Flat Car Battery - Replace?

Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 15:53
Last edited 04/10/2020 - 12:06

OK. I have been hasselling the call out people previously about my car battery ever since I had it replaced in Aug. 2018. In 2019 the call out ppl came and checked my battery, and it read as the follwing:
277/760A(EN) 12.18V charging at 14.23V. The guys said the 277 figure needed to be at least 100 for the battery to be an issue. So they said the battery was fine. Your dealer is trying to shaft you.

Now prior when the car was serviced the dealer said that the battery did need replacing hence why I called out the ppl who supplied the battery as it was meant to have a 3 year warranty. I just think the installer was just trying not to replace the battery and not honouring it. Not going to bother with them as they are sharks.

Used my own battery tester ( Aldi Auto XS) and it also indicated that it should be replaced. The numbers on the battery test as follows as of today. Health 18%, Charge 98%, 12.7V Internal R 9.2 Omh 325A

Mechanics and those in the know. Please help. Autobarn are having a sale on the start stop batteries today, so I wan to have it all sorted once and for all. Do I need to replace the battery or not?

The car is starting fine as I have been using a trickle battery charger, but generally if I don't connect it for awhile the battery charger reading is only 2 bars.

Thanking all in advance.

Update. As tested this morning 4/10
Health 8%, 12. 34V, 220A ,14.3 Oms replace. No battery charger overnight. Was driven only for about 20mins yesterday

Automotive Car Battery Rechargeable Battery

Comments

  • pharkurnell on 03/10/2020 - 16:06

    Do you drive it regularly?
    Why you using charger on it?

    • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 16:58

      Not much since lockdown as WFH.
      Had the charger from previous battery issues, so paranoid about this batteries performance especially now not being used alot. As I mentioned with the trickle charger when just connected it only comes up as 2 bars. On accoasion when I don't use it say for a week the charger indicates say a 3 bar after coming from 6 bars when it's fully charged. Hope that makes sense. Understand there is normal voltage drop over time for the car not being used.

      • pharkurnell on 03/10/2020 - 17:13

        I regularly drive one of my cars only every 2 weeks no charger..

        I'd say your battery is toast - How old is the car? Is it worth getting the alternator tested too?

        • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 17:19

          I think it's charging fine as that was tested 2 years ago when they replaced the old battery. Car is only going on 6 years.

        • Zachary on 05/10/2020 - 22:51

          If you can drive your car every fortnight, that's a good battery! Mine wouldn't last a week if I don't drive it once a week, let alone a fortnight of no drive.

  • JetBombat on 03/10/2020 - 16:07
    +1

    I would not replace it while it still works. A good battery usually lasts 5-6 years or more if looked after. Leaving lights on and draining it to empty, for example, is going to affect the life of the battery. So if this never happened with yours it still has few years to go. If it did happen, but it still works, there still some time left of use. Mine failed 3-4 years after I drained it to zero few times, as one example, giving 7 years of use in total. Good mechanics can do a battery test for not much extra during a normal service and tell you how well it can keep charge if you want to know for sure. They will give you an advice and not force you to buy stuff. On another hand, dealerships most of the times are hard pressed to sell stuff, so not a place to get an independent advice.

    What I would do is to to use the battery while it lasts, but also keep jump cables or li-ion portable battery spare handy in case it fails. Based on my timeline I would expect 2 more years out of it and may be more 3-4 if it was never drained and kept in good condition.

    • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 17:00

      Yeah. Keeping jumper leads or a Li-Ion portable battery is a good idea for emergency. When I had the flat battery from the last time a Lion battery would have saved me alot of money than calling out the call out service.

      • ProlapsedHeinous on 03/10/2020 - 20:34

        Agreed, buy one for under 100 bucks, and you will probably save yourself the money on call outs on the first couple of no starts. And as an added bonus, you can help others who are in the same boat. it's a win win.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/10/2020 - 16:15
    -1

    lol, start with battery charger? replace it not rocket science.

  • Toph Beifong on 03/10/2020 - 16:27

    While the Voltage may be good, you also need to check the cold crank amps and compare it to what the battery is rated at. If it still starts the car, heck just keep driving it.

    • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 16:55

      Will try a test in the morning. Without the charger on overnight.

  • mapax on 03/10/2020 - 16:31

    If you don’t use the charger how long can you leave the car sit and still have it start?

    • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 16:54

      I will just monitor the battery and keep it on the charger randomly as I have been going. The previous battery has been sitting in the car while not used for 9month and I think that was the reason why I was stranded with a dead battery for that one. It was at least 4 year old.

      1. I understand the dealer would want to try and get a sale with a new battery.
      2. I also understand that the current battery installer says the battery is fine as they then don't have to replace it.
      3. My battery tester does say to replace the battery as it only has 18% health,

      Just paranoid I will be stranded or the car won't start the next time I am out. Yes jumper leads would be a good idea in the car.

  • pegaxs on 03/10/2020 - 16:54
    +1

    Health 18%, Charge 98%, 12.7V Internal R 9.2 Omh 325A

    Don't know what health means. is that 18% capacity, 18% dead, 18% good. 18% of it's life left, or 18% of its life gone? Would need to read the tester manual.

    98% charge is about right @ 12.7v (most 12v batteries are about 12.7~13.2v fully charged.)

    9.2 Ohms is the measure of internal battery resistance. 9.2 is a little high, but not out of the world for a battery that is a few years old. A new battery should be somewhere between 0.2 ~ 0.8 Ohm internal resistance. The higher the resistance, the lower the CCA it will push out.

    325A would be your CCA rating if that is what you tested it on. It depends on what your vehicle requires and what the battery started with. If you are starting a high compression V8 or large 6cyl diesel, 325 is not ideal. If you are starting a 1.6l 4cyl buzz box, it's probably plenty.

    • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 17:03

      Thanks Pegaxs. Hoping you were going to chime in. I think I will just do as I have been doing. Being in Melb the car is like big elephant just sitting there collecting dust as it's not really used. Will save myself the $250 if I just keep putting it on the trickle charger.

      • pegaxs on 03/10/2020 - 17:11

        It depends on what sort of battery is in it as well. If it is maintenance free, yeah, you're kinda stuck. If you can service it, you may be able to check the acid and top it up as required (you will need a battery hydrometer to test it and some acid or distilled water)

        And yes, at that level, I would just keep it on the trickle charger if you are not using the car very often (thanks, Chairman Dan). That will help it stay at its top charge level. As soon as it starts to feel sluggish to start, don't wait to change it out. Also might pay to run the battery tester over the battery once a month and note any drop in CCA or any sharp rise in internal resistance.

        And don't load test a battery with the trickle charger attached :) I know it might sound silly, but I've seen plenty of people do it.

        • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 17:17
          +1

          Yeah, No trickle charger on it when testing. Will just monitor it as I have been. Sounds like I may be a bit over paranoid about it. Given it's only just past 2 years and, my last battery lasted 4 year, I should be getting at least another year or more out of it. Will also keep a monthly record of CCA and if sluggish starts. Thanks again for your comments.

  • lost in transit on 03/10/2020 - 17:09

    You could Buy a 5 watt solar panel and leave it hooked up until you need to go somewhere, it will gradually add a small amp over time if the vehicles sitting around and the battery is ok ,10 watt etc will need a regulator which is cheap enough,mttp will be better option…

    • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 17:14

      All good. I have a trickle charger. Which I ramdomly connect to the battery to keep it topped up.

  • This Guy on 03/10/2020 - 19:00
    +1

    If the battery is only charging to 12.2V and it is rated for 12.7V I believe the 18% 'health'.

    The battery should be replaced.

    "Butt why? It's only lost 0.5V"

    Not how batteries work. Small, match boxed sized 12V batteries are tiny. They can hold 12V, but they don't output much current. Car batteries are huge, but they still only hold '12V'. For the voltage to drop, the chemistry is so far gone that it needs recycling.

    9.5 mOhm also confirms the loss of capacity. Internal resistance should be around 1 to 2 mOhm. I=V/R (current = voltage / resistance), so if resistance is around 5x higher than it should be, capacity will be ~20%.

  • Jugganautx on 03/10/2020 - 19:40

    My guess would be the alternator straight up. Take it to a auto electrician and get them to solve your issue. Normal mechanics don't know sh*t about electronics in your car.

    • Melb69 on 03/10/2020 - 19:58

      Ok Ill do that to get it diagnosed to see if that could be the issue.

    • JimB on 04/10/2020 - 07:37
      +1

      That's a big call.

