Had to Jump My Car Battery Today

[Walt34]

WV has an annual safety inspection and starting at three years old, while the car/truck is there I ask them to do a load test on the battery/charging system. Cost is minimal ~$5-$10. The battery on DW's car lasted four years, the one on the truck lasted seven.

The last time a car battery died, I must have been living right. Car wouldn't start, right next door to a Battery Mart store, which was even open and not busy. Thirty minutes and $70 lighter, I was on my way.

 

[Texas Proud]

It is a Professional Powerstation 5000M - from Costco naturally. Thanks to your post I had to go out to the car to look at it and, low and behold, the battery test was low. It turns out I left the switch turned to "on" after I got it back from a neighbor who borrowed it about a month ago. I normally leave the main switch on "off" which maintains the charge. Maybe you made the same mistake.

I hadn't even noticed before but it has an inverter to plug in 110V AC devices as well as cigarette holder adaptors so you could plug in a phone charger or something in a pinch.

Edit: This one is not the same one I got for the boat. I picked this one up a year or two ago. The boat one was a marine charger. It disappeared a while back. I think my nephew lost it but he insists not.

I am not with Costco.... but I will try and find out who makes it for them..

No, I keep everything 'off'... I think they were just crappy batteries...

 

[NW-Bound]

I've not seen one of those type batteries for years. They are all sealed and cannot be serviced. I do have batteries on my golf cart that have to be topped off periodically with distilled water. Not so with car batteries.

Many may look like the sealed type, but actually have caps that can be pried off. They no longer have twisted-on caps and the caps may be covered by decals.

Might still need jumper cables?

I always have jumper cables in all my vehicles. But even without, I should be able to swap batteries and not get stranded. The house batteries are 12V, and not the preferred 6V (in series), but they do have an advantage of being interchangeable with the car batteries.

 

[rescueme]

I replaced the battery in my car yesterday, it was still working fine but
was 8 years old so thought it was a good time to put in a new one before
it died in a inconvenient location.

I have the same situation, but since it's my "sunday" car (e.g. the sun has to come out or it stays in the garage), I'll just wait a bit.

Hey, it only has 17K on the odometer after slightly more than eight years. I'm sure not going through a lot of start-up cycles is helping prolong the battery.

Anyway, I do have my "primary vehicle" that I use, along with a set of jumper cables. If that dosen't work out, I also have AAA...

 

[wolf]

OP:

AT 4 years I start looking. Safety and convenience come first. I check Cosumer Reports. Each year they rate batteries.

The cost of a battery is not that much.

 

[audreyh1]

I always have jumper cables in all my vehicles. But even without, I should be able to swap batteries and not get stranded. The house batteries are 12V, and not the preferred 6V (in series), but they do have an advantage of being interchangeable with the car batteries.

I don't think I'll try to swap batteries, but we really should carry the cables.

Although our marine charger (might) help if we are at a site and so can plug into electric. Just have to wait a while - and hope that the battery is not in such bad shape that it can be charged enough.

Audrey

 

[Nords]

How many miles on it, or doesn't that make any difference to the battery life? My Prius is about the same age as yours but pretty low mileage since I bus to work.

We're just under 43K, and our 17-year-old driver is as tough as they come on cars with short trips, frequent stops, and thoughtless use of the brake/accelerator.

But I don't think that matters much to the aux battery-- I think its major factor is time under the hood. I especially don't want to risk having the aux battery die and screw up one of the dozen or so electronic control units. Frankly I'm tempted to just take it to the dealer, but I think the PriusChat posters will be able to talk me through the process.

The main battery has done fine in taxicab fleets, and I expect the main battery to outlast the rest of the vehicle...

