didn't boost the charge more. Tho I suppose the lights were on and she probably had the radio on etc

Give me a shout if you want a lift in the Hammermobile