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Yep factory batteries aren't much good. Went in to the post office, came back out and dead. After a dew hours in 115 degree heat waiting for a tow went and dealt with my OLD tow company. Long story short the car is a 2018 and has 12k miles on it. So it didn't even make it a year and a half. Doesn't matter they gave me a new one free all the time and aggravation wasn't worth it. So in about a year I'm going to buy a new one regardless.
Yup. Driving down the freeway, the battery in my daughter's car shorted out or whatever. Car stopped. Dead. She pulled over. Towed it home. New battery. Car is fine.
But wait with the car running the alternator powers the car and you do not even need a battery. Well not quite, but setting that aside, the battery became a black hole for power. It apparently absorbed or diverted all of the power the alternator was creating. Not sure why it happened. It was an Interstate battery, still under warranty.
Usually a battery will give a little warning, but it's subtle. If you're not a Mechanical God like myself, you could easily overlook it. So yeah, for all pracfical purposes batteries can and often do die suddenly.
Personally my ears are well calibrated so I can detect the slightest variation in cranking RPM. First time it cranks a little slow, I check the date on the battery. If it's 5 years old or more, I replace it before really checking anything else.
I had a battery last 7 years once. But reliability is iffy at 5 years.
I pulled into a motel once after crossing the desert in late summer and the next morning my car wouldn't start. The repairman said the intense heat killed my battery.
We live in Florida and the battery morality rate is ridiculous here. If you get 3 years, you have done good, but you never know. I recently removed a battery from a car I built, just because I thought it might let me down, and it was 9 years old. But that is the exception for sure.
Reminds me of one of the best Freudian slips ever. Overheard while standing at a Sears automotive counter buying a new Die Hard.
Ancient little lady shuffled up to the counter next to me:
"My husband said we need a new car battery. He told me which one, but I can never remember the name! Oh, think I've got it now. It was a Drop Dead battery."
Nice young man behind the counter controlled himself admirably. Didn't jump, choke, bulge out his eyes, or burst out laughing. Just a slightly rigid posture and a lip twitch.
"Ah, yes. We can get you set right up with what you need. Have a seat Ma'am, we'll get right on it!"
Last edited by Parnassia; 07-30-2019 at 07:24 PM..
Yup. Driving down the freeway, the battery in my daughter's car shorted out or whatever. Car stopped. Dead. She pulled over. Towed it home. New battery. Car is fine.
But wait with the car running the alternator powers the car and you do not even need a battery. Well not quite, but setting that aside, the battery became a black hole for power. It apparently absorbed or diverted all of the power the alternator was creating. Not sure why it happened. It was an Interstate battery, still under warranty.
Internal short in the battery, probably.
BTW while a car with a generator (1950's) can and will run with no battery in the circuit, doing that with an alternator is asking to blow out the diodes in the rectifier. The old hillbilly test of start the car, pull off battery ground strap to see if the *generator* is working is OK, (if car quits running when you disconnect battery, the generator is not working) but don't do it with an *alternator*.
It’s crazy, my OEM battery lasted about three years, my Sears (mid-range) replacement lasted 13 years, both failed without warning. This is an 02 Subaru so doesn’t have all the amperage draining accessories of new cars. I wouldn’t expect any new car battery to last longer than five and probably closer than three because of those.
Cheap batteries often last longer than expensive batteries. Seriously.
I can bore you with the details if you want. But instead I ask that you have faith in your Mechanical God.
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