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Rather than start a duplicate thread I'll revive this one! I bought a new JC walmart battery in July for my Rav 4. Went out today to do some maintenance and noticed some corrosion on the hold down bracket. I removed the caps and it was wet with acid underneath. So it is leaking around the fill...

Is there any way to determine the primary mechanism based on battery characteristics / symptoms at failure? I am trying to get my head around how an EOL battery would be able to start the car (sufficient CCA) but have near zero capacity. I can remember decades ago that the usual failure mode...

Is this a common occurrence with current production? Where do they leak from? Around the terminals? Case crack?

So what are the mechanisms that cause a lead-acid battery to age? By "age" I am mostly referring to (reserve) capacity loss. Do the plates actually disintegrate over time or is it sulfation that inactivates them?

This was not with a secondary charger but with the "smart" one in the car.

This was not to my knowledge a maintenance free type of battery. It had removable caps. I never had to add much water especially towards the end of its life.

Regardless of website I always start with the lowest rated reviews. This limits the amount of reading required and may give some great details on common problem areas. However you still have to filter out the user can't read instructions / improper use scenarios but usually this is pretty obvious.

It is not, but even during this time there were some issues. Once I turned the radio on while I was waxing the car and it killed the battery enough that it wouldn't start. Same thing happened about 6 months ago. Battery got so low that the radio shut off. While I was scratching my head with the...

Have you had a chance to try any of the newer versions of the Optimate chargers? The newer models don't look like yours so something has changed. Maybe for the better. Maybe not. Since they are not sold on sites like Amazon it is hard to find many reviews.

Well, I have gotten 10 years out of an OEM battery in my 2001 Highlander without the "smart" charger. My usage has also decreased due to retirement and the new battery is a JC unit from Walmart so likely lower quality to start with.

I have recently discovered that the "smart" charger in mt 2016 Toyota Rav4 is not as smart as it thinks it is (goes for the whole car!) and chronically undercharges the battery. I recently replaced the original OEM battery because it had near zero capacity but would still start the car just...