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

[Bob Spidell]

I have 4 cars and a truck, two old tractors, a quad, a Gator and a 
riding lawnmower; I spend quite a bit of time dealing with batteries and 
electrical systems. Modern batteries, say, those built in the last 20 
years or so, aren't generally built to last. Most of them are made by 
only a couple of companies, Johnson Controls being the largest, and most 
are now constructed in Mexico (I use a shop owned by a Hispanic man to 
rebuild my Britcar batteries and starters, and he told me Mexican 
batteries are 'crap;' he used to recommend Optima, but they were bought 
by JC (I think) and he quit recommending them). My '08 Mustang GT had 
two batteries die, with no warning, at almost exactly 3 years; both were 
'Motorcraft' brand, but if you look close you could see 'Johnson 
Controls.' Besides failing with no warning, which I attribute to 
internal shorting as someone suggested, I have lots of issues with 
leaking, causing the terminals to corrode and a mess in your engine 
compartment. I think the poor quality is due to thinner lead plates--a 
rule-of-thumb I use is the heavier the battery the better the 
battery--and cases are flimsier and they just don't bother to get good 
seals around the terminals. I shudder to think of what the Mexican 
battery factories look like.

The one battery brand that makes consistently good batteries is Deka, 
built by East Penn manufacturing in Pennsylvania (NFI). They source some 
of the common brands, like Duracell I think, and they seem to last. But, 
be careful, Napa, for instance, claims to get theirs from East Penn, but 
I bought one for my '19 Mustang the other day--yep, the OEM 'Motorcraft' 
leaked at 4 years, and I had to pull the whole box to clean it up--and 
the Napa had a 'Made in Korea' sticker on it; I'm not sure what to think 
(there is a Deka dealer on the far side of town; next time I make the 
drive). For the non-autos, I bought deep-cycle and starting 
batteries--both SLA--off Amazon with the brand 'Weizen;' they were among 
the cheapest but both have performed well and held up. I bought an 'X2 
Power' AGM for one of the Healeys and it's been nails for over 6 years.

Some of my vehicles have to sit for long periods; if so, I put them on a 
'smart' charger (I like BatteryMinder, I've heard good things about 
BatteryTender). These will not only keep your battery topped-up without 
overcharging, but claim to perform a 'desulfation' cycle periodically, 
which I believe involves pulsing the battery with a higher voltage (I 
got one specifically for AGMs for the Healey battery; at $300+ I want it 
to last and not fail in the middle of nowhere).

To answer OPs question, most dealers and shops these days use a battery 
tester in lieu of a load tester; they give a lot more info. I bought an 
even cheaper version of this one, but this one looks to have good 
quality clamps:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z67MMGC/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A3EMYY4GBP2W2D&psc=1

Bob


On 1/10/2024 5:19 AM, Ronnie Day wrote:
> We have a '15 Odyssey EX-L that we bought used about 4 years ago and I 
> just had to replace the battery in it for the second time. This time I 
> went with a Duracell AGM ($150, IIRC) from Sam's, The previous battery 
> was an old style lead acid from Wally World, bought because that was 
> pretty much all that was available in the small town where we were at 
> the time it quit on us. We live about 35 miles NW of Bryan/College 
> Station in Central Texas and have only just begun to get 
> occasional sub freezing weather, The old battery didn't give much 
> indication that it was on the way out before it quit, and due to the 
> battery location it's not easy to use a load tester to check it. As 
> you discovered it's risky to sit and listen to the radio without the 
> motor running. Been there...!
>
> As nice a vehicle as the Odyssey is, IMO it's too maintenance critical 
> much beyond 100K. At least Honda uses a larger 24F battery in it 
> instead of the smaller batteries we had in our Accords.  It draws a 
> LOT of power. The vehicle is basically a computer with wheels and a 
> motor, seriously! And you have to be careful with maintenance on that 
> motor. If you go past the 105K timing belt replacement recommendation, 
> there's a very real risk of lunching the motor due to a broken belt. 
> The cylinder deactivation setup, designed and included primarily to 
> get that V-6 through the required emissions period from new, is known 
> to probably cause excessive oil consumption on engines much past the 
> 105K unless it's deactivated. Honda dealers get around $2500 to do the 
> timing belt service, and then get another $500 to swap in new spark 
> plugs! I also feel the vehicle is relatively hard on tires, even 
> though I religiously have the tires rotated every 5K and keep a close 
> eye on the air pressure.
>
> We bought the Odyssey instead of a CR-V for a couple reasons, but we 
> haven't really needed the extra seats as often as we did when our 
> grandkids were younger. Next summer we're planning to buy a used Civic 
> (manual trans) or a Mazda 3 (manual or A/T) for use when it's just the 
> two of us. I don't like CVTs, Mazda doesn't use them at all. Either 
> car gets far better mileage than the low/mid 20s we get with the 
> Odyssey, and this will extend the useful life of the Odyssey considerably.
>
> This info may not help other than to let you know your 
> experience isn't unusual.
>
> RD
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 10, 2024 at 12:54 AM 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.)
>
>     Thanks,
>     Dwade
>
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