Stopped outside my local motor spares place yesterday to buy service items for my V8 90. When I got back in the car, which had been starting and running perfectly, I turned the ignition key and all the lights went out and the engine wouldn't turn.
Having checked all the obvious, tight battery leads, bang the starter motor etc the owner of the shop brought out his battery tester. It read 9.99 volts out of 12 and 8 amps out of 300+ so it was obvious the battery was well and truly shot.
Bought a new battery, fitted it and everything was hunky dory.
Has anyone else had a battery go completely kaput in such a short space of time. I'd started it from cold not 1/2 hour before.
I did put a new alternator on a couple of weeks ago when the old one siezed. Perhaps all that power going into the battery killed it.
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My secretary was waiting at the level crossing in her village the other day and turned the engine off as she always does. 5 mins later she turned the ignition key and 'bang' the battery exploded!
The battery had just exploded and sent bits of plastic and acid everywhere. The mechanic she uses has sent whats left of it to the manufacturers as it's only about a year old.
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Batteries are strange objects that can on for years (I had one that lasted 13) or suddenly go with no warning.
Battery life doesn't seem to depend on make or usage.
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This is often how they go, which is why so many people get caught out by such failures.
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Sounds like a single cell failure, well lets face it one of them had to go eventually, How old was the battery ?? Regards
Peter
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When discussing batteries with an American working with me he said they very very rarely have battery failures where he lived up state New York. Why? The reason was simple. They tend to automatically change the battery every TWO years. They consider it too risky in their winters to do otherwise. This obviously still leaves then at risk from the odd sub standard battery but it seems to be a sensible precaution over there.
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Exactly the same thing happened with my previous car, a Montego Estate diesel. In fact when I found the battery was dead, the battery itself was red hot!! It was quickly removed and replaced. The cause is calcification of the cell. What happens is that the battery acid reacts with the plates inside which cause a type of white crystalish compound which settles on the bottom. Over time, this builds up until it touches the plates and shorts it out. Result- one dead battery. I even tested this out a few years ago when working on a truck workshop. We emptied out a couple of batteries, hit the base of each battery with a rubber mallet several times, then washed them both out with a steam cleaner. The crud that came out was incredible!! After putting the acid mixture back in (strained through a paper filter)they were charged up and were fine!! They were fitted to a couple of workshop vehicles and lasted another 2 years. I did this for curiosity- not because I'm tight. But it proved a worthwile test. I recently did it on a battery from my smashed ex m/cycle which had been stood for 4 years. after treatment, it produced 6v after charging which was enough to run my re-built spare bike of the same ilk.
These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am...
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DenisO,
I assume you checked the charge rate before/after changing the battery? I wonder what it was?
MM
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MM.
I didn't check the charge rate as this was an emergency change. I was just happy to be going again.
Pete D.
June 96 was the date on the old batttery so I guess nearly 7 years is reasonably good service. The new one was £42 so if it lasts as long it will only be £6 per year. The guy at the spares shop reckoned it was a cell had gone West and that was causing the problem.
In the passed all my batteries have started to lose charge so for one to go so suddenly is a bit alien to me.
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DenisO,
I only asked about the charge rate because I've known two folks this year with identical failures to yourself where the battery "failure" has been repeated a short period later with the new battery...turned out in both cases a faulty alternator had allowed the battery voltages to decay so they just gave up one day.
In both cases the fast fit/accessory shops failed to check for charge rate after fitting the new battery and it was amazing how long these new batteries lasted with minimal/no re-charge before they gave up.
It is quite likely you did just have a simple battery fault but the above scenario is worth considering.
MM
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