david1@mhuxl.UUCP (Rick Nelson) (12/20/85)
My 1983 Datsun MAXIMA's battery (30 months old, 26400 miles) has gone dead
twice within the past 3 weeks. The car will readily start with a jump. There
have been no warning signs that the battery was weak, no other problems
starting the car. It is kept in a garage, so temperature is not a factor.
The battery is a sealed maintenance-free one so the cells cannot be checked.
After jumping it the first time, everything was fine until 3 weeks later when
it was dead again. The car was run earlier in the day with no incident. That
night I measured only 7.5V on the battery after it wouldn't start. There is a
voltmeter on the dash rather than an idiot light. It shows that the battery is
being charged OK. I had the charging system checked anyway and it's OK.
Does this sound like a bad battery problem or something more subtle?
Rick Nelson
mhuxl!david1ccrse@ucdavis.UUCP (0058) (12/23/85)
>My 1983 Datsun MAXIMA's battery (30 months old, 26400 miles) has gone dead >twice within the past 3 weeks. The car will readily start with a jump. There >have been no warning signs that the battery was weak, no other problems >starting the car. It is kept in a garage, so temperature is not a factor. >The battery is a sealed maintenance-free one so the cells cannot be checked. >After jumping it the first time, everything was fine until 3 weeks later when >it was dead again. The car was run earlier in the day with no incident. That >night I measured only 7.5V on the battery after it wouldn't start. There is a >voltmeter on the dash rather than an idiot light. It shows that the battery is >being charged OK. I had the charging system checked anyway and it's OK. > >Does this sound like a bad battery problem or something more subtle? After having just been through a similar experience with my car, I put my bet on the battery. Maintenance-free batteries can apperently exhibit some strange symptoms when they're getting ready to die. Mine appeared to be fine sometimes, nearly dead (or dead) others. The charging system appeared to be OK, and load-testing the battery indicated that it was less than spectacular, but far from dead. If the car starts readily when jumped, your starter is probably OK. Try the following test on a weekend: Hook the battery to a charger at least overnight, then go out and turn on your headlights for about 15 minutes. After this, try to start the car. If it doesn't turn over, or just barely turns over, you can figure its the battery, otherwise, have the charging system checked more thoroughly. Try
ronc@fai.UUCP (ronc) (12/24/85)
>My 1983 Datsun MAXIMA's battery (30 months old, 26400 miles) has gone dead >twice within the past 3 weeks.... >...There is a >voltmeter on the dash rather than an idiot light. It shows that the battery is >being charged OK. I had the charging system checked anyway and it's OK. > >Does this sound like a bad battery problem or something more subtle? > > Rick Nelson > mhuxl!david1 **** You might keep an eye on the voltmeter at night when you have a lot of things turned on. Could be you need a new alternator belt. The belt is turning the alternator during light loads, but when the load gets heavy and the alternator gets harder to turn, the belt starts slipping, and you start eating the battery. Happened to me. Took it in twice to have the charging system checked, but nothing wrong. Except once every 2 or 3 weeks the battery would go dead. (This is a Pontiac we're talking about, if it makes any difference.) I finally changed the belt and cinched it tight, and after 6 weeks didn't have a recurrance of the problem. A cheap fix. Try it. Ron -- -- Ronald O. Christian (Fujitsu America Inc., San Jose, Calf.) ihnp4!{pesnta,qubix}!wjvax!fai!ronc Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: "If you are seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it."
temin@ut-sally.UUCP (Aaron Temin) (12/26/85)
Another thing to check is whether there is a drain on the
battery when you think there shouldn't be. You can check this
with a voltmeter with the engine off. I had a small but
constant drain from the courtesy light in my glove box -- the
door didn't shut well and the light was always on. It was only
a problem when the car sat idle for more than 24 hours in a row.
Aaron
Aaron Temin, CS Dept., University of Texas, Austin, Texas
temin@SALLY.UTEXAS.EDU, {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!temin
--
Aaron Temin, CS Dept., University of Texas, Austin, Texas
temin@SALLY.UTEXAS.EDU, {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!teminsvirsky@ttidcb.UUCP (William Svirsky) (12/30/85)
In article <411@mhuxl.UUCP> david1@mhuxl.UUCP (Rick Nelson) writes: >My 1983 Datsun MAXIMA's battery (30 months old, 26400 miles) has gone dead >twice within the past 3 weeks.... I would first check that the fan belt on the alternator was tight enough. It could be that it is slipping somewhat so that the battery is charging adequately most, but not all, of the time. Then clean both the battery terminals and the inside of the battery clamps. Scrape them clean with a knife or some other type of scraper. Wire brushing doesn't always get all of the corrosion off. Make sure that you can't, in fact, check the electrolyte level of the battery. Many of the maintenance-free batteries I've seen state on the battery that although the battery is designed to be maintenance-free, in unusual conditions some of the electrolyte may be lost and will have to be replaced. I've seen 3 maintenance-free batteries that needed to have water added to them. You can also have the battery load tested at almost any auto service facility. They test the battery to see how it takes a charge and how well it responds to a "starter" load. This should be cheap. They should also be able to cheaply test your charging system. -- Bill Svirsky Citicorp/TTI 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 Work phone: 213-450-9111 x2597 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcb!svirsky "I love it when a plan comes together." Hannibal Smith