# Battery Issues



## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

What is the known age of the battery ? I just had to replace mine that did the same as yours and it was exactly 5 years old. Few batteries live passed 5 years as the cells in them start dying and will not take a charge or even hold one for long. 

When I replaced mine, I was told by the auto parts store when I asked for a five year warranted battery, he told me they only sell 3 year batteries now....that MAY last 5 years if one is lucky. And in case you have not checked, be prepared for sticker shock. My battery 5 years ago was $75.00. Its replacement cost me $158.00 !!. JMO


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

After charging up the battery I'd suggest going to your local parts store and have them test both the battery and the charging system. A discharged battery will almost always test bad so you want the battery charged up first. That should let you know where to spend your money.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

Put a meter on the battery with the engine running. Should show about 14V. That means the alternator is working. If that works, pull the battery and take it to autozone. They'll charge and test for free. Takes about an hour..

This happened on my Navigator about 6 months ago. I have a battery/alternator tester I got from Amazon, so I just attached it to mine, 10 seconds later it said "replace battery." So I did. The end.


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## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Something is draining the battery when the vehicle is off. To find the culprit, pull the fuses of everything that uses juice 24/7. That would include a clock, maybe the radio too, disconnect the GPS & anything that charges in the cigarette lighter. Then disconnect one of the cables on the battery. Connect a 12V test light to the disconnected pole & the other end to the disconnected cable. If you disconnected the negative cable, one end of the test light goes to the empty negative pole & the other to the negative cable. If the test light lights, there is still something that is draining juice.
Also, if the battery has caps that cover the cells, remove them & fill the battery if the water is low.


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

Guap0_ said:


> Something is draining the battery when the vehicle is off. To find the culprit, pull the fuses of everything that uses juice 24/7. That would include a clock, maybe the radio too, disconnect the GPS & anything that charges in the cigarette lighter. Then disconnect one of the cables on the battery. Connect a 12V test light to the disconnected pole & the other end to the disconnected cable. If you disconnected the negative cable, one end of the test light goes to the empty negative pole & the other to the negative cable. If the test light lights, there is still something that is draining juice.
> Also, if the battery has caps that cover the cells, remove them & fill the battery if the water is low.


Or connect a meter in series with the negative cable and post. Set to milliamps. A normal draw is about 50 milliamps. Make sure doors are shut and wait for all the systems to to sleep. This can take up to an hour for some cars.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

You can waste a lot of time analyzing this, but if it is the OEM battery from 2010 99% chance it is just done. Replace it and move on.


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## smokeeater360 (Nov 9, 2016)

I did take it to auto zone and had it checked both ways. Battery was charged at 100% off of my personal battery charger. Put battery back in truck and drove it back to auto zone and they hooked the meter up and it wa charging at 14.9 i believe he said.


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## smokeeater360 (Nov 9, 2016)

Already have.....checked out good both ways......by itself and when in truck with engine running.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

What is the battery voltage when not charging? I suspect it is dying.


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## danomac (Sep 2, 2010)

Bigplanz said:


> Or connect a meter in series with the negative cable and post. Set to milliamps. A normal draw is about 50 milliamps. Make sure doors are shut and wait for all the systems to to sleep. This can take up to an hour for some cars.


Newer vehicles can have draws as high a 90ma (which is considered normal.) All them damn computers...


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Use a battery cable cleaning brush, on the battery posts, and cables.

A little corrosion is common, and eventually causes problems. Just like you describe, 

then test the battery for a draw down, using a commercial tester, 

( VAT-40, in the old days),

Autozone should have one of these in their building for testing batteries, out of the vehicle.

ED


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