 

[easysurfer]

Well...I drove my car last night with the newly installed battery from Walmart. I drive about 20 miles then the charging system indicator (the one that looks like a battery) lights up and stays on. I do make it home, but while driving the electricity in my car temporary cuts out. Today I decide to bring my car in to Car-X. I tell him that my battery recently died, I had got it replaced at Walmart, brand new. I tell him, when I start the car, in about 20 minutes the battery light goes on and stays on. He thinks (like me), it may be the altenator. I get a call from him in about 30 mins. He says, the battery was junk. Not an altenator problem. I try to return to battery in Walmart to get my money back or a store credit, but could not. This is after going through several managers. We go back and forth -- they say the battery was good--according to their test meter, that if I brought the car back to them under warranty that's one thing to reinstall that's one thing, but no money back refund. (I should mention, this walmart wasn't the same walmart that originally installed the battery). I tell them it's misleading, that they should have an explicity sign saying no refunds on batteries then. They way they see it is (and they have a point), is if I brought it back under warranty, they could try and install. The way I see it is if I go to a doctor and the doctor gives me medicine that makes me ill, I won't go back to that doctor again.

I should have called AAA and had them replace the original battery that was bad.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Almost nobody gives money back on electrical parts. They get fried "accidently" and become unusable. Usuallt though batteries come with a warranty and can be replaced over some timeframe if they truly go bad.

With batteries and many things - you get what you pay for. If you spend some more dough you tend to get better long lasting batteries.

How exactly did they determine that the battery was good ? Did they do a load test or just check the voltage ?

 

[easysurfer]

Almost nobody gives money back on electrical parts. They get fried "accidently" and become unusable. Usuallt though batteries come with a warranty and can be replaced over some timeframe if they truly go bad.

With batteries and many things - you get what you pay for. If you spend some more dough you tend to get better long lasting batteries.

How exactly did they determine that the battery was good ? Did they do a load test or just check the voltage ?

They (Walmart) just connected it to a meter and tested the voltage and that kicked out a print out saying good battery. I know they are inaccurate as I've brought a friend's car to have it oiled changed a couple of times. The first time, the courtesy battery test said, battery low, needs replacing soon. The second time (about 9 months later), the courtesy print out says, battery okay. All with the same battery.

 

[NW-Bound]

Far easier and more reliable to buy a digital voltmeter at HarborFreight, which often goes on sale for $2.99, and check things out yourself.

 

[youbet]

Far easier and more reliable to buy a digital voltmeter at HarborFreight, which often goes on sale for $2.99, and check things out yourself.

Although a no-load voltage reading can be useful to determine the level of charge, it's not a replacement for a load test.

 

[youbet]

Well...I drove my car last night with the newly installed battery from Walmart. I drive about 20 miles then the charging system indicator (the one that looks like a battery) lights up and stays on. I do make it home, but while driving the electricity in my car temporary cuts out. Today I decide to bring my car in to Car-X. I tell him that my battery recently died, I had got it replaced at Walmart, brand new. I tell him, when I start the car, in about 20 minutes the battery light goes on and stays on. He thinks (like me), it may be the altenator. I get a call from him in about 30 mins. He says, the battery was junk. Not an altenator problem. I try to return to battery in Walmart to get my money back or a store credit, but could not. This is after going through several managers. We go back and forth -- they say the battery was good--according to their test meter, that if I brought the car back to them under warranty that's one thing to reinstall that's one thing, but no money back refund. (I should mention, this walmart wasn't the same walmart that originally installed the battery). I tell them it's misleading, that they should have an explicity sign saying no refunds on batteries then. They way they see it is (and they have a point), is if I brought it back under warranty, they could try and install. The way I see it is if I go to a doctor and the doctor gives me medicine that makes me ill, I won't go back to that doctor again.

I should have called AAA and had them replace the original battery that was bad.

You left out the best part of the story........

Are you saying that the Car-X shop replaced the Walmart battery and now with the Car-X battery everything seems OK?

Here's an anecdotal example based on a sample of one: I have a Walmart battery in my 1999 F-150 that is over five years old. So far, seems fine including no issues starting in Chicago winters. But that certainly doesn't mean your Walmart battery isn't defective.

