mkralj

For the past few days my cars had a bit of trouble starting.. like taking a bit longer. I first thought it was cuz its lot colder but today it took 3 tries for it to actually start...

im thinking its my battery (its the original one from the car - 99 se 200K kms), but I want to make sure before I go out and buy a new one its that.. how can I test it or go somewhere to get it tested?

basically the car takes a lot longer to start and the reason i'm almost 100% sure its battery is my radio was reset this morning. So i lost all my radio stations presets and it was trying to eject my cd which usually happens when i disconnect my battery... is this a for sure sign its the battery? or could it be the alternator?

its me.. mario

if it's your original 99 probably battery is shot -- holy ----.. batteries usually have a life cycle of 3 years

test by starting the car, disconnect the battery negative terminal... car stays running, it's your battery. car turns off, it's your alt..

mkralj

alrite.. ill try and go out at lunch and give that a try..

yeah i have no complaints for how long its lasted so far 7 1/2 years is pretty good..

mkralj

if it is the battery, what brand do you guys recommend going with for replacement?

JDM_gsR

contact Rrebel YO, he's selling optimas cheap

mkralj

yeah i was thinking that but his are the g2 size i believe which wont fit unless i relocate the battery

Royboy

I'm not sure if disconecting the battery terminal while the car is running is the best idea, it could cause a spike in the system and could do some damage. I had the same problem not too long ago. If you have access to a volt meter try this. Test the battery to read it's voltage white the car is off. It should be somewhere around 12.2-12.4 V. Start the car and see what the voltage is then, it should be closer to 14V while running. The problem I had not too long ago was that as soon as the car was shut off, the batter would die to almost 10V which is barely enough to start the car, and the problem was that one of the cells in the better was gone. New battery fixed the problem. When you test the batter whith the car on, if it's not near 14V, then the problem could be the alternator. Another option is to go to any repair shop, they should have a battery load tester, and you can get it tested to see what kind of condition its in.

clockwerk

...sounds like a job for nate....

check out the FOR SALE SECTION for the optima batteries

Frost YO[SMCR]

yea nate could help.. but hes not around now n days. Dave told me he might be tappin some Male Bum.

Gs-R-edline

^^^ oh shoot, smells like....poop??

James

Buff4Prez Yo

iTrader: (2)

i heard it was brown mitt attached to long legs

Mike, Take the battery to partsource they'll put it on a tester for you it'll tell you weather it's good or not.

Torqueless_In_Toronto

I also have an 99SE with original battery, Im pretty sure my battery is not operating at 100% peak efficiency anymore, but it still does the job just fine. Of course its going to take longer to start your car when its -18c outside and the oil is super thick!

Rrebel YO

seeing that your battery's around 7 years old that's pretty awesome. the average battery life is anywhere from 3-5 years. You've gotten some good life outta yours. If you were closer or if you were in Toronto whenever I'd test your battery for free. even charge it up if it needed it. I do run a battery shop
Batteries will always be harder to start in the winter. The chemical process in the battery slows down when its cold out (just as oil does in your engine), so it'll be sluggish...especially if its at the age that yours is.

If ya need one lemme know. I sell stock ones all the time.

We're so busy right now my shop is almost empty! (great for when inventory time rolls around)

Rrebel YO

Actually...

your battery was probably accepting a charge, but not holding a charge. that's why it dropped to 10v like you said.

and disconnecting the negative terminal from the battery while the car is running will cut power to your entire system...it's simple.

A fully charged battery should read 12.66 volts or higher on it's own (2.2 volts per cell in a 12 volt battery...cut that in half for 6 volts).
New advances in battery design technology will rise that fully charged rating a bit higher to around 12.75v in the near future (company product seminars are awesome )

A fully charged battery will never freeze in the cold. If it's discharged to a certain point it will, so be careful and take preventative maintenance measures.

With the car running and a properly working alternator the battery voltage should be reading anywhere from 13v - 14v+.
If your car is running and you check the voltage and it's lower than say 13 or even lower than 12 it could possibly mean that your battery is not accepting a charge and quite frankly won't hold it after the car is turned off or you have an alternator that's not working and therefore you're running your car straight off the battery which in turn will drain it's life away and potentially hurt the battery.

A battery at 12.45v is 75% charged. Any lower and it's a dice roll and you may have a hard time starting your car unless it has just been running and the alternator has given it a surface charge.

any more battery problem's out there?

mkralj

seems my car has been starting perfectly fine ever since I made the original post... so i guess it was just because of the cold... i'll see how it goes or get it tested just to make sure... thanks everyone for the replies