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Does new battery improve driving performance?
- Thread starter tlmprnpg
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Yep, I learned that one the hard way last spring with the motorhome.
Thanks for all the other battery and starting info. Guess my best bet is to go to Autozone and have them run their tester on the battery and charging system and not just plop a new battery in.
A lot of times a weak battery will kill an alternator.
The battery also provides an important filtering function (it acts like a capacitor).
I noticed that Crutchfield suggests that alternator noise problems (where the alternator whine can be heard in the vehicle's sound system) can be caused by a battery that needs water.
I noticed that Crutchfield suggests that alternator noise problems (where the alternator whine can be heard in the vehicle's sound system) can be caused by a battery that needs water.
OK, I will share my battery story. This happened to me about 9 or 10 years ago with my '82 Ramcharger, 318.
It started giving me an intermittent problem. I would be driving down the highway, and it would start missing. It would lose about 10 mph, even though I was holding the throttle steady. A few miles later, the problem would disappear as suddenly as it had appeared.
If I drove at least 70-80 miles, I could count on it doing this once, or sometimes twice. I chased the problem for months, and never did find the cause.
One day I went to start it, and it would barely turn over. I put a new battery in it and didn't give it another thought. Two or three weeks later, I realized that the intermittent miss was gone. I thought about when it had gone away, and realized it was about the time I had replaced the battery. The problem never did return.
Not sure what it was in the battery that was causing this, just telling my experience.
Jeff
It started giving me an intermittent problem. I would be driving down the highway, and it would start missing. It would lose about 10 mph, even though I was holding the throttle steady. A few miles later, the problem would disappear as suddenly as it had appeared.
If I drove at least 70-80 miles, I could count on it doing this once, or sometimes twice. I chased the problem for months, and never did find the cause.
One day I went to start it, and it would barely turn over. I put a new battery in it and didn't give it another thought. Two or three weeks later, I realized that the intermittent miss was gone. I thought about when it had gone away, and realized it was about the time I had replaced the battery. The problem never did return.
Not sure what it was in the battery that was causing this, just telling my experience.
Jeff
"I migth try to change the belt tensioner in next 15K when the timing belt is due."
If I had another timing belt I would make sure I changed the tensioner everytime the timing belt is changed, especially if I had one of thse engines that when the belt goes so does the engine (can't remember the name of these type engines, but, I remember the results).
If I had another timing belt I would make sure I changed the tensioner everytime the timing belt is changed, especially if I had one of thse engines that when the belt goes so does the engine (can't remember the name of these type engines, but, I remember the results).
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The illusion isn't as far fetched as you may think. Suppose you have one cell in the battery that's always weak? It will not retain or take enough of a charge to stop your alternator from producing drag.
New battery ..normal alternator hp drag.
New battery ..normal alternator hp drag.
Well I went to Autozone yesterday and had the battery and charging system tested. Charging system A-okay. Battery bad. Not that it is bad bad. After all the battery is starting the truck and holding voltage, but it failed the load test. Since the battery is almost 7 years old, has been seeping out the top for the past year or so, and I don't want to be stranded this winter, I bought a new battery. Got a Gold-Duralast (hope it is a good battery) with 875 cca and 1000 ca for $79.99. I think this should be the last battery I need to buy for this truck.
Anyway, I plugged in the cheapo 9 volt battery thingy into the powerpoint to hold the radio settings while the battery was out. 9v battery was good as I just tested it, but the radio lost its settings anyway, so I guess the computer lost its also. Funny thing, it seemed to run better this am. Could it be the new battery (less alternator drag per Gary Allen's comment) or could it be the reset computer? I should think the computer would do best when left plugged in, but if it's like this, maybe I'll get a battery cut off switch and cut it out about once a month or more as a matter of routine.
Anyway, I plugged in the cheapo 9 volt battery thingy into the powerpoint to hold the radio settings while the battery was out. 9v battery was good as I just tested it, but the radio lost its settings anyway, so I guess the computer lost its also. Funny thing, it seemed to run better this am. Could it be the new battery (less alternator drag per Gary Allen's comment) or could it be the reset computer? I should think the computer would do best when left plugged in, but if it's like this, maybe I'll get a battery cut off switch and cut it out about once a month or more as a matter of routine.
It will probably also cause your alternator to overheat and die. Ask me how I know.
Every once in a while someone on the old Contour mailing list would have a strange idle problem or running problem that would be cured by a computer reset.
Something in the keep-alive memory could be corrupted by flaky power or even a stray cosmic ray (not kidding about that one--it's one reason why mission-critical computers have ECC memory). Resetting the computer erases the keep-alive memory and the computer will populate it with new data.
Sure does!! Get an automatic battery charger and put it on the car/truck over-night. Your car will run better on a fully charged battery. BTW - most batteries are never fully charged and operate at a discharged condition while in a car/truck.
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