Battery Question

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CW - 16 Jul 2004 01:20 GMT

My battery is putting out 12.3V with the car off. I used a cheap
battery tester and it indicates my battery is 75% charged.

Q: Does this mean that the battery is on it's way out? Is it
possible that the battery is good and that the alternator is not
charging it properly? The only symptom is slightly longer cranking
time to startup than I am accustomed to. It used to fire right up and
now requires 2-3 seconds on occasion.

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Jim - 16 Jul 2004 01:39 GMT

> My battery is putting out 12.3V with the car off. I used a cheap
> battery tester and it indicates my battery is 75% charged.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> time to startup than I am accustomed to. It used to fire right up and
> now requires 2-3 seconds on occasion.

The 12.3 is fine. I wouldn't put much stock in the cheap specific
gravity tester. You say it takes longer cranking. Does it crank slower?
How old it the battery? If it is cranking slower and the batt is >3 yrs
old, I'd change it.

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Don't Reply to this address - 16 Jul 2004 05:21 GMT

Get your battery tested with a tester that puts a load on it. Most of the
chain type (and independent) auto parts places will test it for free,
hoping you'll spring for a battery if it's needed. A no load test means
little and a cheap battery tester is likely not calibrated all that
accurately anyway.

As a battery ages its internal resistance increases and the terminal
voltage under heavy load, like the starter, will go way, way down and when
it gets too low, the starter doesn't turn over very fast and the engine is
apt to have a harder time starting. Once the internal resistance of the
battery increases too much it's a lost cause and you're better off putting
your $$$ into a new battery and not get yourself stuck unable to start
when it's very inconvenient to get a jump start to get you home.

I replaced my original battery in my '99 Maxima at about 4 years and it
was beginning to show its age even though I live in a relatively warm
climate. There was a sale on and I figured it was a good time to keep
from being stuck somewhere when I couldn't easily get home with the car.

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Address is NOT monitored due to SPAM volume from newsgroups. DO NOT REPLY
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Richard Tomkins - 17 Jul 2004 03:27 GMT

http://www.batterystuff.com/battery/battery_tutorial.htm

This site says it, hot weather is hardwer on a battery than cold weather. A
battery standing in hot weather will discharge faster than a battery
standing in cold weather. A discharged battery ends up in sulfication, the
sulphur attaches itslef to the plates and this leads to early failure.

rtt

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CW - 18 Jul 2004 03:24 GMT

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 04:21:15 GMT, in alt.autos.nissan.maxima you
wrote:

>Get your battery tested with a tester that puts a load on it.

Just to follow up, I went to Autozone to get the alternator and
battery tested. AFter connecting the machine and having me start the
car and then rev to 2000rpm for a while, he concluded that "he thinks"
the battery is bad and that the alternator is fine. He didn't seem
very certain though (just me trying to read his expression). He did
say that on startup, the voltage dropped to 8V at one point. I did
end up buying a new battery since the one I had was at least 3 years
old.

Thanks for the comments. My car still takes longer to crank than is
normal. I think perhaps the starter I replaced 2 years ago maybe
going now.

Carleton

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