Tips for disconnecting battery

[HeroOfSpielburg]

Hello,

My wife recently got a 2005 Megane II 1.6 automatic. We went to visit family abroad for six weeks so disconnected the battery to keep it from dying completely. After I got back I charged the battery overnight and put it in. Now the starter motor won't engage. Lights are fine, locks, etc. Fan starts up (and runs for several minutes after turning it off and removing the card). But no start, just "electronic fault". I replaced both terminal fuses. Battery seems to have more than 12.4v off and the charger says it's okay, though this drops to 11.4 when the fan is running.

My question primarily is: is there anything special to do when disconnecting the battery for a period, or will this cause some problems with an internal computer or similar? I assumed it was common sense to disconnect a car battery when one would not be using it for a while, but perhaps I'm wrong in this.

Thanks for the help.

[Malroy]

Hi,
Sorry I can't offer a specific answer but we recently went to the continent for 6 weeks and my 2004 Megane II CC 1.6 (manual transmission) battery was flat when we returned. I hadn't disconnected it while we were away but removed it from the car to charge it. Wouldn't accept charge so new battery purchased and fitted. Car started straight away no issues so why your's would be different I don't know.

[HeroOfSpielburg]

Thank you for the reference. I thought it could be the battery too, but the car wouldn't even accept a jump start, unfortunately, so I think in addition to the battery there must be something else wrong between the battery and the starter.