Charger Needed or Not
 

I have a 2013 Q5,which will be left for a period of seven weeks without starting engine in a cold garage. I tired using a Porsche maintainer charger through the 12volt plug in does not work. The little red light does not come on like my Porsche. Will the Q5 still have enough start up power after seven weeks.

7 weeks is touch and go. If it was me, I'd either get another charger (connects directly to the battery leads) or disconnect the battery.

I would second this - Frankly I would find someone who I could trust to go in every third week and start the car and let it run till the engine got up to operating temperature.

I bet most cars set on dealer lots longer with out being started.

Reggie, I thought it wasn't a good idea to start a cold engine and let it idle until it gets to operating temp vs. waiting a minute or so then driving it . Wrong?

Our 12V outlets shut off when the key is off. You could get a female adapter with clips for your Porsche maintainer and clip on to the jumper posts under the hood.

I bought one of these for my little Mazda Miata that is also garaged over the winter. Works like a champ:

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...ortby=ourPicks

rd4 has the best idea. Seven weeks could be pushing things and clipping under the hood makes life easy.

sangit-
I was taught by professional engineers that you can thank the USNavy for being able to start and drive a cold car. Around 1940, the USN set up a purchasing requirement that stated all vehicles sold to them MUST have a 12v negative ground electrical system (which was not at all standard) AND must be able to generate full oil pressure and operate with 20 seconds of starting. "Being gentle" to the engine may vary but if you don't have oil pressure, you will hurt the engine. If you've ever driven a car with the older spec motor oils, in subzero temperatures, you can literally watch the oil pressure gauge wake up, yawn, stretch, think about building pressure for a while.

So thanks to USN purchasing requirements, we have one common battery type, and we can generally hit the key and go. And with Audi-spec synthetic oils, the engines are lubricated and functional even faster now.

I start the car, buckle up, check the mirrors, and by then there's full oil pressure in any case, so you're good to go.

Deltran makes a variety of Battery Tenders for this specific task. I've used one for decades on my motorcycle. Clip the leads to your battery, plug it in to the electrical outlet and walk away. No worries.

I would recommend a Battery Tender. They will monitor the charge and keep your battery between 75% and 80% of full charge. I use them on my Mustang and Honda (motorcycle) for winter storage. Never had any issues. Both start right up in the Spring.

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