I had the dreaded machine gun on starting only last week. I was kind of expecting it with a 14 year old battery. It did spoil my trip to Screwfix but at least it died in the garage. The battery was at 8.5V so ordered one up for overnight delivery.
My Duratec has a really low sub 10mA current draw when left untended. The battery will last for weeks without a charge. I believe the GDI is a little different with a higher draw so always use a float charger if left for more than a week or so. It’s easy to reduce the life of the battery if the voltage drops too low.
Thanks again everyone, a jump start did the trick, and I have tried Alan's and Tim's technique of holding at 2000 rpm for a bit and that indeed reduced René's "shaking dog" syndrome. Shocked by the volume of the, per Rog, "machine gun" racket on attempted start with a weak battery.
Will swap out the battery. Am I right that it can be lifted through the aluminium inspection plate behind left had seat?
