Sudden dead battery - Is this common?

It WAS deteriorating; you just didn't notice it. You lost a couple of cells.

Actually, you got about 2 more years than I ever get with a battery. Keep the terminals clean, and don't sweat it for another 4 years or so.

Ed

I have had two die on me in the summer. Car running fine, then go back to start it and either nothing, or a small click. I think what happens is a internal lead bridge between the cells opens up or gets a high resistance contact. They don't make them like they used to.

BOB

Yep. They die quick and right now with cars running scads of electrical items: computers, electric pumps, injectors, always-on driving lamps, etc. Mine, in sunny (read hot!) CA, only lasts about 2-3 years and it doesn't matter how many months they guarantee it for, they just the pro-rate warranty exchanges for another. Last one died between first and second gear crossing an intersection. Just shut down completely and had to push car out of intersection. There is little, or no warning now when they go.

Oh yes, always charge up a new one too, else you will never achieve full charge. Supposedly the Hawker Odyssey batteries are the best going now for high heat environments - but very pricey.

Bent~

X-No-Archive: Yes

They can go suddenly. It can gather enough sediments and develop a shorted cell(s). I'm surprised you have a _completely_ sealed battery from seven years ago. Most maintenance free battery have a pair of lids on top that can be pried off from top w/o a damage and you can use a hydrometer.

When you install a new battery, check that there's 13.8V + or - 0.2V at idle. If it's running lower than this, your battery will be chronically undercharged and will die prematurely.

Larry Cohen wrote:

Seven years is about all the warning a guy can expect. What makes a person that owns a volt meter and a hydrometer go seven years on a battery? I would bet that a check of that battery a month ago or a year ago would have shown low voltage and low capacity. We'll never know.

Yes. Since it happened to me a couple times 20+ years ago, I just replace the battery on a schedule every 4-5 years as a maintenance item. Best to replace it on my terms than on it's term. Since I started doing that, it was the last time I was ever srtanded by a dead battery.