the relatively new OEM battery in my 2019 toyota died. I believe it sulfated due to lack of charging (car not driven enough). it would hold 12.5v overnight but otherwise completely dead. none of my normal battery chargers would charge it so I put it on a DC power supply at 16v @2.5a for 4 hours now. 5 of the cells are bubbling, the 6th is not. What does that mean? is the 6th cell toast? seems like it wouldn't hold 12v if the cell was shorted. but it doesn't appear to be taking a charge either. even if I crank it up to 10a the cell does nothing (while the others boil).
charging a sulfated battery
- Thread starter sky jumper
- Start date
Is it under warranty? Get it replaced if it is. I am not sure how easy it is to tell if a battery is sufated. Get battery tested on a Midtronics tester and replace if bad. Doubtful if you can fix this battery.
lol dealer said i have to tow the car to them at my expense to determine if they'd replace the battery. said if I remove it from the vehicle myself it would void any warranty. when I bought the car it was in the showroom 1mi on the odo, batt was complete dead from sitting there. I asked them to put a new battery in they said "nah we just charge them. we do this with every car we sell...". I already bought a new battery for the car, but i'd like to repurpose this one for another vehicle that has a battery from 2013 in it.
it measured 27mohm and 121 cca on my analyzer before I began the 16v forced charge.
Just because the battery will has a no/low load voltage of 12.5 doesn't mean all that much. That bad cell probably drops down to next to nothing under a load but can still put out a tiny amount of current at rest. If you put it back in the car and check the voltage while someone tries to crank it over for you, you'll probably see the voltage drop way down below 9 volts.
If it's still under warranty, you could drive it there with the new battery and ask them to put the OEM one back in and test it for you.
Jump start it and drive it in.
honestly I couldn't even jump it. my cables are not the best. I suppose I could start it with the new battery, then swap batteries with the car running... but I'm pretty sure they will deny warranty coverage anyway. easier to just buy a new $48 batt from walmart. which by the way measures 660 cca (585 rated) and about 5mohm. i'm a fan of the cheapo wmart batteries.
With no dead cells it should hold 13.2 minimum.
I would advise against pulling the battery while the engine is running. The battery acts like a filter; removing the battery from the circuit allows spikes and transients to travel around, which can adversely affect semiconductor circuits in the vehicle. I used to believe this was an old wives tale (done it a bunch of times with no issues) until I fried an alternator and caused some electrical gremlins in a car I used to own by doing this.
No you will potentially do damage.
uh what? you talking with the car running?
fully charged at 17f current temp would be way less than 13.2
this is more of a physical issue(bad cell) because the battery shows decent voltage at no load.. but craps out trying to start.
Dont remove the battery with the engine running as other have said. It not only acts as a filter but the charging system monitors the battery voltage and if it sees the voltage drop it will crank the current up and will most likely smoke the alternator. Check your car warranty, many of them include a roadside assistance for 1-3 years. If the dealer wants it towed in and you have roadside tell him to come get it its under warranty.
I would be raising a stink about their policy around removing the battery. My understanding of Magnuson-Moss is that the manufacturer has to prove your actions/aftermarket part/etc caused a failure in order to deny an otherwise valid warranty. There is no reason to believe that removing a battery from a car and bringing it to a shop for a load test would cause it to fail.
Get yourself a decent set of jumper cables (you should have a set for emergencies.)
Jump the thing and take it to the dealer.
Work your way up the dealership totem pole until you get what you are entitled to.
Save the money on a Walmart battery and buy a jump box to drive it to the dealer. Why you would want an aftermarket battery when you can get an OEM battery for free, is beyond me.
nah they are both made by Johnson Controls (I think its called Clarios now). the $48 walmart batt is every bit a good as the OEM. The one in my jeep is 7yrs old and still going strong. plus who knows how old & stale those dealer batteries are.
in my younger days I was a fanatic consumer justice warrior and would've fought and likely won this battle with the dealer. but i've since learned the value of "picking your battles". aside from the time & aggravation which greatly outweigh $48, there's also the near certainty the sadistic service tech or service "advisor" would exact vengeance by doing something foul to my car. maybe drag race it on the test drive. maybe wipe something nasty from the restroom on the steering wheel or shift knob, etc. many years ago my flight attendant friend told my horror stories about what they do to rude peoples drinks on planes, and I'm always the nicest passenger on the flight no matter how bad the service.
also - the battery has recovered enough that my 25a "smart" charger will now charge it. putting it on that overnight. will load test it tomorrow.
Ok, maybe not at 17 degrees F, but each cell is 2.2 volts X 6 =13.2.
When jumping the car, have the car that is running raise the rpms to 2500...wait about 2 minutes..then try to start the dead car, ive never seen where this did not work, even with crappy cables
