Battery issues

[Micro]

Hi guys,

Recently (past month), i've been having little hiccups with my car - I went camping and didn't use my car for a few days other than to charge my phone for an hour or so once. Came back to it the next morning, and car sounded different when I unlocked it. Tried to start and had constant clicking when holding the key. Had to jump the car (now read that can be a bad idea, but otherwise stuck!) which started it fine. 3 weeks on, same issue except managed to start it on the one turnover by pressing the accelerator pedal also. Has done it a few times since.

Voltages (at the battery):

Engine off, car sat for an hour: 12.4V

Engine on, smart charge plug attached to alternator: 14.0-14.1V

Engine on, smart charge plug disconnected: 13.9V

Engine on, smart charge plug connected or disconnected: EVERYTHING on (2 heated screens, fans on 4, all lights on), battery visibly discharging down to 8.5-9V at which point the battery light comes on all within 2 minutes.

Unable to test parasitic draw with car locked and all systems asleep as my multimeter and test leads do not allow enough current to pass to lock the doors >.<

Personally thinking the battery has just reached the end of its life at 6 years of service? Going to have it load tested tomorrow at a local auto electric place - gonna place it on our charger tonight to make sure it's fully charged. Also considered the alternator.

[alexp999]

Sounds like battery to me.

[Micro]

Decided I was being a donut, so locked the doors before disconnecting the battery and putting my meter in series. After about 5-10 minutes current dropped to 250mA~ and after 45 mins current dropped to 40mA~. So parasitic draw not a concern (relief...).

Pulled the battery out of the car to charge in the house tonight, does anyone know if you can/are supposed to check the water in this battery? (Ford Silver Calcium, 43Ah, 390A). It looks like the covers are removable, but prying with a screwdriver just seems to mall the plastic surround... can you tell the last time I had anything to do with a 12v lead acid battery was a long time ago?!. Appears to have a date code on the terminal, 42/09 (42nd week, 2009?)

[Russ]

They're 'sealed for life' so can't top them up.

[Micro]

3 minutes ago, Russ said:

They're 'sealed for life' so can't top them up.

Thought so. Off to the battery shop in the morning, old battery in hand!

Replacing with a calcium battery, is it really important to replace with a Ford Silver Calcium battery, or is this correct (http://www.yuasa.co.uk/info/technical/silver-calcium-batteries) and I can replace with a battery whos chemistry includes Calcium?

[Russ]

Yep that's the right battery, I bought a yuasa calcium battery for my Focus just a couple of months ago and it's a good battery, had one in my fiesta mk6 as well.

[Micro]

Just now, Russ said:

Yep that's the right battery, I bought a yuasa calcium battery for my Focus just a couple of months ago and it's a good battery, had one in my fiesta mk6 as well.

Grand, will ring my Ford garage too just to inquire about their price (expecting £55-70 for a branded battery?) before I head down to have the battery load tested too. It will probably end up in my lean-to with a solar panel just to provide a bit of light in the darkening evenings...

[Tdci-Peter]

3 minutes ago, Micro said:

does anyone know if you can/are supposed to check the water in this battery?

Water check is not a normal operation. I think it is possible to remove the cover, to do a water level, or a good old hydrometer test, it will mark the plastic badly, but that is not important if it is duff anyway.

1 hour ago, Micro said:

Engine on, smart charge plug connected or disconnected: EVERYTHING on (2 heated screens, fans on 4, all lights on), battery visibly discharging down to 8.5-9V

You are doing right to charge it, 24 hours min, preferably more, with 14.4 to 14.8v at the terminals. It is either flat or duff, so overcharge won't matter.

The alternator should be able to sustain a reasonable load while the engine is idling, perhaps both screens was too much for it.  If the battery goes flat again, repeat that test with varying degrees of load, to see what the alternator can put out while keeping to 13v or more at idle.

40mA of parasitic draw seems a bit on the high side to me, that is 1AH per day, or 7AH in one week. Not much for a 43AH battery, but at 6-7 years old, it will not have 43AH now. With that load, either use the car every couple of days at least, or fit a solar panel trickle charger.

I have read that Yuasa note before. They are a major manufacturer with a reputation. If that note was substantially false, there would be trouble, and masses of warranty claims, about it by now. So I think you can accept that assurance. I use the Bosch S5 range, which does claim to be a calcium-silver alloy.

[Micro]

1 hour ago, Tdci-Peter said:

You are doing right to charge it, 24 hours min, preferably more, with 14.4 to 14.8v at the terminals. It is either flat or duff, so overcharge won't matter.

Got an old battery charger, not sure if it's microcontrolled or not. Currently 14.75V (multimeter) climbing slowly with its charge indicator indicating 100%. Now at 14.8V and hovering, so appears as if it's doing the job.

As for the parasitic draw, it may drop even lower but got to that point and was happy with the result... plus the heavens opened 

 

Edit: 

Charger keeps rising 0.1V then holding, appears to drop off then charges back up again. Currently at 15V...  The Bosch S4 appears to be a Silver-calcium composition, and at £53 from Eurocarparts not too bank breaking either! Half tempted to pay the £5 extra and get the 60Ah...

battery voltage got to 15V and audible fizzing could be heard... All in all, 1.5 hours at a "normal" charge (the charger states 8.5A...), and the voltage is at the upper limit.

[Tdci-Peter]

1 hour ago, Micro said:

Battery voltage got to 15V and audible fizzing could be heard.

I think I would give up there, and chuck it (the battery) out!

Not bad price. I got mine from JustCarBatteries. http://www.justcarbatteries.co.uk/

Worth a compare.

The extra AH should translate into extra life, as it will be used over a smaller part of its capacity. Also it should have higher CCA for the really cold weather.

Sounds like a fairly crude charger if it can go up that high. Use with some caution, or replace it with an electronic regulated one, I would recommend.

[Micro]

21 minutes ago, Tdci-Peter said:

The extra AH should translate into extra life, as it will be used over a smaller part of its capacity. Also it should have higher CCA for the really cold weather.

Sounds like a fairly crude charger if it can go up that high. Use with some caution, or replace it with an electronic regulated one, I would recommend.

The charger is at least 20 years old. As such things as a booster pack, I haven't needed one so haven't bought one! I have thought about it though as my car is getting on a bit. The lithium boost packs are quite affordable and will start the car a few times on one charge (and can be used for other things too).

battery will be going back in the car in the morning, and off to the auto electrician for a load test just to be sure (although I think i've already proved it's dying!).

[Micro]

Bought a new Bosch S4 004 60Ah from ECP for £49 with discount code. Up til about 10am it was showing as £42 with discount code but the cheeky swines must have changed the price!

Anyway, car is sorted now hopefully, and not too much of a dent in the wallet.

[mrmetallica]

i wish i hadn't read this topic.I've just had to buy a new battery this morning .gone out to the car 3 times in the past few months and just got the dreaded clicking when turning the car over had the battery tested and was told it is just draining so new battery