Battery Demise

[ChiTDI]

Battery went dead with no warning signs.
My own fault for not putting a meter on it, but it was only 31 months old with a lot of desert heat and three summers.
The absence of warning symptoms surprised me, and that is my question. Is this common?
Subsequent checks showed the battery (new) and charging system good. Alternator diodes passed their tests, and the voltage was around 13.8 IIRC.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Sometimes it showed a slow start symptom for few days/weeks, some other times it just dead. If you still have receipt you may be able to get a free replacement or a pro-rated for new battery.

 

[Shannow]

One night I was driving interstate, and stopped for a pee out the back of nowhere.

Got in my car, and nothing, battery was stone dead....jumped the car, and drove another 100 miles, when fatigue set in, and needed a rest. Pulled over at the top of a steep hill in a town, had a nap, and prepared for a roll start, but tried kicking it over anyway.

Started first time, and acted like there was nothing wrong with it for days before I had the funds to change it.

 

[sciphi]

Had that happen before. The car was driving fine, shut it off to run into the supermarket, then the battery was dead when I tried to start it. It was also a 10 year old battery. Jumping did nothing. Ran to Wal-Mart, grabbed whatever Group 78 they had on the shelf, threw it in, and the car roared to life on that winter night. Brr!

 

[Durango]

Were so dependant on our batteries to start the cars/trucks we don't realize what they go through under the hood day in and out.

In my case I just went through two batteries in two years cuz my negative cable didn't make a solid contact and was actually draining the battery of power instead of chargin it. Thank god the car is still under warranty.

Durango

 

[JimPghPA]

24 months is the normal battery life for good batteries in desert heat.

 

[JHZR2]

Happened to me once driving to Chicago. Showed no issues, scabbards gives constant readout, all was fine. Started and stopped many times that day and then once, when getting gas in Gary, IN, no go. Done.

Couldn't get it to jumpstart via tow truck! Had to manually short the starter with the truck connected.

A new battery and all was like new.

 

[Viggen]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
Had that happen before. The car was driving fine, shut it off to run into the supermarket, then the battery was dead when I tried to start it. It was also a 10 year old battery. Jumping did nothing. Ran to Wal-Mart, grabbed whatever Group 78 they had on the shelf, threw it in, and the car roared to life on that winter night. Brr!


10 years old!! You've got to be kidding! I guess if you like tempting fate you're fine.

It's a good thing that you weren't in east bumblefork without anything nearby! Freezing your butt off!

Something else that most people tend not to think about.
When you let a battery in your car that long it is possible that it could be leaking acid from the bottom of the battery tray and destroying god knows what. You'll never know until it is too late.

I'd say at least every 3 or 4 years you should remove the battery and thoroughly check for acid leaks, whether replacing or not.

 

[Shannow]

Replaced my 8 year old Nissan's battery a few weeks ago...and the Caprice's this afternoon after a couple of days of really cranky cranky.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
One night I was driving interstate, and stopped for a pee out the back of nowhere.

Got in my car, and nothing, battery was stone dead....jumped the car, and drove another 100 miles, when fatigue set in, and needed a rest. Pulled over at the top of a steep hill in a town, had a nap, and prepared for a roll start, but tried kicking it over anyway.

Started first time, and acted like there was nothing wrong with it for days before I had the funds to change it.


While the lesson was likely intended to be about battery reliability...what I learned here was "never shut your car off if you're not prepared to be there for a while..."

 

[eljefino]

Dad's (well built) OE Motorcraft battery made it eight years then conked out when he was buying gas. Luckily the gas station sold batteries.

 

[mechtech2]

Batteries go bad much quicker in the South. 3 years is about normal.
Especially so if you have a 'northern' battery in a car not suited for it.
Yes, there are northern and southern batteries geared for ambient conditions.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: Astro14

While the lesson was likely intended to be about battery reliability...what I learned here was "never shut your car off if you're not prepared to be there for a while..."

You can take that away with you...it's valid. Freaky stopping in the middle of nowhere, returning to car, and nada...make you look for lights in the sky.

 

[ChiTDI]

Thanks for the info guys, and I guess the meter goes on the battery each winter and before each road trip from now on.

 

[artificialist]

It happened to my mother's 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee once. I think it was 2008. The car started normally day after day, but that one morning, there wasn't even a sound from the starter. I got the car running with a jump start box, and a replacement battery went in the car.

It was more expensive than it should have been. This car was equipped with a type of battery typically seen in a BMW 7-er or Benz S-class.

 

[97f150]

The battery in my Ram started the truck just fine until my brother and I pulled up to my house from the range one day. We went in the house and my wife asked us to run to the store for something, and the truck wouldn't start. Not only would it not start, it didn't do anything. For a few hours we were tracing wires and finally decided to exchange it since we had to go to Wallys anyway. Put new one in and all has been fine. Seems that years ago a bad battery would give itself away by slow cranking, here lately the failed batteries I see start the car just fine up until you try to start the car and there isn't even enough left for a click or the dome light.