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Thread: Effects of long-term disconnected car battery?

  1. #11
    I put a battery in the Mirage and started it today - it definitely did not idle smoothly at first. Lumpy. Well, lumpier than usual . It smoothed out within 5 seconds.

    Now, whether that happened because of having lost its volatile memory, or because it hadn't been started in a while is the question.


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  2. #12
    Senior Member dspace9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
    I put a battery in the Mirage and started it today - it definitely did not idle smoothly at first. Lumpy. Well, lumpier than usual . It smoothed out within 5 seconds.

    Now, whether that happened because of having no battery, or because it hadn't been started in a while is the question.
    Cars are "meant" to be driven regularly... the whole 'daily operation' expression.

    Your Mirage on the other hand is essentially functioning as a classic car. So some of the things you have to live with with owning a classic car... you're dealing with. Like winter issues, starting issues. My snow blower and my lawnmower's perennial lifestyle. Was lawnmowers' lol now only got 1.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.2 mpg (US) ... 17.9 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.7 mpg (Imp)


  3. #13

    Trip meters reset

    It's the opposite of the classic car: it's the winter beater!

    I'm too cheap to insure multiple vehicles at once, so the winter car (Mirage) gets parked when I'm driving the Miata or Firefly.

    ----

    I noticed the Trip A and Trip B meters also reset because of the battery disconnect. I assume the B fuel economy gauge got wiped as well.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  4. #14
    Senior Member Clessy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
    It's the opposite of the classic car: it's the winter beater!

    I'm too cheap to insure multiple vehicles at once, so the winter car (Mirage) gets parked when I'm driving the Miata or Firefly.

    ----

    I noticed the Trip A and Trip B meters also reset because of the battery disconnect. I assume the B fuel economy gauge got wiped as well.
    Yeah with us having 5 cars I 100% understand the insurance thing. I just switch to liability only on the cars not being driven. That way if I do want to drive it every once in awhile I dont have to change my insurance. Liability on some cars cost so little its not worth removing's. But I remember yeasr ago us talking about Canadian insurance and my struggle with it. I totally get why you gotta completely remove it up there.

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clessy View Post
    Yeah with us having 5 cars I 100% understand the insurance thing. I just switch to liability only on the cars not being driven. That way if I do want to drive it every once in awhile I dont have to change my insurance. Liability on some cars cost so little its not worth removing's. But I remember yeasr ago us talking about Canadian insurance and my struggle with it. I totally get why you gotta completely remove it up there.
    When my Mirage gets to be a certain age/mileage, I will drop it to liability insurance only.

    I was paying $99/year for liability insurance on my 1990 Ford Festiva when I sold it, but that was in 2004. I don't remember what I was paying for liability on my 2000 Honda CR-V when it was rear ended in 2013, but the other driver's liability insurance paid me $5,900 for it. Since I wasn't at fault, I wasn't out any money. Except I had to replace my lost vehicle, but having collision or comprehensive insurance wouldn't have improved that situation for me. The driver who rear ended me got zero for his old Chevy Tahoe by just having liability, however.

    When I feel my Mirage is only worth a few thousand dollars, I will drop to liability insurance only. There's another advantage of a cheap car that also depreciates nicely!

    Talk about being off topic here! Sorry!
    Last edited by Mark; 12-03-2020 at 04:42 PM.

  6. #16
    Yeah, liability costs me ~$600 / yr just for the Mirage. It's the most expensive-to-insure car I've owned in quite a while.

    Strangely, the Miata is $150 LESS expensive. I would have thought people crash Miatas more often and with worse consequences, but hey, I'm not an actuary.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  7. #17

    Oops, I did it again!

    I was playing musical batteries on the weekend to put the correct battery back in the Mirage, and I accidentally reset everything again.

    I intended to prevent the problem by connecting a set of booster cables from another car to keep 12v to the Mirage while I swapped batteries, but I bonked the connection and broke the circuit.

    Of course being a nerd, my first thought was: OH NOES! There goes my "B" gauge fuel economy data for this tank!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  8. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to MetroMPG For This Useful Post:

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  9. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post

    Of course being a nerd, my first thought was: OH NOES! There goes my "B" gauge fuel economy data for this tank!
    Seeing how you have your Mirage decked out, I am not surprised by that at all!

    I think there's a little bit nerd (wisdom) in all of us that drive Mirages.



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