2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

Here are a couple of pointers for capturing information about your cars health before you end up walking.
I bought the 2IS used in July 2017. That winter it failed to start on its own after having the ignition on for 10 minutes. Load testing the battery showed it was failing. It was replaced in November 2017.

Jump forward to today; 2019-01-27 when I go to start it and the starter sounded different. Slower, and when it fired off, it sounded different raising some questions about the batteries health or cars charging system.

Step 1:
Measure the battery voltage with the engine off. As found was 12.66V. Should be about 12.85vdc or higher. Especially seeings it was running 6 minutes earlier. In the ideal situation, the engine has been off for 2 hours or more. Here I needed information before the next day so I can take action if need be.


Step 2:
Induce a load and watch the voltage. I turned on the headlights and in 30 seconds my 15 month old battery dropped more than 0.6 volts. Not a good sign! Any emergency situation with the lights left on and engine off and this battery will likely leave me stranded. With it being under 12 volts that quickly I opted to place the meter in Min / Max mode and capture the voltage drop at its lowest during cranking.


Step 3:
Measure voltage under load again, This time I used the starter. With the DMM in Min / Max mode I press the engine start button and it records 10 volts. Not good and I could tell it didn't sound like its normal self. This was slower and labored. Notice I left the lights on during this test.


Step 4:
Measure the voltage while running with the lights, heater, and seat heaters on. In short, induce a load and see if the alternator can sustain a charge voltage that offsets the vehicles current demand AND charge the battery. Here the Alternator looks OK! Later when home I drained the battery further (under 11.5v) and when I started it, the voltage jumped to 14.1 volts. The alternator appears to hold its own. It is OK at the moment.


Bottom line, listen to the car. It may give you a warning sign. In this case a change in sound made me curious enough to investigate a bit further and find the battery voltage at rest to be 12.5 volts when it should have been 12.95 volts. A healthy 12 volt battery has about 2.165 volts per each of the 6 cells ~12.99 volts.

Hopefully the 24 month warranty is honored when I have them load test this and it fails and I get a new battery before it takes out my alternator or leaves me stranded.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

FYI folks, it could take only two cold starts for your battery to no long start your car when it decides to "go". One morning out the door on my way to work, I noticed the car started a second slower than normal; not alarming, but something I did definitely notice. Then come lunch time; I normally go home as I'm just 12 minutes away. I start the car and it fires, but took a couple of seconds longer. At that moment I had the decision on whether to go home for lunch or to go to my local battery store for a replacement. Luckily I chose the battery store, as when I got there and they asked me to start it again...it was completely dead and didn't even try to turn over. Moral of the story, pay attention to you car and how it behaves!

nosurprise

iTrader: (1)

I got a few dead batteries while owning this car. I live dangerously, so I wait for 4 hesitated starts before replacing the battery -- I need a jump start once. Replacing the battery at 2 slow starts is probably the best option. I replaced the last one 3 months ago under a 3 year warranty.

I'm also looking at these new 12v lithium car batteries. I wonder if they would last a lot longer or not (esp. in very cold/hot temps). They're expensive but seems to hold a lot of power.

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

^^ JM2C but I would not stray from lead acid technology.
The reason is this; that technology isn't supported by our cars charging system technology.

In the bike world, these batteries are not holding their own. Great for light weight. Bad for reliability. That whole, lets go home on time thing. Well unless you like spending twice as much and want to do it every season.

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

lol.... living on the edge!
Their black box tester passed my battery so I get to roll the dice a bit.

Pretty sad actually. Said box does its little test and provides the GO NO-GO answer with a Green Check box saying all is well. In short telling the tech nothing about the situation. As in, battery passed within 1% of failure but got the pass.

We humans with any judgment we may or may not bring from education and/or experience are being replaced by hardware. Yep!

EDIT - I failed to mention tech could not find the battery. You know the only actual item not covered by covers. Bro had mad tech skills so perhaps Yes No hardware is the answer.... NO F' that.
Get an education people! Don't be a dumb @ss....

EZLex

Thanks for posting this! Checked my battery just now (car hasnt ran since last night), got 12.28 v on rest. Turned headlights on and right away went down to 11.71 v. Seems weak? My multimeter doesnt have a min/max mode so couldn't test the start.

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

You might just go in and have them do the load test. Do keep in mind that most batteries are spec'd to output peak voltage/current CCA at 70°F... So as the temperatures drop so does the voltage and CCA.

Make sure it is fully charged before testing.

Texas149