A failing battery

[johnnyb47]

Hi,
Here's a question that some of you may be able to answer.
I think my battery on my newish car to me is failing.
The symptoms are ,
it seems to me when starting the car it turns over slowly (it's always been like that since I've owned it now for 7 months)
Very occasionally it refuses to start first turn of the key but it always starts on the second attempt.
Today again it cranked over slowly and it then stopped cranking, Second attempt it started but I noticed the clock and date in the dash had reset itself and needed resetting again.
I checked the battery and the voltage was good 12.7 but the amperes under load was reading 225 and the battery is rated at 550.
The car had covered barely 1500 miles each year from new and is 21 year's old.
This is definitely not good thing for keeping it's battery or batteries it's had throughout it's life in good health ( I now regularly use it for a 30 mile commute each working day)
Would a battery that's got a low cold start amperage cause weird things to happen such as resetting it's time and date display on the dash.
Either way I've bought a new battery today as I didn't cherish the thought of getting stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Another thing I noticed too was that the old battery was the wrong size.
It was about 20 mm smaller than the correct replacement in height and length.
All the very best to you all,
Johnny

 

[HMS_Dave]

Sounds like a knackered battery. If its giving all it has, it might reset clocks and radios.

But, you could do a few more tests. Clean and tighten connections on the battery posts and have you measured the voltage with the car running, to make sure you have a strong charge from the alternator? Always worth a quick test...

 

[Drago]

Drop test the battery to be sure. On modern cars a dying battery can cuse all sorts of odd symptoms, warning lights and minor malfunctions.

Then, new battery required or not, get a smart charger-maintainer.

Batteries fall into standard capacities and terminal orientations and each standard has a code, such as 096. Physical size can vary slightly, but as long as you've got the correct code you're golden.

 

[johnnyb47]

That's one thing I didn't check @HMS_Dave.
I've got a small digital volt reader somewhere that I used to plug into the cigarette lighter (gawd knows where it is though)
I've got no warning lights on the dash though suggesting the alternator is charging.
Cheers Dave 👍

 

[johnnyb47]

Drop test the battery to be sure. On modern cars a dying battery can cuse all sorts of odd symptoms, warning lights and minor malfunctions.

Then, new battery required or not, get a smart charger-maintainer.

Batteries fall into standard capacities and terminal orientations and each standard has a code, such as 096. Physical size can vary slightly, but as long as you've got the correct code you're golden.

Cheers @Drago .
When you say drop test,does that mean test it's cold cranking amperage.
I'm no expert and I'm only working on common sense as opposed to knowing what I'm doing 🤣

 

[Drago]

It can be done with a multimeter,witchcraft, and a lot of mathematics, but it's easier to ...

https://www.drapertools.com/product/08087/battery-drop-tester-100a/

Anyone else prone to even basic car DIY should have one.

 

[Sharky]

My daughter's car, a brand new motobility car, was about 6 months old and had very little mileage. Refused to start. The RAC man said it was lack of use and the battery wasn't accepting charge. He replaced the battery and since then, with greater usage, my daughter has not had a problem.

 

[FrankCrank]

Our car is around 2 years and 3 months old. We recently had it serviced, and they advised that the battery needed replacing, I decided to leave it for now. We were given the same advice at the previous service 6 months back. Batteries here have a hard life, mostly I think due to the extreme heat. During 20 years of motoring here, we're lucky if a battery lasts 2 years. So far, car starts first time every time, so am prepared to take a gamble on this one, which may come back to bite me. During my motoring days in the UK, can only recall replacing a battery on one occasion.

Sorry to the OP, none of this helps you.

 

[dicko]

Open the bonnet to expose the battery and the battery terminals
Crank the engine over, if it struggles…
Touch the battery terminals with your hands
If the terminals are warm you have a loose terminal, tighten it up.

I still have the original Ford battery on my Ford Ka stop/start its going to be 13 years old next month.

 

[Brandane]

Crank the engine over, if it struggles…
Touch the battery terminals with your hands

Preferably not both terminals at the same time whilst cranking the engine, presumably? I'm no electrician but this sounds like a good way to becoming a 12 volt conductor.... 😵

 

[CXRAndy]

Hi,
Here's a question that some of you may be able to answer.
I think my battery on my newish car to me is failing.
The symptoms are ,
it seems to me when starting the car it turns over slowly (it's always been like that since I've owned it now for 7 months)
Very occasionally it refuses to start first turn of the key but it always starts on the second attempt.
Today again it cranked over slowly and it then stopped cranking, Second attempt it started but I noticed the clock and date in the dash had reset itself and needed resetting again.
I checked the battery and the voltage was good 12.7 but the amperes under load was reading 225 and the battery is rated at 550.
The car had covered barely 1500 miles each year from new and is 21 year's old.
This is definitely not good thing for keeping it's battery or batteries it's had throughout it's life in good health ( I now regularly use it for a 30 mile commute each working day)
Would a battery that's got a low cold start amperage cause weird things to happen such as resetting it's time and date display on the dash.
Either way I've bought a new battery today as I didn't cherish the thought of getting stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Another thing I noticed too was that the old battery was the wrong size.
It was about 20 mm smaller than the correct replacement in height and length.
All the very best to you all,
Johnny

Yes, poor battery will reset the settings if the voltage drops too low whilst cranking over. The voltage could drop below 8volts.

Buy a Ctek maintenance charger, leave it on when not using the vehicle.

Only cost a few pence a month to keep the battery above 13V

We have a car that needs to drive at least 50 miles a day. If we leave it for a week then car struggles to start.

 

[johnnyb47]

Thank you all for the great advice given.
It's always appreciated, and it's what makes Cycle chat such a nice place to talk to good internet friends.
Johnny 👍

 

[Yellow Saddle]

You don't say whether you have a diesel or petrol engine. The former demands far more from a battery than the latter and will expose a failing battery quickly, especiallyi on a cold morning.

I feel your pain - you don't want to buiy a new battery if the old onef is still OK.

Go to Amazon. Type in CCA car battery tester. Choose any one under £20, that's all you need.

This gadget requires you to put in the battery spec, expressed in either DIN, SAE or EN. It is on your battery label, e.g. SAE 550 or such. Once you have punched that into the tester, you press test and you get a definitive answhere wehtehr or not yiour battery will be reliable when you need it most.

CCA stands for Cold Cranking Amperage (or sum such).

 

[johnnyb47]

Ah sorry,I forgot to mention the car is a petrol.

 

[biggs682]

In the good ol' days you could have popped the cell covers off and got someone to crank the engine over and then watch to see if any of the cells are bubbling which would indicate a weak cell .
But these days majority are sealed units so you won't be able to do that.
If it's worse on a cold day then I would say the battery is at fault, but worth checking terminals are clean and tight and nothing is draining the battery.