Here is my situation: 2 year old Interstate Battery Battery Tender shows full, green light Car will not turn over with battery alone, not dead but not enough to do the job Remote power pack connected in engine bay , car starts right up Drive car around for awhile, still not enough juice to turn over Put real battery charger on battery, it runs for awhile and shows full. Car will still not turn over but starts fine with jump box. Is it possible that the battery is not providing enough amps even though it is showing full? I have another battery here that I believe is OK but it also shows full on tender charge and real charge. I will install that one tomorrow and see if it does the job. I removed the battery terminals and cleaned and reinstalled them as well with the same as above. Thank you
I had the same problem, Bob. The battery is shot. You can take it to an auto store for a free test. Optima Red Top is what I have now. Amazon prime.
I also have a two year old Interstate Battery and also could not get my 348 to start. Put the charger on it and it said full. Disconnected the Battery from posts to inspect and everything look fine. Decided to do a continuity check on my Grounding Strap so removed Strap to check with my multi meter. After removing the Bolt on the frame for grounding both battery and engine the bolt was rusted and completely corroded. Clean the Bolt with a wire wheel and reattached Grounding Strap. Not confident that this would help but I was running out of ideas. Low and behold the car started right up ! Shut her down did about 5 restarts with no issues. Took her for a drive and the car ran perfect also it took care of my intermittent CEL light that was driving me crazy. Been driving her almost everyday for the last week and she starts every time with no CEL lights.
Just turn on the lights and see if the dim significantly when you try to crank the engine. If they do either you have a bad ground , bad battery switch or bad battery.
That's interesting. I could trace the grounding cable but maybe you could save me the effort. 😎 Where is it?
My Battery is located in the back of the car so it is easy to see where the grounding strap is attached to the frame. I imagine yours is in the front not sure where your ground strap attaches to your frame. Funny thing is that my interior light were bright and the horn was loud so assumed the battery was OK, but when I turn the key to the start position nothing happen and the lights and horn all work fine. Apparently there was enough of a ground for those items but not enough for the starter. I could sometimes get the car started with multiple attempts and unplugging and plugging the battery back in. Maybe I wiggle the ground strap just enough to make a better contact.
Definitely sounds like the battery has dropped a cell Bob. Get it tested and replace it if it's faulty.
If you have a multimeter put it on the DC setting. It may show 12.5, but read it as vehicle is cranking will tell you if cells are bad. You can also use a standard jumper cable to place on negative to chassis ground in event ground is bad. If both tests fail definitely shot battery. I have a digital volt reader I keep in the cockpit that plugs into the cigarette lighter which shows volts so it's easy to see on when cranking.
I put the other interstate batt I had in after charging it and all is well. I'll keep this one on the tender and see how it goes. Lesson learned about the charger appearing full and the battery shot. Thank you for the replies Image Unavailable, Please Login
To the OP, the issue with a battery tender is, it is not a load tester. So the battery indeed cannot accept any additional charge, so the battery is technically "fully charged"...but what you don't know, is the capacity. A typical Group 34R battery is between 700 CCA and 800 CCA when new, or in good condition. A load tester will give you the actually capacity left in the battery. I will usually run the headlights for 30 seconds first, then turn them off and test, to get a truer reading. I use this one: https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/battery+and+system+tester.do There are simpler ones available for less than half the price from Harbor Freight...I'm sure they work fine too.
Thanks Hugh. Ill get one. In the meantime this battery is only two years old and warranted for 5 years from Interstaye. I am going to pursue the warranty and see what they do for me.
I always find this amazing. We were just talking about this at C&C this morning and that my 308 has a 15 year old Die Hard in it that won't die, hard or otherwise.
Took the batt to Interstate. He used a midtronics tester on it. Showed 12.5 v but no good. Popped the cell caps and used one of these and found a bad cell: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000JFHMRU/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1468861430&sr=1-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&dpPl=1&dpID=41IETTNySWL&ref=plSrch 34r is DC so he gave me a new 34 under warranty. It seems like there is enough slack in the cabling to make it work.
What is the best battery to use in the car? I know that this has been discussed in other threads, but they are somewhat dated and i am looking for the latest and greatest. Thanks.
My 308 has a Die Hard in it. 15 years old. I disconnect it when the car is not in use and when stored over winter. The only time it's been on a charger is when I forget to disconnect it and don't start the car for a month or more. My 355 has a some private label battery in it that I never heard of. It's at least 4 years old. I disconnect it over winters and leave it connected during driving season during which it sits typically at most for 2 wks between drives. Usually a week. I don't put it on a trickle charger. Neither battery needs a charge come spring, after sitting disconnected, over winter. I have a NAPA brand batter in my truck. 7 years old. The truck sits for over a month sometimes. Never failed to start. When I bought my 07 Boxster 4 years ago it came with a brand new Porsche battery. Just today it left me stranded in the local Home Depot parking lot. Lucky for me it was 100 yards away from the Firestone dealer where I buy tires. They put an Interstate batter in it (7 year warranty) for me and I was on my way. Best battery? Are you serious? The best battery crowd is just another bunch of nonsense like the gold connector kit, silicon hoses, Hill tensioner bearing, buying everything from Ricambi even though identical parts can get had for a fraction of the price if you look around. If that the way you want to swing, go for it. I choose the path less traveled, thinking for myself along the way.
Has CCA (cold cranking amps) been checked? Is load teating for CCA checking? CCA may become low when full charge and normal voltage.