I prefer to buy batteries from Sam's Club instead of Walmart. At Sam's you buy a vendor labeled battery, typically International, and not a no-name battery labeled "Walmart." And the guys in the battery/tire install shop at the Sam's I go to do a good job and allow me to supervise from the time the hood is opened to completion.

 

[NW-Bound]

Although a no-load voltage reading can be useful to determine the level of charge, it's not a replacement for a load test.

I usually turn on all lights, headlights on high beam, and AC fan on high speed. That is enough to flush out a weak battery. And then, there is a ultimate load test: the starter.

Monitoring the voltage under the above conditions, and then while the engine is running is sufficient to tell if the battery is "weak", or the alternator/regulator i.e. the charging system is the cause.

I once helped a friend with his battery problem. This was in the late 70s, during the oil crisis. It turned out that this chintzy guy adjusted his car idle speed so low that the alternator couldn't produce enough juice to charge the battery, and he drove mostly in town.

 

[Texas Proud]

Although a no-load voltage reading can be useful to determine the level of charge, it's not a replacement for a load test.

True... True....

I had a battery installed (on my Cougar that ate batteries)... and it would test at the correct volts.... until you put on a load... I forget the exact words the guy used, but was something like 'hammer lock'... when there was ANY load put on the battery the volts almost went to zero..

Have them do a battery test... first, they charge it up.. then do a test to see that it works in many different loads... Walmart did mine for free..


As to you wanting to 'return' a battery... I agree with Walmart on this... who knows what you did with it (just saying).... it has a replacement warranty... did you ask to have it replaced

What I think you might have is a slipping belt... I can not see where every time everything works for 20 minutes and then stops working...... but then again...

Once I had a car which had a broken wire... it was in the wires coming from the alternator... sometimes they would touch and nothing was wrong, other times they did not and it would not charge... the insulation was not broken, so it was HARD to find. I just happened to be working with the wire once and thought that it bent to easy... changed the wire... everything started to work just fine... only cost me a bunch of batteries and voltage regulators to find it...


Maybe one other possibility... my Cougar had an electrical board that would 'warp' when it got hot... and cause the car to stall... when it cooled down, nothing was wrong... so it COULD be one of your boards somewhere..

It is not always the battery... but the battery can be fried due to other things being wrong in the car...

 

[youbet]

I usually turn on all lights, headlights on high beam, and AC fan on high speed. That is enough to flush out a weak battery. And then, there is a ultimate load test: the starter.

Monitoring the voltage under the above conditions, and then while the engine is running is sufficient to tell if the battery is "weak", or the alternator/regulator i.e. the charging system is the cause.

I once helped a friend with his battery problem. This was in the late 70s, during the oil crisis. It turned out that this chintzy guy adjusted his car idle speed so low that the alternator couldn't produce enough juice to charge the battery, and he drove mostly in town.

So, with the various current drawing accessories you mentioned turned on, engine off and voltmeter connected, what voltage would typically indicate a good battery and what voltage would indicate a bad battery?

Isn't the voltage across the battery with the car running going to be determined by the voltage regulator (frequently part of the alternator these days) so that even a bad battery will show the charging voltage as opposed to its own voltage?

Not saying you can't note anything of interest using a voltmeter. Just saying that, for me and the reading I've done, about the only thing you can reliably check with a voltmeter is the unloaded voltage after charging (wait about 15 mins after removing charger) to estimate percent of charge.

 

[NW-Bound]

A good battery does not drop below 12V with all accessories on. And then, when the engine is running, even at idle, the voltage should be up to 13.8V or so.

By probing around the connections, one can also tell the existence of a poor contact, or a bad wire. One time, a friend of mine was asking for help with his BMW 320. His battery ran down in the summer. I showed him that his alternator was putting out the right voltage as measured right at its terminal, but the small wire they use to connect that to the battery caused too much voltage drop, and the battery was undercharged in the summer when his AC fan was run on high at night when the headlamps were also on.

