Over the last few weeks for some reason the battery in my tug has been going flat if the tug is not driven at least every couple of days. The battery was purchased about 18 months ago and was going alright up until a few weeks ago. I had the battery checked by the NRMA when they gave me a start and they told me it was down on charge but not faulty. They checked the alternator and said it was putting in about 14 plus so that it was ok. I checked and there was no inside light left on or doors left open.
Any ideas as to what could be draining the battery. Is it possible that it could be faulty although the battery check said otherwise? It is booked in to the auto electrician but that is not for another ten days.
-- Edited by DMaxer on Saturday 5th of February 2022 02:16:55 PM
I guess the first test is remove one battery lead & check for current draw with all the doors shut & every thing switched off. Yes its posible for a battery tester give the all clear, even with one cell not flat but seriously down in its charge. When working in a Ford dealership to warranty claim a battery, we had to use an expensive Ford Battery tester. If it did not print out a fault code, then no battery under warranty. Had one unhappy customer which had a simmilar fault & it eventualy failed totaly.
Problem is Craig is that it went flat three days after doing a 500 kilometre trip.
Do you have access to another battery? If so,put that in and see what happens.You'll soon determine if your battery is faulty,or something else is draining the system.Cheers
DeBe's suggestion is a good one Dmaxer, well worth trying.
However: my gut feel is that your battery, like you and I, is heading towards its end :(
Buying a battery is always a bit of a coin toss: all batteries begin to die from the moment they are born and most suppliers treat their batteries with disdain. Should you happen to purchase one which has been sitting unattended at the back of the shelf for two years you'll be buying a second battery in another couple of years. The second worst thing you can do to a lead acid battery is ignore it. A bit like a woman really.
Let us know how it goes please.
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DMax, I have read that an alternator can struggle to charge a low battery though, ( an expert will correct me ).
Hmm I doubt that is true from my experience. But possibly the "new improved style" variable voltage alternators might be tricked into some silly response if the internal resistance is very high initially.
As already suggested do a discharge test on the battery connections to see what is being drained. After leaving it for say 10 minutes to go to sleep, anything more than milliamps discharge will give a flat battery in a few days. Note make sure you have a radio code first if needed.
You know there are quite a few possibilities, unlikely but possible, eg a faulty diode leaking, failing accessory etc, but that is why you need to test the car, not just guess at it, or replace at random.
A bad cell will usually give an ~11V resting voltage but may start and run the car. Jaahn
-- Edited by Jaahn on Tuesday 8th of February 2022 07:42:00 PM
Over the last few weeks for some reason the battery in my tug has been going flat if the tug is not driven at least every couple of days. The battery was purchased about 18 months ago and was going alright up until a few weeks ago. I had the battery checked by the NRMA when they gave me a start and they told me it was down on charge but not faulty. They checked the alternator and said it was putting in about 14 plus so that it was ok. I checked and there was no inside light left on or doors left open.
Any ideas as to what could be draining the battery. Is it possible that it could be faulty although the battery check said otherwise? It is booked in to the auto electrician but that is not for another ten days.
-- Edited by DMaxer on Saturday 5th of February 2022 02:16:55 PM
Hi
From my experience with standard cranking batteries after a few deep discharges it is not going to have a lot of storage left in the battery and it will fail on you at the worst time its inevitable that you are going to have to get a new one .
I was lucky to get 12 months out of the original battery and two out of my second battery due to a couple discharges
I have now fitted a 95 amp crank and deep cycle battery a bit dearer but well worth it
Cheers
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Thanks for the replies. The car goes to the doctor next week so I have just made sure I give it a run each day.
I went to the place where I purchased the battery but of course they told me it would be something else. The battery is 18 months old with a three year warranty. I will await the decision of the auto electrician and if he cant find the possible drain I will get a new battery and leave the old one outside the place I purchased it from. It is not worth the drama of trying to have a warranty honoured.
Easiest way is to take it to century batteries place or a spares place and get them to do a diagnosis check. Takes 5 minutes and will tell if it's nfg. They will replace it on the spot
Do you lock your car? A friend's battery weren't flat one time and the NRMA battery man said that modern cars always have something drawing post unless you lock the car.
Yes the car is always locked. I think you might be right with your analysis too Dicko. I will wait for the auto electrician's view next week but as there is nothing left on and the alternator is working then I think it is a dud battery. It is only 18 months old and has a 3 year warrant but I don't think that means too much. Surprisingly, the original battery lasted for almost 7 years and this one has failed after 18 months.
Thanks for all the replies, will give you the results after next week's visit,
My battery, started to die, after less then a year, Australian made. It is still sitting out the back because the company wont honor the warranty, as the car had the battery paid for by the dealer, not me. It has a dead cell, but the green marker in the fluid say's it's ok. It reads okay as well14.2 volts, but failed on my wife whilst she was up town. Even though it reads ok, it still wont start the car, as that is when the dead cell happens on ignition. I would say you have a dead cell, and would dump it now if I were you.
Agree ( I would say you have a dead cell,) and if so would definitely want to claim a warranty, but probably not with this battery supplier if only the same brand of battery was available.
One of my neighbours who's battery had a dead cell after 18 months. Honda gave the percentage discount of the difference on the warranty.
He rubbed it into them a bit with my previous 8 year old Land Rover badge engineered battery I lent him & welding cable jumper leads to jump start the car every time he needed to move over the preceding few weeks.
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Try to fit a battery isolator or disconnect battery every time you park it for a while ? Btw is there any load when you connect battery when everything is turned off ?? Battery connections good including motor, body earths ? May have to get Toni to fix it again ? Fiat .
I agree with DickO and Bycyclecamper: Faulty battery i to like DickO have had this 3 or 4 time over the last 50yrs. We purchased a new battery for mums 2008 KIA sorrento from a national battery world retailer, lasted 18 months and died. Went to our local auto sparkie he told us the battery was completely under powered for the car, they put a bigger stronger one in and no prob for nearly 3 yrs and still going. The auto sparkie was also $25 cheaper. Yep i would go the the new battery way,
The doctor is visiting the patient on Friday morning. So far, by driving a few kilometres each day the battery is still in the land of the living.
Will let you know the prognosis on Friday. Thanks for all the advice so far.
The auto electrician paid a call this morning and checked out the tug and the battery tested perfectly. He checked for a drain and no drain could be found. He checked the alternator and that also is fine. He put a load on the battery and yet it still allowed the tug to start. There is no drain and the battery is in a healthy condition according to the auto electrician. He checked the starter motor and also all the connections and no issue was found.
It is his view that if there was a crook cell it would have flattened the battery more often and it would not be giving the reading it is. He told me about people with similar issues and they replaced the battery and the problem did not happen again.
He advised me that perhaps I could use a loaner battery for a few days and allow the dealer to keep the battery and check it to see if it goes flat. Besides that, he can offer no solution.
I think I will keep using it each day and if it happens again will turf the battery and get a new one. If that goes flat in the same circumstances then I guess it narrows down the suspects.
Mike, when he checked the battery this morning he told me it was fully charged. Would you still get it charged or wait for it to go flat and then do it.
-- Edited by DMaxer on Friday 18th of February 2022 09:19:06 AM
