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Battery situation

I attempted to go out in the Jeep to my dad's birthday dinner the other night but when I tried to start it I got nary a groan... just click, click from this 4 year old battery.

I was able to get a ride and after the all important cake and ice cream I took a look at the beast about 8 PM.

The specific gravity was pretty low on the first two cells and the next 4 read DOA.

My charger decided to die at that point and I ran next door to borrow Ed's 6 amp unit.

At 2 AM (6 hours of charging) I had 2 cells about half charged, 1 about a quarter, and 3 DOA.

At 6 PM (22 hours charging I had 5 cells at 100% and the 6th at 75%.

It sat all day yesterday.

I was ready to buy a new battery tonight but for some reason I asked the counter guy to run a test on it. The 'eye' showed green (battery charged) and he started the 50% load (325 amps). Battery voltage stayed in the green the whole time. Start the engine..... alternator charging to spec, voltage correct, battery passed.

So what happened?

The parts man suggested that perhaps I left a light on. There were not lights on at that moment but did I turn it off without thinking some time when I was working on it and now don't recall it?

Any ideas?

Reply to
billy ray
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Last time this happened to me, I had left one of the interior lights on

-- pretty tricky to notice, since they all turn on when you enter the car anyway. Had already bought a new battery, which I then returned -- the old one is still in the car today (2 years later).

Reply to
kaig

billy ray proclaimed:

At 4 years, I'd replace the battery. Diehard SUV or Optima Red. Both cheaper than about 1 hour of your time screwing around with it.

Reply to
Lon

I'm still considering replacement but not from Sears. Diehard batteries ranked 9th and 11th out of 11 in the Group 65 size in the November 2005 Consumer's Report.

Reply to
billy ray

I wouldn't trust it. When the cells have different charge levels the battery is on it's last legs. If they all were evenly dead, then I would do a deep slow charge and figure it was still good to go.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Reply to
Mike Romain

I decided not to trust it either...

I got an Everstart Maxx from Wal-Mart to replace it.

FWIW: After I got home I decided to check the electrolyte level and all six cells were low. It took 11 ounces of distilled water to get them up to the split rings.

Reply to
billy ray

The new one was low?

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Reply to
Mike Romain

Pretty sad isn't it?

The electrolyte was well above the plates though so I'm not really concerned about that. The case design is a bit unusual, I don't think I've ever seen that much headspace above the plates, probably a good design for a wet battery.

The specs claim 850 cold cranking amps and hmmmm don't recall the number but Consumer Reports says the Reserve Capacity is 'Well Above Average'. It has a 3 year free replacement and then pro-rated for 9 years (like it will last that long!)

The same basic battery is Available from Advance Auto and AutoZone which isn't surprising as they are all made by Johnson Controls. The price spread between the retailers is $8.

If I wasn't so cheap I might have gone for an Optima (made by Johnson across the river) but they run twice as much.

This new WallyWorld is progressive though, it has a reasonably cute Managerette.

Reply to
billy ray

You should complain to the management. 'Wet' batteries are shipped in a dry state and get filled at the garage or store selling them. Someone is either trying to save a buck or they were not taught how to properly fill a battery. Or, there was a spill causing a loss of acid.

Your battery is now a 'bad' battery that will give you grief down the road. The fluid that it is supposed to be filled with is acid. As the fluid boils, 'water' is lost from this acid mix. You then 'replace' the lost water with distilled water.

The acid itself does not evaporate away, only the water content does.

The fact your battery was low on acid and you replaced this missing acid with water means the solution is now thinned out. This should never happen unless you physically spill it out. In the case of a spill, we used to replace the missing fluid with acid, never water.

I sure wouldn't want to be way out in the bush relying on that battery come the first cold snap....

Mike

billy ray wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

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