Battery disconnected, low idle, solved.

So - this morning I pull into work, move the keys from ON to ACC, and everything electrical in the car turns off. No stereo, no lights … and not even a click when I try to fire her up again.

Insta-panic sets in, cos I'm used to batteries dying after my Alfa misadventure (short circuiting rev counters, badly wired stereo, internal lights staying on, and so on) … but: had a think about it, and figured I'd get at least a click and few lights if the battery was dead, and decided to check fuses and under the hood. Turns out that the battery negative terminal had popped off the battery altogether! Quite possibly after going over one of the unnecessary speed bumps in the work car park. So: reconnected it (carefully, and with a cloth as a barrier around my hand because I'm scared of electricity), and she fires back up - YAY!

So heading out of work later I start the car up, and the revs zip up to 2000, and then to 0. Tried it again, and she starts to idle around 300, hunt, and feel a little weird.

So: out with the ipad (thanks, work!), onto the forum, quick search, and I find several posts stating that disconnecting the battery resets the ECU, and idle runs low, but fixes itself after a 20 mile blast. And the advice was right! And also gave me the confidence to take the car out without fear of it stopping and blocking up roads and junctions :-)

So really it's just a quick note to say 'Hooray' for having such a great online resource as this place, and a thanks to everyone for posting stuff.

Later on I wall mainly be searching for posts about tightening battery terminals

had that happen few times in my old car,

the 1st time it happend your hart stops and think a million things,

sometimes a simple look under the bonnet anwers all your questions