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Car: Ford Laser 1990

Once I kept my headlight on for a week and my car's battery was drained out. The mechanic kick started and I kept the car "on" for an hour to get it charged. After 3 days it didn't started again (I made sure everything was off which might drain the battery), kick started drove the car for an hour to get it charged.

Now the mechanic showed a trick:

Before starting the car press the accelerator 5-6 times quickly and then start the engine.

Now it works fine!!!!

My question is what was the reason of battery getting down (Although my mechanic says the battery is very much fine) and why it gets started instantly when I press accelerator multiple times before starting?

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  • Presumably your 1990 engine will have injection rather than a carburetor, is that correct?
    – HandyHowie
    Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 7:26

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Did the car not crank at all? Is your car equipped with a carburetor rather than Fuel Injection?

That "trick" was used on carburetor cars because it will actuate the "Accelerator Pump" on the carburetor (If it has one) and dump some fuel in the intake, making it easier to start. This does nothing on EFI cars.

Your car might just need a simple carburetor clean up and tune-up. It shouldn't be needed to do that "trick", specially on a 1990 carburetor car.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carburetor#Accelerator_pump

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    Perfect answer! Description of 1990 Ford Laser car: "Three engines were employed in the Laser. The L and GL models had a 1.6-litre single overhead camshaft 16-valve four-cylinder engine fed by a carburettor, the S and Ghia got a fuel-injected single overhead camshaft, 16-valve 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine." Mine is GL which is equipped with carburetor as you mentioned. Got the root cause. Thanks a lot!!!!!!!
    – Rohit Patel
    Commented Aug 14, 2016 at 23:59
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I very much doubt that the battery is fine.

Leaving headlights on (a large load) across a battery for a week will result in a complete discharge of the battery.

It may charge to a state where the battery can start a car immediately after being charged, but it will have lost a very large amount of its capacity and essentially hold charge for a short amount of time.

I think the stepping on the accelerator has nothing to do with the battery's ability to start the car.

Much reading about battery technology can be found here:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_restore_and_prolong_lead_acid_batteries

But to save you the effort, in short, keep a lead acid battery fully charged and charge it once a week (even without something draining it) to keep the battery's normal lifespan.

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