Has this site gone into isolation

[speedy mazda]

Just thought I would ask if everyone is in good health that frequents the forum as I’ve seen no posts of late.

[StevenRB45]

Still about.

Not many people driving though so nobody breaking cars.

[speedy mazda]

All well I hope ? I thought it may be busier with a lot of people isolated.

[Willpower]

All well I hope ? I thought it may be busier with a lot of people isolated.

Like you I was prepared for an upsurge in posts. But as Steven suggests, through people not using their cars as much, there appears to be less problems. 
Never mind, we are always here.
 

[StevenRB45]

Just wait for the "What battery should I buy as mine went flat during lockdown?" Super thread..

Facebook group is pretty quiet as well other than an initial surge in pictures of shiny cars as everyone had time to wash them.

[AussieAstina]

My car (see http://www.mazda3forums.co.uk/index.php?topic=15425.0) is in the UK but stuck at the importer's until the DVSA begins inspections again and the car can be given a registration and MOT. Until then it's just as locked down as I am but at least the car isn't costing me anything in tax and insurance while it is standing idle.

[red_imps_2003]

Just wait for the "What battery should I buy as mine went flat during lockdown?" Super thread..

Facebook group is pretty quiet as well other than an initial surge in pictures of shiny cars as everyone had time to wash them.

Aye. I'm not using my car much at the moment and it is already noticeable that when I do it is taking just that little bit longer for the engine to catch when I start up. My car is 10.5yrs old now and it is not clear from the service record whether the battery has ever been changed. I suspect not.

[StevenRB45]

Just wait for the "What battery should I buy as mine went flat during lockdown?" Super thread..

Facebook group is pretty quiet as well other than an initial surge in pictures of shiny cars as everyone had time to wash them.

Aye. I'm not using my car much at the moment and it is already noticeable that when I do it is taking just that little bit longer for the engine to catch when I start up. My car is 10.5yrs old now and it is not clear from the service record whether the battery has ever been changed. I suspect not.

OEM battery is white with a black top with fill ports on it, looks like something you'd see in old Land cruiser or something.

I'm lucky battery wise, 1st I have on board telematics (working for a breakdown company has to have some advantages!) which has it's own sim card so if my battery gets low my phone gets a text. Second it told me a few years ago during the winter my battery was starting to struggle so it's got a nearly new Yuasa silver with a 5 year guarantee in board.

[red_imps_2003]

As anticipated, my battery no longer has enough oomph to start the car. Will try to jump start it once lockdown is likely to end but it may just need a new one. It's not the oem one, as it's a Varta with an RAC logo on it. Must be at least 4yrs old, though.

[yarb]

I use my car every other week to go to Tesco only about 2 miles and I notice the battery wasn’t in a fit state to kick in the IStop, the engine and heating/aircon were showing ok think it needs a longer run, use the wife’s Mini the other weeks for Tesco

[red_imps_2003]

Aye. My regular commute was c. 21 miles each way. During the 3.5yrs I have owned this car it has never struggled to fire the engine even in the depths of winter. Like you, under lockdown I was only using it once or twice a week for a 3-mile round trip to the supermarket. It got harder to start with each use and now has given up completely. My wife's petrol Ibiza, on the other had, sees hardly any use but still fires up instantly.

[StevenRB45]

Understandable really, DV6 has a compression ratio of 17/1 the petrol mzr is 10.5/1 so the diesel takes much bigger bites out of the battery on start up.

This is why you usually have a heavier duty battery in the diesel, I actually fitted the diesel spec battery to my petrol cos I've upgraded my stereo and wanted more capacity to play with, also the additional cold cranking amps meant it starts instantly whatever the weather.

[Engineer Andy]

I'm still here as well!

To keep my aged car going, especially to keep the battery and brakes in usable condition, I've been going for a decent run to a nearby town of around 10-15 miles each way to do grocery shopping, mainly once a fortnight in reasonable weather, temperature-wise, once a week early on when it was colder (consistently below 5degC, including overnight).  That appears to keep everything that would deteriorate in good order, especially the battery.

My ventilation fan and A/C system sounds like it might soon need some TLC though - noisy fan (I only can tell when the car is idling and I've got the door open) and I think it may soon need a refrigerant top-up (not so bad as that has never been needed thus far in its 14 year life).  Difficult to tell today about the cooling effect today as the outside temperature was a lot lower than previous trips.

[speedy mazda]

I had a noise from my ventilation fan once turned out to be leaf debris in the filters under centre of dash.I gave my car a good polish and wax the other weekend so has good protection now on the paint.nice to see a post from you Andy.

[N-DOG_73]

I gave my car a good polish and wax the other weekend so has good protection now on the paint.nice to see a post from you Andy.

Me too. And the wifes 2 Sport Nav. And my BMW. I think there must be a heck of a lot of sparkling clean cars out there right now!