[Shop-talk] Stranded by a bad car battery.

[Moose]

One more note of stupidity on this topic.  Modern Range Rover requires 
their computer to change a battery!

That's right, you need to tell their computer there is a new battery.

I'm not sure if other makes are going this way, but it is one item on the 
long list of reasons I'll never own another RR!

Moose



From:   Dwade Reinsch <dreinsch at swbell.net>
To:     David Scheidt <dmscheidt at gmail.com>, old dirtbeard 
<dirtbeard at gmail.com>
Cc:     "shop-talk at autox.team.net" <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
Date:   01/12/2024 23:12
Subject:        Re: [Shop-talk] Stranded by a bad car battery.
Sent by:        "Shop-talk" <shop-talk-bounces at autox.team.net>



Thanks to all who added to my knowledge base for modern cars and 
batteries.

I replaced the old battery the next morning, started right up, and 
continues to run perfectly.  I guess I'll just have to have battery tested 
after about three years of use.

Thanks again!!

Dwade



On Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at 04:10:50 PM CST, old dirtbeard 
<dirtbeard at gmail.com> wrote: 


Hi David, 

Yes, I do understand about the lead acid chargers. I have accumulated many 
over the last 50 years. 🙂

Best,

Doug
mobile

From: Shop-talk <shop-talk-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of David 
Scheidt <dmscheidt at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2024 9:17:13 AM
To: Dwade Reinsch <dreinsch at swbell.net>
Cc: shop-talk at autox.team.net <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Stranded by a bad car battery. 
 


On Jan 10, 2024, at 00:48, Dwade Reinsch <dreinsch at swbell.net> wrote:

 
This afternoon I was sitting in the 2016 Honda Odyssey van waiting for 
granddaughter to finish a theater activity and I went to sleep in the 
front seat.  Had the radio and inside lights on.  When she finished and 
came out, car would not start.  Completely dead.  Electric seat would not 
come back to driving position, etc.

Here's the question:  In the old days a weak battery would give notice by 
cranking slowly, etc., before failing.  This is the car I drive regularly 
and it gave NO warning.  Luckily, I could call son-in-law and he came to 
help.  Would not start with good set of booster cables.  Would not start 
with 15 minutes of charging on cables before attempting to start.  So in 
the morning I'll take pickup and tools and pull battery, get a 
replacement, and move the van home.

Does anyone have a suggestion for identifying a failing battery before 
being stranded?  (Battery is about 4 years old.)


If used properly, the conductance testers work well.  Not cheap, but every 
auto parts store will test for you, assuming your battery is accessible. 
Many cars, starting just a bit later than your ofdesy, have state of 
charge and battery performance information tracked by the computer. 
(OnStar sent me email telling me the battery is low when I left my car on 
to listen to the ballgame at a campsite. I also get a monthly email, which 
told me to replace the battery for a couple months before I actually had 
it replaced.)

Modern cars have much higher loads at start time, and lots of them require 
a reasonably good voltage to turn the computer on.  Without that, the car 
won’t do anything (the computer controls the starter solenoid on most 
cars).  The various computers also control all the other parts, which is 
why the seat couldn’t move. 

This fall, I drove my wife’s fusion to the garage to do the brakes. I 
turned off and on a couple times to get it spotted in the right spot. The 
third time I tried to start it, battery was dead. 20 seconds earlier, it 
fired on instantly, with no slow cranking.  Since I was in the garage, I 
had a battery charger handy. 10.2 volts or something like that. Putting 
the charger on lowest setting let it start.  Plenty of joules in the 
battery, just not enough voltage to turn the ecm on. (I replaced the 
battery before pulling it out of the garage, it was 4 or 5 years old.)
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