Quote:
Originally Posted by Aluma007
This is the only car I've ever had to change out a battery on...but what really sucks is that it decided to kaput a couple of days AFTER my warranty ran out. :/
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Batteries are weird and the most unpredictable thing on a car. Way back in the day I had batteries boil completely dry from a faulty generator (yes I said generator not alternator), filled them with water from a ditch and got years more service out of them. Had more than one go flat and then freeze solid but work fine when thawed out and charged up. My 58 Ford sat in the driveway for about 4 years and I would only start it up every couple of months. The thing would start first crank every single time without even the slightest hesitation even though the battery never really got a full recharge and was well over 12 years old.
I have also had ones that just stopped working one day with no apparent reason or warning. Nothing could bring them back to life but that was a very rare occasion.
Then along came cars with ECUs, "smart" charging systems, Security systems you can shut off, key-less ignition and entry and all sorts of other electrical systems that were on all the time even with the car shut off. Now batteries all seem to just give up after a few years. The constant parasitic draw is the only thing that I can say is the real difference. My broke ass could not afford quality ones back in the day so a reduction in quality would seem to be ruled out. Now I just assume I will have to replace a battery within a few years no matter how much I watch the levels, keep the connections free of corrosion or perform any other preventative maintenance on them.