Dead battery...again

[ephantmon]

Battery died completely out of the blue last night. Got the "click click click". Jumped it, drove around, let it idle in the driveway, all without the lights on or the radio going. This morning "click click click". This is the exact same way it died last time. No warning, no dimming, no difficult starts.

It's only 3 years old, and I checked the water level 2 months ago and it was fine. Is this likely symptomatic of a deeper problem in the charging system?

 

[tjkj2002]

What brand of battery? Just idling will not really charge your battery,a good 60min drive at 55mph+ will.Short trips(less then 10 miles) kills batteries.

 

[ephantmon]

Whatever brand Merchant's installed. I know it's not ideal, but the damn thing never dies on a Saturday morning when I have time to go buy one and install it myself.

 

[tjkj2002]

Whatever brand Merchant's installed. I know it's not ideal, but the damn thing never dies on a Saturday morning when I have time to go buy one and install it myself.

Just some cheap battery typically only lasts 3 years.

 

[QuickSilver]

Have the battery tested. Any auto parts store will do it for free. If the battery is good, focus on the solenoid and distributor next.

 

[tjkj2002]

have the battery tested. Any auto parts store will do it for free. If the battery is good, focus on the solenoid and distributor next.

huh?

 

[Snail Farmer]

The solenoid wouldn't kill a battery. He hears the clicking when he tries to start it, so the solenoid is working properly. And there is no distributor on the 3.7.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

3 years is pretty normal for an average battery.

 

[Billwill]

Check the battery connections are all tight and clean, same with the negative battery lead going onto the chassis and same with the earthing strap going between the engine and the chassis.

Put a voltmeter across the battery terminals...should read about 12.5 volts with engine off and should go up to about 13.5 volts with engine running.

Get a battery shop to test the battery, you may have a dead cell. If this checks out OK maybe you have something draining current from the battery when turned off.

 

[SoonerJeep]

3 years is pretty normal for an average battery.

That's about what I keep getting from batteries. And all of them seem to be fine one day and dead as a doornail the next.

 

[ephantmon]

It was a dead cell. They replaced it at half cost, which felt like a ripoff since it would have been free 3 months ago. They also replaced it with a weaker battery (700CCA vs. 800).

 

[tjkj2002]

It was a dead cell. They replaced it at half cost, which felt like a ripoff since it would have been free 3 months ago. They also replaced it with a weaker battery (700CCA vs. 800).

Not a ripoff as the warranty was done,be lucky they took 50% off.Can't expect everything to be free,it lasted past the warranty period so you got the rated life out of that battery.


Considering your starter draws less then 150amps cranking and it should not take more then 2-3 seconds to start a 700cca rated battery should have almost 5 times more amps then required.

 

[k99jk99j]

that is a good deal! with the price of batteries you got a half price battery for the next 3 years (or more)

 

[martin_metal_88]

COncider yourself lucky, mine was still under warranty and they didn't wanted to replace it since I am not the original buyer. Apparently the sticker with the manufacturer date and the purchase date are useless for them...

 

[ephantmon]

To clarify

Sorry, I left out the part that the replaced battery had a prorated period of replacement from 37 months to 83 months. So months 1-36 were free replacement. It seems odd that between months 36-39 the replacement value goes from 100% to 50%.

 

[tjkj2002]

COncider yourself lucky, mine was still under warranty and they didn't wanted to replace it since I am not the original buyer. Apparently the sticker with the manufacturer date and the purchase date are useless for them...

The warranty does not transfer on batteries.

Sorry, I left out the part that the replaced battery had a prorated period of replacement from 37 months to 83 months. So months 1-36 were free replacement. It seems odd that between months 36-39 the replacement value goes from 100% to 50%.

Well your almost at the halfway mark in the warranty so it makes perfect sense.