It is true that only an actual load test can determine the battery capacity and cranking amps. However, a simple voltmeter reading at various points will tell you a lot more about your car than just the battery. And these are things that a battery seller wouldn't care about.

 

[easysurfer]

True... True....

.....

As to you wanting to 'return' a battery... I agree with Walmart on this... who knows what you did with it (just saying).... it has a replacement warranty... did you ask to have it replaced

....

I actually do see the point about it being a replacement warranty and not a refund policy on batteries. The same as I do agree with auto insurance companies raising insurance companies on everyone to make up for the customers who make fraudulant claims. Though not happy that's a reason why rates go up, understandable.

In my situation, I know that they installed a battery, then my charger indicator went on the dash, and I'm not comfortable with going to them again for service. I know, my choice. It still doesn't feel any better since the battery was less than one month old.

What I really want more than anything else, is to know that when I turn the key, the car starts. To have Walmart try again, in the back of my mind, I'd be thinking, what more problem could they cause this time?

 

[Westernskies]

what more problem could they cause this time?

 

[easysurfer]

That's a good one. Bungy cords holding the battery together.

Acutally, I left a bit out of my story as to why I definitely don't want Walmart to touch my car again. I'm sure not all Walmart car service is bad, but 1) in my situation, they said, about 20 minutes, it took about 90 minutes, 2) my front liscense plate had a plastic frame around it that was split. After they installed the battery, the top half of the frame was missing (must have snapped off), 3) when I picked up my car, I see this iron pipe tucked under the hood -- evidently, they had left a battery wrench or something. Sloppy, sloppy work. To add insult to injury, now I find out that the battery that they did install (according to Car-X) is junk. That's why I wanted my money back or store credit.

 

[W2R]

do you wait the your car battery gives out, or replace it more frequently.

Since moving to Louisiana fourteen years ago, I have had one car battery give out. That was the cheap-o battery that came with my Solara when I bought it new, and it gave out after 2-3 years.

Luckily, I was at work when that happened so a co-worker was happy to jump my battery. I drove straight to Auto Zone, where they checked the battery and determined it was no good. Then I had them install their best new battery. I spent a total of 10-15 minutes at Autozone. The new battery lasted for another 7-8 years until I sold the car.

Not bad considering the heat down here, which is supposed to be very hard on batteries. I don't own jumper cables.

 

[youbet]

now I find out that the battery that they did install (according to Car-X) is junk. That's why I wanted my money back or store credit.

I understand that a place like Car-X wouldn't be where you'd go to actually find out what's going on with your car, but did they ever actually give you any kind of feeble attempt at a diagnosis other than the battery was "junk?"

 

[easysurfer]

I understand that a place like Car-X wouldn't be where you'd go to actually find out what's going on with your car, but did they ever actually give you any kind of feeble attempt at a diagnosis other than the battery was "junk?"

I really didn't press for Car-X's definition as junk.

That battery was kind of like if I buy a pack of AA batteries and it doesn't work, and there's already corrosion on the terminals. Looks like junk to me.

 

[Texas Proud]

I really didn't press for Car-X's definition as junk.

That battery was kind of like if I buy a pack of AA batteries and it doesn't work, and there's already corrosion on the terminals. Looks like junk to me.

Did you see the date that the battery was made Maybe it was a very old battery... OR... maybe it was a bad one that someone else brought in....

Now, if it looks new except for the corrosion on the terminal... then we are back to something wrong in your car... I have never see a battery have corrosion as quickly are you are talking about...

 

[easysurfer]

As for the corrosion, I think the folks at Walmart who replaced my bad battery were too lazy (or incompentent) to clean off the old corrosion from the bad battery. I really didn't look at the date on battery. I do have an old car, so I'm thinking perhaps the matching battery was sitting on the shelf self-discharging in Walmart for a long time. How old or new it was, either way that didnt' work for my car. But now I'm ready to move on from my battery experience...$80 poorer, but wiser (I hope ).

I drove my car yesterday from the one I got from Car-x and all is working fine -- no battery light showing up on my dash