I have an old Japanese car that I store for the winter. I keep the battery in the basement, and in the days leading up to its first start in the spring, I keep it on a trickle charger for a few days until its fully charged. Car will start first try, no issues.Except this year, I am having issues. After installing the battery, I went to start it, and it sounded at first as if the starter was seized. Try again, it cranks slowly like the battery is dead. Try again, cranks slow, but then suddenly to cranks fast and fires. I let it run for 30 mins, there is a digital voltmeter in the dash. Shows two bars above center like usual. Turn off car, turn on to accessories, and that's when I notice despite running for so long, the voltmeter is showing a low reading, like only 2 or 3 bars. Try again, it again acts weird, between not wanting to start, and then suddenly working.I have had issues in the past where if the weather is cold enough, the starter sticks and grinds, so I know there is some faint issue with the starter and its as old as the car (over 30 years old). Is it possible the starter is wonky?I bring battery back inside, put on charger, but within 5 mins it says its charged. I leave it on all night, put back in car this morning, and as soon as I turn to key to accessories, the voltmeter is showing too low. When I go to start, it goes all the way down to one bar, slow crank, like its a dead batt. Try again, slow crank. Then suddenly on the 3rd try it fires.Went to car wash close to my house, I did not turn the car off. Voltmeter shows two bars above middle like it should the entire time. Go back home, it had run for one hour at this point. Turn off car, turn to accessories, the voltmeter is showing too low again! Takes about three tries to start. I am getting no battery warning light indicating I am having low voltage while the car is running.
The battery is many years old, I always keep it inside during the winter, its maintained, however is it possible the battery is dead or close to death, and "quick charges" while on my home charger but its actually fucked? I had this happen with an old cell phone with a bad battery that would hardly hold a charge but when plugged in, charged fast.Is it possible it's the alternator? You'd think if that was the case, the car would have died while I was running it at the car wash, as at that point it would have run purely off the battery.Or is it the starter? Or some other electrical issue?
It’s 95% the battery. Get it tested at auto one or whatever. Please learn to condense your words, you type like you’re on a speed binge.
>>28967614>It’s 95% the battery. Get it tested at auto one or whatever.Even though I left it on the charger, it's simply not holding a charge that well anymore? I think its about 10 years old, but never exposed to harsh winters.>Please learn to condense your words, you type like you’re on a speed binge.Kek, I just wanted to explain things so people have a scope of the problem.
>>28967616>battery is 10 years old.I guarantee it’s the battery. We don’t have winters here and batteries don’t last that long. Just had to replace the one for my 5yo UTV this week. It’s the obvious answer and the easiest thing to check.
>>28967608>>28967616Dude your battery is 99% surely dead, most of car batteries die at 3-8 years even with good care. Batteries that die at 1-2 years are often completely neglected batteries- or in some cases undersized for the car. 9+ years is amazingly good and very rare lifespan for car batteries, nothing lasts forever.
>>28967614can you imagine this guy trying to fix your computer at work"ok let me defrag the SSD first before we address your Outlook problem"
>>28967616>so people have a scope of the problem.you didn't even mention the model of the car you absolute midwit
>>28967792What do you think it is then, kid?What would you look at first in OP’s situation?Also, I used to be a sysadmin, I skipped the piddling help desk stuff.
>>28967792Batteries don’t usually last that long and are free to test. You don’t have to disassemble a thing. Why not check the free, obvious thing first?
>>28967804yes the OP is a massive dickhead, walls of text that fail to mention the model of the car
>>28967608The battery should be on a trickle charger through the whole winter. Just storing it inside isn't enough, lead acid batteries discharge on their own and once discharged they start to take damage.Replace it or stick it on a charger that has a desulfation function.
>>28967616Was the battery deep discharged a couple of times?
>>28967617>>28967629I went and checked the battery with a multimeter and yeah, I conclude it's the battery. It's only showing 10.19 volts with the car turned off. It should be in the 12 volt range.It might be closer to 11 or 12 years old.>>28967914I used to simply take the battery out of a summer car in the fall, store in basement, and throw it back in the car in the spring, and I did this for years with no issues, until the battery got old enough (around 8-9 years) that it started failing. I later on learned the importance of charging in house so as to not kill the alternator. However a good battery shouldn't loose *too* much charge just sitting in a basement. That is why I would trickle it for a few days or a week before I start the spring car. Been doing that for years and it was fine till now, so guessing age just caught up with it.>>28968009I don't think it was. As I said a good battery shouldn't loose too much charge in a cool basement. I think the age of 10 plus years is what finally did it in.
