Battery Help left lights on overnight

[Joji]

I left my lights on overnight. When I tried starting the car. it barely started. the clock was reset on the car. I tried driving it for a half hour thinking it would recharge the battery. It did not work. Everytime I start it it barely wants to turn over. the ligts start out real dim and once it starts everything is back to normal Is there another way to recharge the battery. Do I have to jump it. I have one of those cigarete lighter jumpers that goes from one cigaret lighter to the the other.

let me know what i should do to get the battery back to normal
thanks

[porschedude]

You can trickle charge it slowly overnight using a small charger. The battery is under the front hood, right in front of the windshield in the middle. But honestly, I would replace the battery if it's 4-5 years old. The fact that it could not charge itself after driving is not a good sign.

[OldBlevins]

It seems odd to me that the battery had enough power to actually start your car, yet the clock reset. In any event, if the battery is still good, you should be able to recharge it either by driving it for several hours or by using a battery charger. Be sure to check your electrolyte level in the battery and top it off with distilled water if it's low. If the battery won't take a charge, it was getting close to needing replacement anyway and you'll need to do that. You can tell for sure by getting it load-tested. Jump-starting the car won't make any difference to the battery.

[Joji]

Cool. thanks. I will get a new battery. is there any specific battery or can I can a basic one from sears?

[OldBlevins]

If you do a forum search, you'll find a lot of info on what types of batteries fit and some installation tips.

[djomlas]

sorry o hear that, but its just a battery.
look into getting a smaller, lighter battery.
you will see how heavy that thing is when you take it out.

[mikefocke]

Here

1. Check the fluid level in the current battery if possible. Top off with distilled water to just over the top of the plates.

2. Use a multimeter to test the voltage. Should be fairly near 12 volts.

3. Try trickle changing with a battery maintainer for 2 solid days. Recheck voltage.

If that doesn't work (batteries are damaged by deep discharges) then buy a new battery from the list in the link. Other than the Optima, they are all generally the same so buy on price.

Some battery maintainers are also spoken of in the link. The one from WalMart is good enough and cheap. You want a maintainer as it is a trickle charger but smart enough to turn itself totally to "no charging" mode when the battery gets fully charged.