I need help tih my car battery

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vtecboy

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Hello,

i have a 2000 mitsubishi eclipse, with a 2 years old everstart battery from walmart.
It's having some troubles,if i let the car sit for 2 or 3 days,the battery it's unable to start the car,it cranks very slowly,not enough to start the engine. It's like the battery dosen't hold charge for long periods of time,i already did a parasitic draw test and everything is fine (it is 0.02 amp of parasitic draw).
I tested every cell in the battery with an hydrometer, and it shows charge on every cell,but the engine dosen't start.
Is it possible that the battery is bad even with charge in all the cells?
 
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Is the battery still under warranty? If so, I'd take it back to Walmart and have them load test it. Most likely it's a bad battery.
 
+2 bring it back for testing.

If it shows 10.5 volts you have a shorted cell; they will kick it back to you saying "charge it" tell them "you charge it" and only then will they be convinced it's a dud... sometimes.
 
Is it a JCI made battery or a Exide. I have seen both at Walmart over the years.

Charge it with a AC charger and drive to Walmart and have them test it. While it does not have to be fully charged for them to test it, I think its better.

Have you used the hydrometer to check the cells when it will not start the car? We are looking for a difference between cell.
 
Did this batt sit unused for a period of time? That is typically hard on a wet cell battery unless it is maintained. I had the exact same thing happen recently on a 2 year old battery in a truck I bought. It had sat for about 9 months with being started every week or two. Transmission was bad. After replacing the trans, I drove it for a week, but when truck sat for a couple of days, batt did not have enough capacity to start it. Batt capacity was very reduced and would not hold a charge for long. Replaced with a blemish from my battery guy for $37. Seems to be fine now.
 
Sounds like you've got a dud.

Bring it to a Walmart without an auto service center and they'll probably exchange without testing, provided you have the receipt of course.

If they hassle you ask for the manager and politely make a stink.
12.gif
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Could be a bad diode in the alternator, causing it to bleed charge.


He measured the parasitic draw and he said it it 0.02 Amps. In 100 hours (4 days) that would be 2 Amper-hours. The average car battery has about 50 Amper hours of charge, even if it was a small battery with only about 35 Amper-hours in 4 days that would be about 6 percent of the charge. That is not enough of a parasitic drain to make any differences if the battery and starter are good.


Sounds like a bad battery.
 
1. Clean battery terminals.
2. Tighten battery ground connection.
3. Tighten battery connection to starter.
4. Test Starter if battery and alternator check out OK.
5. Make sure you are using proper oil viscosity (could make all the difference on a cold start.
 
Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone


Bring it to a Walmart without an auto service center and they'll probably exchange without testing, provided you have the receipt of course.

If they hassle you ask for the manager and politely make a stink.
12.gif



WM is tightening down on their old policy of them just giving you a new battery at a lot of their stores. Most of them will now make you put it on their "analyzer" and the decision will be make by whatever the computer printout says. The analyzer testing can take over 90 minutes also. Don't go there wanting a new battery and be in a hurry at the same time. I guess they've had too much money lost in the car battery department.
 
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If somehow it turns out that your battery tests as good the next step IMO would be to look for any likely intermittent drains such as a flakey A/C relay, wonky ignition switch, and of course any aftermarket equipment such as alarms, radios, cell phone chargers and whatnot.
 
hello, thanks for the replies.

The battery is made by johnsons controls.
unfortunately the battery is out of warranty...warranty expired a few weeks ago.
The car is a daily driver but only short trips,less than 2 miles a day. Maybe that killed the battery,im not sure.
Is there anyway to test if the alternator is draining the battery?
Also theres almost no difference in the cells when tested with the hydrometer. every cell is in tha same range of charge.
I just fully charged it again with my AC charger. I'm going to leave the battery unpluged from the car,and see if it discharge by itself in 72 hours.
The voltage from the battery is 12.35v......14.45 with the engine running.

Thanks.
 
Less than 2 miles a day is the root cause. You keep pulling juice from the battery to start the car each day and it never gets recharged enough. It probably has sulphated cells and other damage. Check and see if there is a pro-rated warranty after the free replacement period. That would save you a few dollars on the new one.

You need a new battery for sure. Put the battery on a charger to help it out weekly if you can.
 
Originally Posted By: vtecboy
I already did a parasitic draw test and everything is fine (it is 0.02 amp of parasitic draw).
I tested every cell in the battery with an hydrometer, and it shows charge on every cell,but the engine dosen't start.
Is it possible that the battery is bad even with charge in all the cells?

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Originally Posted By: rfeir

1. Clean battery terminals.
2. Tighten battery ground connection.
3. Tighten battery connection to starter.
4. Test Starter if battery and alternator check out OK.


Take the car to a shop and have a starter draw test done, as well as checking voltage drop on your battery cables.
 
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Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone


Bring it to a Walmart without an auto service center and they'll probably exchange without testing, provided you have the receipt of course.

If they hassle you ask for the manager and politely make a stink.
12.gif



WM is tightening down on their old policy of them just giving you a new battery at a lot of their stores. Most of them will now make you put it on their "analyzer" and the decision will be make by whatever the computer printout says. The analyzer testing can take over 90 minutes also. Don't go there wanting a new battery and be in a hurry at the same time. I guess they've had too much money lost in the car battery department.


Or they may tell you that you have to take it to the store you purchased it from.
 
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