Hi all. Relatively newly purchased 2003 Ford Ka - was driving fine last week, has sat in the car park for three weeks, and this evening it refused to turn on. No whine, no ticking, no struggling to start - nothing. No interior lights either.

I tested the battery with my multimeter, and I was pretty shocked to see literally nothing being read. I tested the multimeter with a 1.5v AA battery, and that read perfectly. Battery health indicator is red on the Ka battery, so obviously it needs replacing.

The mystery is what could have done this? Could a ghost discharge literally drain every last drop of power? I'm assuming if it's an alternator problem there would be some charge left, as it would stop turning the engine on before it goes below 12v.

The weather is cold round these parts right now, but I've never seen anything like this when it comes to a dead battery.

Any help appreciated!

Cheers

 

Probably a dead cell on the battery, unless something on the vehicle has drained it so low.

 

I've never seen a battery at 0v, that's pretty good going! I have heard the radios can go faulty and cause a drain.

 

Any battery over 5 yrs old is likely to fail, especially in the cold.

 

Left the Merc in the garage for two weeks. Yesterday the Battery completely dead, charged it for one hours no better. Then charged it overnight & away she went. The cold will kill old Batteries if you leave them.