      Could be dying battery combined with insufficient charging due to lockdown and short trips.

    • Butt Scratcher on 04/10/2020 - 08:52

      Why do you say that???
      OP's test suggests that it's fine.

      • Melb69 on 04/10/2020 - 12:05

        ok As of this morning. Health 8%, 12. 34V, 220A ,14.3 Oms replace. No battery charger overnight. Was driven only for about 20mins yesterday

  • jtc13 on 03/10/2020 - 19:46
    +1

    I am having some similar issues as not using the car as much. Have decided that if I buy a new battery before lockdown ends I might compromise that battery as not being used enough. Therefore am waiting till lockdown ends and more normal.car use kicks in. If still a problem time for new battery.

  • brendanm on 03/10/2020 - 20:15
    +1

    12.18v is too low. Stop start batteries cop a hammering. Replace battery and disable stop start.

  • JimB on 04/10/2020 - 07:55
    +2

    I'd take the car to supercheap auto to get a free battery test.

    If it fails, then you could bypass the retailer you bought it from and go straight to the distributor/manufacturer.

    Before doing so, have you charged the battery properly with a proper battery charger? Trickle chargers don't really charge the battery, their job is to supply the cars electronics with power so not to discharge the battery.

    I suspect that insufficient charging due to lockdown and short trips is part of the problem.

    FYI, my VW dealer told me for 3 straight services that my battery was low and that I should replace. Of course the dealer could supply it.

    Not once did the car not start or even sound like it was struggling to start between the services. I did eventually replace the battery once the car sounded like it struggled to start, not at the dealer of course. By that stage, battery was 6-7 years old.

    • Melb69 on 04/10/2020 - 12:11

      I have a Ctek MXS 3.8 on the car when I want to keep the battery topped up

  • MontyMacaw on 04/10/2020 - 08:54

    Everybody in Victoria are suffering from flat batteries and can’t figure out why - some even after getting RACV to charge it. Unless it’s brand new you don’t know exactly how much life it has left. 2 years for a battery is a fair bit of time regardless of warranties. They will say it needs to be at a certain level before it is classed as a fail but these three year warranties didn’t factor in lock downs. You probably used to drive your car like a regular person for most of the battery’s life and the last part of it’s life would probably have been fine if that was still the case of you used the car all the time. I’d wait for the lockdown to finish and you will get a better idea. Cheaper to buy a charger and keep it topped up.

  • dogboy88k on 04/10/2020 - 09:30
    +2

    I bought a brand new car. Dealer fitted reversing camera. After a couple of years, car would not start if not driven for 2 days. Jumpstart battery would get it going. Long story short, found out that they had connected the reversing camera to the constant circuit, so it was pointlessly on, even when the car was off. It had taken a couple of years for the car battery to die enough such that this parasitic drain over a couple of days was enough to drop the voltage low enough that it wouldn’t start. Once they corrected the wiring, no problem and the battery remained adequate for years after that.
    Bottom line. Rather than a dodgy battery, look for a faulty parasitic drain. Perhaps the only way to work it out is to see how the battery voltage drops over a few days of no use, both connected and disconnected from the car. If it drops much more connected to the car, there might be a problem.

    • Melb69 on 04/10/2020 - 12:07

      Possible

  • terrys on 04/10/2020 - 11:11
    +2

    Given that it is just coming into summer, I'd follow the advice to carry a Li-ion portable battery as other have suggested - or alternativley, one of the cheap lead-acid units that aslo incoprporate an inflater pump [ which still works when the internal battery is toast] - anyway as it is possible to get caught leaving lights on etc. even with warnings.

    The 'test' for your battery will be the next cold frosty morning next winter. After 50 years of motoring, I've generally found that when a battery is starting to fade, if it gets through winter, it should be good until the next one. Then again, there's a reason why battery specials are usually in spring and summer…

  • OzHunterNSW on 04/10/2020 - 11:35

    Just get a new battery…. look for an up-grade in KRANK power.

    • Melb69 on 04/10/2020 - 12:07

      Sale finished, so will look out for future battery sales and continue monitoring battety

  • the Unforgiven on 04/10/2020 - 11:36

    If your battery is flat, you better pump it up :p
    A battery gets discharged

  • JetBombat on 04/10/2020 - 12:36

    Some good info on extending car battery life: Charging Lead Acid

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join