Battery question

[Falcon_LS]

I have a Motorcraft Tested Tough Plus on my Montero, which was installed in July 2009. Had no problems with it, and it's been working perfectly.

The other day, I noticed the top of the battery was wet, so I cleaned it up, removed the tab on top and added a bit of distilled water, since it appeared to be a bit on the low side. The cranking sounded a bit weak afterwards, but it worked alright.

The car sat for about 3 days and this morning, it did not crank. I jump started it, and it is holding a charge but it only registers 10.7V on my multimeter with the engine not running. A load test drops that down to 9.5V. With all the accessories on, my multimeter registers 13.8V at idle. I did also notice some water coming out of the vents and the top of the battery is wet again, so I reckon I unnecessarily added the distilled water. Having said that, when I kill the ignition with the door open, the dome lights immediately dim.

Would I be able to still use this battery if I remove the excess water with a turkey blaster and put it on charge for a couple of hours, or is this battery toast?

Thanks!

 

[Trav]

Acid does not evaporate just water so adding the water did no harm if it was low.
13.8v at idle means the charging system is functioning (no way to tell how well here from here).
I would bet the battery developed a bad cell.

 

[eljefino]

+1 more accurately a shorted cell. Dump this battery.

The charging system was pushing 13.8v into effectively a 10 volt battery not a 12 volt one, boiling (overcharging) the remaining 5 cells and causing the wetness you noted.

 

[jim302]

Normally, if your voltage drops that low when the battery should be fully charged, it means you have a bad cell. Based on this, I would strongly recommend replacing the battery before you get stuck in a bad part of town (or the middle of nowhere), which will surely happen at the worst possible time.

Your voltage is fine at idle after a jump start, which indicates your alternator should be OK. Continued running with a bad battery is not good for your alternator.

If it was over filled with water, and you try to remove any, be very careful. Wear thick gloves that the acid won't get through, and keep some baking soda and water on hand to neutralize any acid spills. Your battery will never be the same since you lost some electrolyte. Your current battery is toast, but this is just for future reference.

I don't see how over filling the battery caused the failure.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The battery is toasted, since it's only 1 year old you should take it back where you bought it to exchange for another one.

 

[bigmike]

Get rid of it. Be happy it didn't explode or strand you somewhere.

 

[mechtech2]

A wet battery can discharge, and being low will make it weak.
You DID say it was working perfectly.
Does your battery now hold a charge? Is the 'off' voltage 12.5 or so?

 

[bdcardinal]

It its the Tested Tough Plus it should still be under the full replacement period assuming you still have your receipt and they have the same warranties over there as in the States.

 

[Colt45ws]

Bad cell. Replace it.

 

[SIXSPEED]

Motorcraft Test Tough Plus (BXL) batteries have an 18 month free replacement warranty and a 84 month pro-rated warranty. I hope they still honor it overseas.

Your battery symptoms is how I usually determine a battery needs replacement.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Thanks very much for the input!

I just removed the battery and there is acid all over the place, so I'm going to be doing a bit of cleaning up in a few minutes.

This is the second Tested Tough Plus that has failed on me, lasting about a year and the warranty on this battery was only a year anyway. No idea why they have a different warranty coverage on it here. If the Tested Tough Max was available at the time I bought this, I would have gotten a 3 year warranty. Having said that, I'm replacing it with a Deka, which I assume is also a Johnson Controls battery. Recently installed a Deka VL65 in my Mercury, which is a sealed battery without the removable vents and the one I'm getting is the same.

 

[brianl703]

Deka is made by East Penn, not Johnson Controls.

 

[bigmike]

http://www.dekabatteries.com/

 

[eljefino]

Heat is not a battery's friend. Not suprised your warranties are shorter. The distributor sets the warranty terms.

Deka is really coming of age; everyone likes them and their distribution is getting better, many store brands. However, I don't see many 5 year old Dekas or people ranting about them yet.

 

[Trav]

Deka has been around since 1946.We had a 68 old 442 in here that had one in it that was 12 yrs old and still going.

 

[meep]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
+1 more accurately a shorted cell. Dump this battery.

The charging system was pushing 13.8v into effectively a 10 volt battery not a 12 volt one, boiling (overcharging) the remaining 5 cells and causing the wetness you noted.


^^^ +1 ^^^