[Misshighheels]

Hello all,

I was hoping somebody might be able to help me as I am the most hopeless car person ever! Due to illness etc I have been unable to use my car for six months. It has been sat out in the road for that length of time and ,unsurprisingly, won't start. It is likely that I will not be able to drive for at least another three months but I have the feeling that I should probably do something about the situation fairly soon. I am more than a little scared that my car will NEVER start again and will have to be sold for scrap. Do you think this is likely and, if not, what shall I do about the curent situation?

Thank you so much for reading,

Miss HH

[Rolebama]

Firstly, have the battery charged and checked. They can fail through non-usage for this amount of time. When this is sorted, if possible, get someone to give it a run, for it is also possible for the handbrake and clutch to 'freeze'.

[Sussex Patrol]

So does it crank over and not fire or is it dead on key? As above the first thing to check will be battery voltage-but once you post back with exactly what is/isn't happening we can help more. Also can you post all the vehicle details as per the sticky at the top of this section?

[Misshighheels]

Thanks for replying. It is dead on key. Pergeot 206 1.1 2003

[Sussex Patrol]

Ok first thing to check is the battery voltage at the terminals should be 12.2 volts or above. I would suspect that it is very discharged.
I would think with a jump start the vehicle will run. Also I would expect that the battery is now going to require replacement.
One thing car batteries do not like is being discharged for a long period, a process called 'sulphation' occurs and this affects the batteries ability to hold a charge. I notice in your original post that the vehicle is going to be laid up for another 3 months- I would advise against fitting a new battery otherwise it could end up the same way-unless you a) run the vehicle often or b) get a battery charger to keep the charge topped up/
Of course you need to confirm first that the battery is indeed at fault.