Battery , how do you know

Buy a new battery. It's time.

 

I replace mone every two years,here in FL the heat tears them up.

 

I would invest in a battery jumper "pack" and put it in the back of the car. It's helped me in many, many different situations with the cars that my family and I have.

AFAIK, the battery cells can die at anytime without any indications. You will never measure a low voltage while the car is running since you're measure the output of the alternator (unless you have a total short in the battery but then the car would run rough or not at all).

Your battery can also meaure 12-13v while not running but have low to no amperage when you start the car. Unless you have a special volt meter that the shops have which puts a load on the battery terminals, your voltmeter would never be accurate in a real-life situation since the terminals have a high resistance with no loading at all on the battery.

Hope that helps.

Ace

 

You need to load test the battery to determine it life. Most auto part stores can test it for you

 

Yup, thats a common practice here. BUT, once I saw 5 yrs from a battery! Dead batt on a stick shift should be no big deal, as long as you are not going uphill to jump it. Just the same, shouldnt one be able to jump by going downhill in reverse and popping reverse gear (shrug)??

 

You're not going far with a dead battery, whether you jump it or push start.

No spark.

If you have $80, get a new battery. If you don't have $80, it's time to sell the Ferrari.

 

Thanks, Bull, but what I meant was not exactly a dead, but useless/weak batt, to be technical.

To me, a dead/bad batt is one that doesnt crank car, not one that needs to be down to zero Volts. And otherwise to popping clutch in 2nd gear, your dead in the water.
Still, get a new battery is best insurance.

 

Just the same, CAN a car start by popping reverse gear? Say if youre facing uphill, and can coast backward.....s-a-f-e-l-y!

 

That 13.6v is established by the alternator regulator and shows only that the alternator is operating correctly.

Measurement of the battery under no-charge no-load should be 12.6v. But that only says all cells are ok and the battery is charged. It doesn't speak to battery capacity. Capacity is what suffers due to age. Sometimes advertised in amp-hours or cold start amps diminishes with age and the the main reason why batteries have a limited life.

Know that the 308 type cars place the battery in a bad environment - directly in the high temperature radiator heat flow area making it unsuitable for Ultima or other traditional lead/acid batteries.

Buy the standard recommended battery and change it routinely every 3 years. Or best yet, buy a battery with full warranty to 3 years and replace it for free in 35 months.

 

+1

 

Technically you can BUT, I would advise AGAINST it. The reverse machinery is not as stout as the fwd drive components. I've seen gearboxes break from this practice.

 

Thanks, dino. Good thing to keep in mind. I also understand that 1st gear is dangerous for the mechanicals too....

 

You go out and buy a battery hydrometer, or battery cell tester for the technically challenged.

$5 to $20, though I would tend toward the better one.

That will locate bad cells in your battery. Your battery needs fill caps to use these, though, gel cells or totally sealed won't work.

Doug

 

And I recommend Interstate battery, It's good stuff

 

FWIW, most batteries are made by one or two battery manufacturers,and then different labels are put on the same battery. The batteries are shipped without labels to the reseller.

One of these outfits was down the street from me in Fullerton, CA, some 20 years ago, and they made batteries for Interstate, Sears, Pep Boys, Checker and half a dozen other names I can't recall. The name of the manufacturer will come to me, but I can't think of it right now. Johnson Controls, or such, though that doesn't sound right to me.

The 7 year battery is often not different from a 2 year battery, and the price mark up difference is used to pay out pro rata on people that actually make a claim, most people don't and have sold the car or lost the paperwork before a claim needs to be made. Heat kills batteries, if you live in upstate, NY, you will get a decent life, if you live in Phoenix, you get 2 years on any battery, before it dies.

I personally like the Optima gel calls, as they don't leak or seep acid like liquid cells do. Real handy if you are using one in a trunk or such.

Only thing I don't like about gel cells, and my experience may not be typical, is that when they fail, they fail RFN, with no warning; like a few starts with slow cranking, before a wet cell battery fails, which gives you enough warning to go buy a battery after the first or second slow crank.

Doug