Battery

[paxfam1]

Ok 1997 or 98 Lumina

The problem is that it seems that this car likes to eat batterys, The car wouldnt start for the past week cause a dead battery, I could charge it up enough to get it started but the next time it wouldnt go again. I so brought the battery in to get tested and they told my it was froze, this battery is 12 months old, and that is about how long the last battery lasted. The sales men suggested that there may be something wrong in the charging system. A battery under normal conditions should not freeze correct? I am still working on getting that battery warrantied. But in the mean time thought I would post and see if anyone else has experienced any similiar situations.

ps. This battery sometimes sits for extended periods such as 3 weeks without using. But I try to take it for a drive every couple weeks.

paxfam

[jeffcoslacker]

I worked in a shop that sold a lot of batteries to a lot of the same customers, so I began to see patterns...

In GM cars that sat a lot between runs like that it was common for a battery to only last a year or two, especially when they insisted on buying the minimum battery they could get away with...the four year, 450 CCA ones didn't last long....the 5 and 6 year ones seemed to hold up pretty well...

Where are you buying your batteries? Advance Auto sells ones made by Johnson Controls, they took over battery making from AC/Delco and make the best battery for the money, I think.

If the battery froze up, it did because there wasn't enough activity happening on the plates to keep it active enough to overcome the temps...a battery that sits a lot will sulfate the plates and reduce efficiency and activity, combine with being weakened by sitting around, and they will freeze up in real cold weather...

You need to get that car on some kind of battery tender or something. And getting a higher rated battery will probably help too...

[paxfam1]

Originally Posted by jeffcoslacker

I worked in a shop that sold a lot of batteries to a lot of the same customers, so I began to see patterns...

In GM cars that sat a lot between runs like that it was common for a battery to only last a year or two, especially when they insisted on buying the minimum battery they could get away with...the four year, 450 CCA ones didn't last long....the 5 and 6 year ones seemed to hold up pretty well...

Where are you buying your batteries? Advance Auto sells ones made by Johnson Controls, they took over battery making from AC/Delco and make the best battery for the money, I think.

If the battery froze up, it did because there wasn't enough activity happening on the plates to keep it active enough to overcome the temps...a battery that sits a lot will sulfate the plates and reduce efficiency and activity, combine with being weakened by sitting around, and they will freeze up in real cold weather...

You need to get that car on some kind of battery tender or something. And getting a higher rated battery will probably help too...

I am running what I think is a decent battery, its a Interstate Megatron 750cca This battery runs for about 90$. I get it at my local national bushing. I know for a fact they dont sit on the shelves long, at least in the winter. So I dont know what to do, I am fighting to get the warranty on this battery cause they dont want to warranty a battery thats frozen cause its my fault. The so called charging system ruined the battery, at least thats how the big boss put it. Jackasses

[jeffcoslacker]

Yeah that is a good battery...that's really weird.

The only other thing that comes to mind is if there is something staying on that pulls too much key off power...there's the normal stuff, trunk and glovebox lights, but they will usually run a battery dead in 24 hours or so...I've seen a couple where the radio was demented and the clock display stayed on all the time...that takes several days to a week to run one down...

I've seen weirder stuff...voltage regulators "leaking" voltage the wrong direction, etc...defrosters pulling a few amps constantly...had one one time that the injectors and fuel pump would come on by themselves...but that was an old Datsun 240Z...that was wild, this guy would go to drive his car, and find the battery dead, the gas tank half empty, and the engine crankcase fulla gas...