Batteries

Just to be clear, you don't replace the electrolyte fluid in a battery cell with distilled water. If the electrolyte in a battery cell is low, top it off with distilled water until if touches the bottom of the filler neck in the battery.

If the battery holds a charge, it's still good.

Not necessarily, Ray!! I had a battery that was holding a charge, but a cell was shorted and was spraying acid all over my hood! And yet the car would start and start and start. Somebody FINALLY told me I had a bad cell and I bought a new battery. BTW, that was on my '85 'hachiroku'...

Good point! I didn't think of that scenario.

I literally blew the top off of a six volt battery in a VW years ago. With the posts still connected but just sorta sticking out of the destroyed case, it started right up! jor

If 4 years old or more - replace it with a new one.

Best advice there is. And, prophylacticly, every 3-4 years thereafter prevents inconvenient and potentially dangerous failures.

Standard VW problem was the seat springs shorting across the uninsulated battery terminals. :-)

Greg.

VW's early attempt at seat warmers ;-)

Actually you do replace it with distilled water when it is low because the water boils out of the battery and leaves the acid behind making the acid even more consentrated. There is noting wrong with toping battery off with distilled water but if it is a frequent event, it may be a sign of a altentor slightly over charging and not keeping charge up properly or that the battery is reaching the end of its life cycle.

When I said "don't replace the electrolyte with distilled water" I meant that the OP shouldn't attempt to drain what is in the cell and replace with distilled water. He was to just top off with distilled water.

Gee, Ray, I had one of those 'green' batteries that USED to come with Toyotas back in the 70's. I believe it was a Yuasa; they weren't marked but that's what someone told me. You could only get them with the car; they were NOT available as a replacement.

One moring I went to start my '80 Corolla SR-5, no go. I checked this and that, and when I opened the battery plugs there was about 1.5" of water in each cell. I went back into the apt and got a gallon of plain old tap water. I fiiled the cells and got my wife to bring ne to work.

I caught a ride home 8 hours later, and was going to push it down the inclined parking lot to get it started and go buy a battery. Just for laughs I turned the key, and the thing started right up! And it did so for another 9 months until I traded it for the GTS!

Those green batteries were GREAT! And it was SIX YEARS OLD!!!

OEM batteries used to be Yuasa (pronounced like a New Englander saying "you are sir") and Matsushita (maker of the Panasonic brand).

Dealers sold Excide batteries for replacements and I used to occasionally get complaints that the replacement batteries only lasted 4 or 5 years instead of the original 6 or 7 years.

LOL! Yeah. I practically BEGGED Jim to get me another one of those Green batteries one time. Told him I didn't care what it cost! He said it just wasn't possible and the only way I could get one was to buy a new car!

The '85 Corolla GTS came with a Panasonic. Now, I like Panasonic stuff; I have a Panasonic everything, except for three things: Car Stereo, TV, and batteries of ANY kind. These three items SUCK coming from Matsushita, for some reaons. It was the Panasonic battery in the GTS that blew the cell and sprayed acid all over the inside of the hood. The car was 3 or 4 years old.

OTOH, I bought my '95 Tercel in '02, and changed the original Panasonic battery a year after I bought it, so that was 8 years!

Just as an aside, take a look at your Floppy drive sometime. Almost EVERY SINGLE FLOPPY I have run across has a Matsushita motor, no matter who made the drive (Mitsui, Toshiba, etc). What if they made $1 off of EVERY motor they sold!

There is a company that has quietly made a yen or two!

years

I never scrimped on automotive batteries, if I get 3 good solid years from one I am happy, anything over that is gravy. I replace my batteries before they completely fail to manitain highest usable power when needed for cranking or reserve. They do seem to last a lot longer on old generator system though as I typically get 6 to 7 years out of a 29 buck generic 6 volt tractor battery in my old tractor.

Are you located in a hot climate? Other than in the south, getting 5 years out of a battery in the U.S. shoujld be a piece of cake.

We had Yuasa batteries on our oldie Toyotas. The ones built in the US had something American, that didn't do as well. Our Previa was a JT3, so it came with an original Panasonic battery that lasted 8 years, unbeknownst to us.

Charles of Kankakee

Somewhat off-topic, but I bought a quantity of Panasonic AA and AAA batteries, the extra-special "digital" batteries they have been promoting.

They died within days in each "digital device" when my alkaline Ray-O-Vacs had been lasting 6 to 18 months.

My Panasonic TV just had left warranty by one month when a diode went out ($300).....

Yeah. A long time ago I figured, Panasonic makes such GOOD stuff, their batteries must be good, too. I had about the same experience as you, and I only buy Panasonic batteries when they are like $1.50 a pack...

When I was looking for a radio for my '80 Corolla (brand new) I passed over the Panasonics on the first listen.

And my BIL's Panasonioc TV lost most of it's colour in 3 years...