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Huh?!? Where are you buying your batteries?Originally Posted by Leo Graywacz
The only batteries I've ever had that worked that way were motorcycle batteries where they sold you an empty battery and a bottle of electrolyte. Every car battery I've ever bought was a pull-off-the-shelf-and-install deal...and I started driving in the mid-1960s.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
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Only recently have they been selling sealed batteries. Maintenance free as they call them. And a lot of the earlier ones still had caps on them except they were flush with the body of the battery. You could still access them if you knew about it. Today's sealed cells are just that, sealed. No access, no maintenance required, or allowed.
Most of the batteries I've bought up until my news truck (2007) had a battery that was a maintenance battery. When I got it they always told me to come back in an hour (or later) so they could add the acid and give it a boost charge.
The batteries I buy now are AGM totally sealed and you can put them in upside down if you wished. But those are not for my vehicles, but for solar.
Contributor
IMHO, you're using a nonstandard definition of "recently".
Gel cell batteries date back to the early '80s, AGMs maybe ten years later. That's for automotive use, the tech for both is quite a bit older than that.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Have it tested, but at 4.5 years, you are on borrowed time. Interstate is good, made in Mexico IIRC. DECA is good, made by East Penn here in the USA, got 3 in my RV and one in my wife's car, one in the zero turn.. I just replaced my 9 year old AutoZone boat batteries (still working) with the same make.
NOW you tell me...
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Don't replace the battery until it is showing actual signs of problems - problems holding a charge and not starting the car.
Most Regular car batteries can take 5 or 7 deep cycles before they give up the ghost. So you gave it 1.. It still has several more.
Now - if you want the piece of mind that comes from having a new battery in The Wife's car - I totally understand.... But that's not a "Battery Problem" per-se.... That's up to you......
Member
My daughter's car just wouldn't start one day. I tested the battery and it charged but would not hold a charge. So we took it to a store and had them test it and they couldn't get it to hold a charge. We exchanged it for a brand new battery, put it in the car and it started right up. The next day... the battery was dead. No lights on, nothing that would drain it, the car was on for mere moments. The battery was manufactured 6/18. Now we have to get it down to the shop on Monday, the first day they could take it, to see what the heck has gone wrong. At least the battery is charging up just fine out of the car.
Contributor
Sounds like something is draining the battery as it is parked. Likely in the alternator circuit or the clock circuit.
Remember the good old days where you could disconnect the battery and watch for a spark after removing each fuse?
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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It's going in tomorrow morning, I have no time to diagnose it. I put the battery back in and it fired right up, then I had to disconnect it again because otherwise the battery will be dead in the morning. Could be a bad alternator. Doesn't seem like the starter. We'll see.
Member
We actually figured it out on the way over to the shop this morning. Her rear brake lights were on all the time. It was a bad switch in the system and her lights never went off. It's going to cost $160 to get it replaced and we probably didn't have to replace the battery, but hey, at least it wasn't anything serious.
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When replacing a battery on modern cars, you need to have power supplied to the power train control module and other devices so they can retain their memory. Also some cars will go into anti-theft mode if power is lost. Some radios are theft protected and when power is lost they will lock out and you need a code to reactivate them plus you loose all your radio presets. We use a small dedicated battery unit that plugs into the diagnostic connector to retain power on modules. If your battery was tested with a conductance tester and it says it if failing, trust it and replace the battery.
Contributor
This is reminiscent of a problem seen in my days of VWs. The taillight/brake light socket would develop oxidation which would cause it to lose its ground connection. If the headlights were on and your foot on the brake when the key was turned off, the care would continue running until the lights were turned off or your foot was lifted from the brake.Her rear brake lights were on all the time. It was a bad switch in the system and her lights never went off.
It seems some mechanics know this and some do not. One shop that worked on our car connected a power supply to the alternator terminals when they had to disconnec the battery.When replacing a battery on modern cars, you need to have power supplied to the power train control module and other devices so they can retain their memory.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Two days ago the wife came home saying the car was reluctant to start.
Yesterday a new battery was purchased and installed. The old (Exide brand) battery was installed in December of 2009.
The wife is going into town today so she gets to spend the core charge on what ever she wants.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
This is most common outside the USA. Until very recently - most other places in the world made dry batteries which you filled with acid when you bought it. Then - as you say - you could drive it for a week to “boost up” the battery and then they would replace the electrolyte for you if you wanted.
In the US - this practice mostly stopped by the late 1970’s... The battery manufacturers switched to a “wet battery” process due to the problems with consumers and small retailers dealing with lead oxide battery paste contaminated acid - aka dumping it out in the back yard or down the drain...
Last edited by John C Cox; 08-16-2018 at 7:02 PM.
Moderator
I had a similar situation with my Kubota tractor this week...rain got into the hazard light switch the other night during very heavy storming and it "blinked the battery to death" overnight. 'Couldn't jump start it with a portable OR my Grand Cherokee and then discovered the last time I replaced it was 2009. I can't complain about the longevity at all. Picked up a new battery and hope to get a simlar level of time out of it for my hundred bucks.
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
First, it isn't 55ah. Probably closer to 550ah.
Second, replace it for peace of mind.
Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night
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