I'm hoping that a fully charged battery will work. But, the diodes are prolly the second thing to look at.

 

Hi folks,

Here is a quick update. This battery is a complete dud. We charged it on a stand-alone charger to 100% -- twice -- and it went to 50% within about 20 minutes both times. It's an Interstate Megatron MT-51, which seems appropriate for a lighter driver like me. Prior such batteries have been good. This one is a lemon. Still under replacement warranty, so will replace tomorrow. We will report back after that, fingers crossed!

Thanks again!

 

Thanks, for the update.

Good luck!

 

just buy the OEM battery. They're cheap and always available at the dealer.

darcy

 

If "lighter" means infrequent you're probably killing batteries (plural) by deep draining the battery with parametric parasitic and self discharge (radio memory, remote locking, etc.) while it sits there for long periods. Easy solution is a battery maintainer while it's parked. These can be purchased complete with a little wiring pigtail that can be permanently connected to the battery allowing the little charger to connect in less time than it took for me to type this,

-- Chuck

 

Yes, Chuck, that is what I mean by "lighter" user - infrequent. Weekend driver in good weather, but especially in winter, it can sit because of the snow. I think this is a very good suggestion. Thank you.

 

Another update, good news! The shop exchanged the dud battery for a new one. We installed it, turned on power, and read the codes. Very glad to see "no codes." The car then started normally and sounds normal. Thanks very much for all your suggestions and advice! That was the craziest response to a dead battery, and I'm just glad to have the guidance you have provided. I would have hated to have it towed for a dead battery, that would have been embarrassing.

One more question, thought, if you don't mind. As we scrolled through the different screens on the code reader, we did see some entries in a different list that said "not ready." Those entries were "cat - not ready," "evap - not ready," "2air - not ready," "O2S - not ready," and "HO2S - not ready."

Any thoughts on those messages? Are those addressed (or resolved) by driving the car or doing a driving cycle?

(And we cleaned the oil filter and have ordered a battery maintainer.)

Cheers, and thanks again,
Kathy

 

Assuming your car still has connections to all the intake and exhaust sensors these may have reset to zero when the battery went dead. They "should" report readiness after a number of start and run cycles. They are only important if you need to go for a smog test as the test will fail until they're ready. There's a recommended method to ensure they report ready someone will no doubt post a link to.

Did you have to enter the radio codes after the battery exchange? Many places have a little dongle they use to preserve these settings but those who swap batteries at home usually need the code.

-- Chuck

 

You reset the ECU by unplugging the battery.

None of the monitors will be "ready" until the right amount of drive cycles are met.

Totally normal.

 

You maybe expirience a rough idle now. After the batterie was disconnected, you have to do a idle re-learn process now.
Warm the engine up fully, switch off the radio, light, air condtion etc. (Everything beside the engine) and just let the car sit and idle for 10 Minutes. Done. The idle should be much better afterwards.