I SORN my car mostly at the moment. I've learned to disconnect the battery and the car seems to start up every few weeks OK. The starter is a bit sluggish as you'd expect, but the strange thing is that the battery shows a little green "charged" window and my cheap-and-cheerful charger also reports a green light to indicate that the battery is fully charged.

I took the car for an MOT today and they told me that they had to 'jump start' the car 5 mins after i left it, despite my 5 mile drive to the station. (Happily it passed without any other hassle)

So, is the battery shot? It's a good 5-6 years old but i've not had a battery show as fully charged before when it was knackered. Could it be anything else?

Thanks.

 

Snap, mine did this at the last mot, started the car to go the station, started again to go inside for the test, and then gave up the ghost, new battery and a new mot I was still happy.

 

Just charge it, or if it won't take charge try to. Then leave it overnight. If it's less than 12.5v it's pretty f+cked.

Which is my guess in this case
I use a ctek.. they are not foolproof but deffo prolong life

 

5-6 years is good going for battery, even the best warranty is 4 years, infrequent use may not help it.

 

Thanks for the input - i guess the circumstances were not as unusual as they seemed to me.

 

Surface charge is all ya see measuring voltage, looking at the little green thingie, or on your battery charger. At a certain point batteries just die. Turn the headlights On and crank the engine for a quickie load test. If the lights go all the way off or the car won't crank it's time for a new battery. (Auto store will have a more exotic tester.) My experience indicates daily driver car's batteries last longer and weekend or rarely driven go quickly maybe two or three years even on a battery tender.

-- Chuck

 

Ti's the seasion for dead battery denial, as it gets colder marginally poor battries become very poor ones, give them one chance with a full recharge, if it won't hold it's time to change. Hanging on to a duff battery is just frustrating, accept the enevitable!

 

You should see better using a tender. I think I am on year 6 on the Napa battery in my S2k. Up until this year it lived in MN. Driven about 5000 miles per year and sitting on a tender from about November 1 until late April. Still going strong knock on wood.

 

For most batteries yes, that is getting up there in age. The battery that came in my 2005 Scion when I bought it new lasted 10 years in MN winters though. I actually tried to find the same battery that came in the car new as a replacement but it was over $400 at the time! But looking back, may have been worth it. Replaced with an Optima Red Top which are pretty much garbage anymore. That one and the one that I put in our 4runner the year before did not even last 3 years. Have a Bosch in that car now and it seems to be doing well at least. But doubt I will see another 10 year one like the original.

 

I've definitely got better life by using a tender. 7 years on my last battery, and it was only toast as I forgot to put on the tender over the prior winter. Was too late by the time I realized I hadn't plugged it in.

I put less than 1000 miles on mine per year for the last 8-9 years.