Don't know much about cars.. battery keeps dying... what does this mean??
I have a (until now) very reliable 03 Cadillac CTS.. I have never had a problem with it.. however, in the past couple of days, the battery has died on me twice.. basically, i will be at a red light, and when it's time for me to move, the little battery light turns on, and my car turns off... after about 10 minutes, i am able to start it.. what does this mean, usually? my lease is up in June, and I'd rather not spend a lot of money if I don't have to.. also, I'd rather not sound like an idiot when calling someone about it.. thanks!!!
How can you tell if you have a dead cell in your car battery?
Everytime I get up in the morning my car barely has any battery juice. Like something is slowy draining it through the night. I think its my cd player or a dead cell. How can I tell?
Does reading 8.8V from a car battery means it is time for replace?
This morning I tried to start my car but it was completely dead. Nothing was working (No engine, no radio, no headlights, nothing..) I read the voltage on my battery with a multimeter and it was 8.8V. Do you think my problem is a dead battery? Is it time for to replace it?
Why does my car battery keep dying?
My car is a 1991 Honda prelude, and I just bought it from a private party about a month ago. I put a full charge on the battery and put it back in my car and it worked fine, but I let the car sit for about 3 or 4 days and now the battery is dead again. There is no corrosion or buildup on the cables or the battery, and I did not leave the lights on or anything like that I made sure of it. The first time it died it would make a clicking sound when I tried to start it but now it doesn't make any sound at all. What could be the problem here? Do I need a new battery? Or maybe the alternator?
Does a weak battery affect car efficiency?
From little bit, to possibly quite a bit if the battery has a short.The alternator creates more drag on the engine the harder it works, when a healthy battery is charging there's an imperceivable but measurable hit on horsepower at the wheels and fuel economy.If the battery is constantly charging, the alternator constantly produces more drag on the engine than it would on a healthy charged battery.If on the other hand there's a short in the battery, that might take most of the electricity being produced by the alternator, there won't be enough spark to ignite all fuel in all cylinders, the engine can miss, sputter, stall. It can also ruin the alternator.It the battery is in between, not holding quite the same charge as new but still performs reasonably, and it can run up to its current full charge readily, there might not even be a measurable hit.The only real difference in that case might be how long you can keep the lights or radio on without the engine running yet still have enough heft to start the car.
Can a dead car battery be completely recharged by just jump starting the car and driving around?
Yes, but it depends on what you mean by "dead." A car battery is a rechargeable battery. In common usage dead simply means discharged. Once the engine is running it drives an alternator that recharges the battery. There is probably some misunderstanding because people think of batteries like the ones in a flashlight or toy, which are usually not rechargeable, so must be replaced with fresh ones after they run down. The main reason for a battery in a car is to provide energy to the starter motor to start the engine. That takes a fair amount of energy, but since the battery is rechargeable, unless there's a problem with the wiring connections or with the charging system, it is quickly recharged once the engine starts. However, no rechargeable battery invented so far will last indefinitely. They are all based on a reversible electrochemical process, but there are other non-reversible chemical processes that will eventually degrade the battery's ability to take and hold a charge. With automotive lead-acid flooded cell batteries, the useful life is about 4-8 years, depending on the design and quality of materials and manufacture. When it will no longer hold enough charge to reliably start the engine, it's time to replace the battery. Lead-acid batteries deteriorate much faster when discharged due to a chemical process called sulfation, a non-reversible chemical reaction. Sulfation causes deposits on the battery's lead plates that increase internal resistance and interfere with the ability to take a charge. Sulfation happens much more quickly when the battery is discharged than when it is fully charged. That's why it's important to check your charging system if your battery seems to be pooping out. A weak or marginal charging system leads to battery sulfation and premature failure.
What s happening with my 2006 Chevy HHR?
Your alternator and battery are probably just fine. It sounds like you've got something drawing power that shouldn't be when the car is off. What's the actual cause? You (or more likely a competent shop) would need to test for accessories drawing power when the car is turned off to determine what needs to be fixed once the source of the drain is located. Otherwise your battery is just going to keep going dead as the car sits no matter how many times you replace it. If you're looking for a cheap workaround, you could install a battery disconnect kill-switch (marine supply sites/stores sell them fairly cheaply) to just turn the switch 'off' whenever the car is parked. That way whatever is drawing power won't be able to do it with the battery disconnected by the switch. Not knowing any of the car's history I'm just wildly speculating but the age of your car falls right into where it would have made sense for someone to recover the car after Hurricane Katrina (since it was nearly new at that time) so that they could fix it up then get it titled somewhere else to sell it for a nice and quick (but shady) profit with a "clean" title afterward. The weird electrical gremlins you describe kind of point toward the BCM (one of the car's computers) being bad and a common cause of those failing is when they get wet and then corrode later. Good luck.