Car battery suddenly died.

[Ashley Burton]

This was on a Ford KA (I Know, I know, no need to say anything ) cost me 45 quid, fitted it myself

£45 sound like a cheap battery to me!

Sometimes its worth paying the extra depends on the car & how long you plan on keeping the vehicle on the road

 

[Ashley Burton]

could something be draining the battery??
we had that problem on our john deere tractor.. it turned out to be a faulty starter solenoid and £20 cured problem
is alternator belt correct tension?

Ivor I think you will find in this situation the battery is solely to blame. As the battery is beyond salvageable.

 

[james butler]

halfords do a for life battery by Yuassa supposedly no quibble replacement garantee.
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bu...-lifetime-guarantee-096-black-12v-car-battery
hopefully they do the correct battery for your car.

 

[Ashley Burton]

halfords do a for life battery by Yuassa supposedly no quibble replacement garantee.
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bu...-lifetime-guarantee-096-black-12v-car-battery
hopefully they do the correct battery for your car.

Didn't even know such batteries existed!

Probably outlast the vehicle or need replacing through out its life.

 

[brightspark]

halfords do a for life battery by Yuassa supposedly no quibble replacement garantee.
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bu...-lifetime-guarantee-096-black-12v-car-battery
hopefully they do the correct battery for your car.

yes do a battery for the life of your car. it will be at least 5 years old when its replaced so the new one will last over another 5 making the car about 11 years old and you will have probably sold it by then . if you haven't and the battery knacks u take it back and they ask u for the receipt bill of sale by then most will have chucked it in the bin so either way halfords don't have to fork out

 

[Ashley Burton]

yes do a battery for the life of your car. it will be at least 5 years old when its replaced so the new one will last over another 5 making the car about 11 years old and you will have probably sold it by then . if you haven't and the battery knacks u take it back and they ask u for the receipt bill of sale by then most will have chucked it in the bin so either way halfords don't have to fork out

Unless you have your receipt emailed to you!

But yes most probably won't keep a car that long

 

[8ob]

Modern batteries just dont last, I have just run in two years worth (400kg) of batteries that just made it past the warranty.

Bob

 

[james butler]

yes do a battery for the life of your car. it will be at least 5 years old when its replaced so the new one will last over another 5 making the car about 11 years old and you will have probably sold it by then . if you haven't and the battery knacks u take it back and they ask u for the receipt bill of sale by then most will have chucked it in the bin so either way halfords don't have to fork out

they email you the receipts now as well as paper so no excuse not to keep it safe.
i have one in my vw and when the datsuns battery gives in that will have one too.
the sporadic lack of use kills them in my cars

 

[Ashley Burton]

Modern batteries just dont last, I have just run in two years worth (400kg) of batteries that just made it past the warranty.

Bob

It doesn't seem to matter which brand you buy they just don't last like the original battery that comes with the vehicle!

 

[earthman]

Its the earth, man...............




If its an aftermarket battery, 5 years is about right.

Lol,....very good. Actually the battery looks like it were a 'genuine' Fiat one.

 

[pedrobedro]

Lol,....very good. Actually the battery looks like it were a 'genuine' Fiat one.

Fiat don't make their own batteries though they buy them from the same firms you do and have their own badge put on.

 

[earthman]

Fiat don't make their own batteries though they buy them from the same firms you do and have their own badge put on.

Yeah I know, hence why I wrote 'genuine'.

 

[KemppiFrog]

Got into my old Espace last week. Zilch, no lights on the dash. Checked the terminals, still nothing. So jumped it from the wife's shopping trolley and set off, left it running outside the battery shop, €40 for a 70amp/hr (!) and off to a job. After that, it started OK, so back home I checked the belt and it was loose... Been fine since then and the new battery is still in the boot.
Worked out that the old one is at least 14yrs old, as it came with the previous car and certainly was a few years years in that before I bought it.
Makes a change from the Lucas ones I remember. Usually went phut one month after the guarentee expired.

 

[ms08]

Batteries die quickly now - one minute working and then........had it happen two or three times. Five years plus is a good life generally.

 

[Bill Edwards]

Failures can be sudden and with no warning whatsoever, when a cell dies.

But although there certainly are cheap batteries out there a lot of battery deaths are down to being run/left partially discharged, short journeys being the problem.
If you have a vehicle that's not doing good runs on a frequent basis then although it may always start the battery can be flat which over time will destroy it.

I have a battery that's over 8 years old and still has 82% of its capacity, to keep it good I put the car on charge periodically because it does a lot of short journeys which will kill the battery early if I just leave it to be flat. Batteries can last well if you take care of them.

 

[daleyd]

Mine was less then 3 years old, mainly longer journeys. Happened to a sales guy in work with the same car at almost exactly the same age, so it sounds like a design fault or at least an area to look out for on that particular car.

 

[Ashley Burton]

can you be sure it is battery

Going by the information given I would say yes

 

[earthman]

Well it started fine this morning, I've been keeping an eye on the voltage via the ciggy socket whilst she drove into town, constantly getting a reading of 14+ volts so I'd say that the alternator is working.

 

[Ashley Burton]

Well it started fine this morning, I've been keeping an eye on the voltage via the ciggy socket whilst she drove into town, constantly getting a reading of 14+ volts so I'd say that the alternator is working.

The question is it holding its charge? Plenty of batteries show 12V, But when under load they don't have the power to turn the engine over!

 

[wookie]

Well it started fine this morning, I've been keeping an eye on the voltage via the ciggy socket whilst she drove into town, constantly getting a reading of 14+ volts so I'd say that the alternator is working.

14 point what volts ? It does matter what voltage a battery gets, for example 14.2v won't be enough.

Yes 14+ volts proves the alternator is working but unless it outputs enough voltage it won't charge the battery properly.

The question is it holding its charge? Plenty of batteries show 12V, But when under load they don't have the power to turn the engine over!

Exactly, I replaced a pair of batteries on a little fishing boat the other day, the engine start battery showed 12.5v but when I put the drop tester on it the voltage rapidly went south to 2.7 volts and as for the domestic battery well that did well to manage 3 volts with no load on it, mind you there was a chunk missing from the corner and the acid was below the plates on the other 5 cells, I was amazed it managed to generate any voltage at all given the state of it.
The scary thing was that whoever had refit the domestic battery had connected some of the red leads to the negative terminal and some of the black leads to the positive terminal