Abrupt Battery Failure, No Warning.

[George7941]

The battery on my truck was a Costco/Kirkland Size 78 mfd March 2008. I monitor its health with a Midtronics PB200 Conductance Tester. It drops about 50 CCA every year and last November it tested at 590 CCA, so I opted to leave it in for another year.

On Friday I went to a number of places and, when I stopped at my place of work, it would not crank. The battery would sometimes power up the headlights and sometimes it was too weak to do so, the headlight relay would just chatter. The battery was completely normal prior to this and I had absolutely no reason to suspect battery malfunction.

Anyway I pulled a size 31 battery off one of the trucks at work, put it inside the cab and hooked it up with booster cables to my battery under the hood and went home. Yesterday morning I went to Costco, picked up a new 78 and installed it on my truck.

With lights on the failed battery voltage would drop to 5V and keep falling and, as soon as the lights were turned off, the voltage would climb right back to 12.5V. I could also hear bubbling inside the battery. What kind of failure would this be on a seven year old battery? I don't think it is a short circuit since the voltage would come back to normal with no load. BTW, the failed battery tested at 380 CCA.

 

[4wheeldog]

A break between cells? Though the bubbling makes it sound like it could be a short.

It really doesn't matter. 7 years is a good run, and sudden failure is not uncommon for older batteries. It ain't like you are going to fix the old one.....

 

[CT8]

You got your monies worth out of the battery.

 

[bbhero]

Seven yes is really really good. I'm very pleased with 5 yrs. In fact in some parts of the country batteries are lucky to last 4 years. Either real hot or really cold. So you did great with 7. But time is not the only factor.. How many miles\ starts on the battery are huge factors in how long a battery last. I had a battery go south after only 3 yes.. But the car also had 66,000 miles on it. So in terms of normal use that would equal more like 5 yrs averaging 12k a yr. I learned that lesson after my experience with that.

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: bbhero
Seven yes is really really good. I'm very pleased with 5 yrs. In fact in some parts of the country batteries are lucky to last 4 years. Either real hot or really cold. So you did great with 7. But time is not the only factor.. How many miles\ starts on the battery are huge factors in how long a battery last. I had a battery go south after only 3 yes.. But the car also had 66,000 miles on it. So in terms of normal use that would equal more like 5 yrs averaging 12k a yr. I learned that lesson after my experience with that.

I think it has more to do with where you are located..warmer climates harder on batteries. Im on the original still..and im at 125k miles and it still tests good. Not to say that 7 years isnt very good, because it is. For a battery thats 100-150$ you cant complain.

 

[RF Overlord]

Same thing happened to me with my DD. Drove it to my office to do a quick thing, and when I came out, it cranked slower than normal, but started. Went home and when I came out later in the day, wouldn't crank at all. I tried to charge it, but it wouldn't take and I noticed one cell bubbling a lot...replaced battery and all was well.

 

[eljefino]

If you have a shorted cell the remaining cells see way more voltage from your alternator than intended, and they will boil.

 

[maximus]

Abrubt failure? It was 7 years old. That was your warning.

Welcome to automobile ownership.

 

[SilverSnake]

* OK. This is for all you guys that want to squeeze every last day out of old lead acid batteries. I could not find one good technical article that covered all the key points so I am drawing from a couple of sources. I had an old sealed lead acid battery short out internally. Cracked the case and leaked acid. I am very lucky it did not explode. I think the OP was lucky as well.

** “As a battery ages, it loses water, leaving the top of the lead plates exposed to the air inside the battery case. Over time, this can lead to warpage of the plates. When the driver starts the engine, the heavy demand for power can cause these already warped plates to flex, touch and thus spark, says Steve Mazor, head of engineering and safety for the Automobile Club of Southern California.”

“The potential for battery explosions may be greater than it was 10 years ago. Some newer batteries are sealed, preventing motorists from adding water to keep the electrolyte (the mixture of sulfuric acid and water) above the lead plates. But many manufacturers have gone back to batteries with tops that can be removed. Another problem is that new cars have much larger demands for electrical current, so batteries must produce more juice but with the same physical volume. One method used by battery makers to increase current is to space the lead plates closer together, but that only makes it easier for them to short, Mazor says.”

http://articles.latimes.com/1999/aug/26/news/hw-3902

** “Internal explosions usually occur while starting the engine and normally blow the filler caps or cover off and splatter electrolyte all over the engine compartment. The most probable cause is from a combination of low electrolyte levels in the battery and a low resistance bridge formed between or across the top of the plates called "treeing" between a positive and negative plate. When heavy current flows in the battery such as starting an engine, a spark occurs and ignites the residual gas in one or more of the cells.”

http://autorepair.about.com/library/weekly/aa101604f.htm

* Although it is no guarantee, I have decided that replacing the batteries in my vehicles every three to four years greatly reduces the chance of internal problems due to aging that could lead to explosions.

 

[maximus]

Originally Posted By: George7941
The battery on my truck was a Costco/Kirkland Size 78 mfd March 2008 so I cheaped out and decided to leave it in for another year.


Fixt.

 

[George7941]

Texas and Florida have much warmer temperatures than Toronto, so battery life expectancy is different.

After this experience I think I will replace batteries once they reach six years of age.

 

[JustinH]

I agree in Texas I throw a battery in the car every six or seven years.

They are cheap enough with the advance auto coupons. Beats waiting for a tow somewhere.

 

[Chris142]

The last few battery failures I have had were similar. Wife's Tahoe did weird things a week before its battery suddenly quit. Radio would power up in the middle of the night,horn would honk etc.

 

[kc8adu]

probably lost an intercell strap to corrosion.
you got lucky as those are the ones that go boom!
just need the tiniest spark in a battery that has been charging to blow it up.the straps are usually above the liquid level so its in the best spot to ignite.

 

[spk2000]

I have a motorcycle - a 2005 Ninja 250 with an original battery and it still worked after setting all winter. I was expecting to replace it but will probably wait until failure which I would think cannot be that much longer.

 

[Kruse]

The last battery for me that had an abrupt failure was on my mom's Ford Five Hundred. You could jump the car to get it started, but after about 10 seconds it would die. The battery had such a major problem that it would not stay running. You could watch the volt meter drop quickly as it idled. I replaced the battery in the car and it's been fine ever since. That was over two years ago.

 

[George7941]

Originally Posted By: spk2000
I have a motorcycle - a 2005 Ninja 250 with an original battery and it still worked after setting all winter. I was expecting to replace it but will probably wait until failure which I would think cannot be that much longer.


The battery on my BMW R80 needs replacement exactly every four years. It gets too weak to crank the engine over fast enough. I have been doing these replacements for 25 years now.

 

[Lubener]

Dead cell. 7 years old is a good life for a battery. Every battery I had fail, did so w/o warning in the summer.

 

[maximus]

Originally Posted By: George7941
Texas and Florida have much warmer temperatures than Toronto, so battery life expectancy is different.

After this experience I think I will replace batteries once they reach six years of age.


Sure but the battery is exposed to a lot of heat under the hood just from the engine.

 

[Lapham3]

In the 'old days' of carburetors, a bit to a fair amount of cranking was the often the case. A 'dying' battery was usually detected by slower cranking speed. Today, our car's cranking is very short and usually are running about imediately=no 'warning' and an unhappy surprise. I also notice todays batteries often failing without warning with the 'old cars', too.