I have a bunch of collector cars I drive through the summer so my 2003 Subaru Baja normally sits in my garage from April to November. My wife has her own personal vehicle and we have a 1998 Chevy conversion van which is our family car.
So last April, I gave my Subaru a good cleaning and wax job and parked it in my garage and hooked a trickle charger to the battery. At some point I was topping off batteries with distilled water on some of my other cars and decided to top the battery off on my Subaru. It was somewhat low. I try to do this on each vehicle at least one a year but sometimes forget.
I normally keep a record on everything I do to my vehicles but forgot to write down when I installed a new battery, so I'm not sure of it's age. This makes the 3rd battery that's been on this car. The one from the factory lasted 4 years. The second one lasted maybe 4 or 5 years as well. So this one has maybe been on the car for 4 or 5 years. Since I've had the car for about 15 years.
So I finally took it to the dealership to have the defective passenger Takata airbag replaced. Well come to find out the dealership said mine did not have this air bag after all!
The day I took it in, the interior light was not lit up and the battery was dead as a door nail. I checked the voltage after disconnecting the trickle charger and it was less than 2 volts.
Last time I checked, the LED on the trickle charger was still burning. But I guess I need to see if the charger itself didn't die.
I have no idea how long the battery had been sitting there dead. I found if they do go dead, if you can recharge them within a couple of days they can be saved. But if they sit for any length of time, they are toast.
After I got it home, I gave full charge and so far it seems to be holding but I say the battery is going to need replacing.
Could topping the battery off with distilled water while hooked to a trickle charger have done something to the battery?
I have trickle chargers connected to all of my vehicle's batteries if they sit for more than a couple of weeks. This is the first experience I've ever had like this.
So last April, I gave my Subaru a good cleaning and wax job and parked it in my garage and hooked a trickle charger to the battery. At some point I was topping off batteries with distilled water on some of my other cars and decided to top the battery off on my Subaru. It was somewhat low. I try to do this on each vehicle at least one a year but sometimes forget.
I normally keep a record on everything I do to my vehicles but forgot to write down when I installed a new battery, so I'm not sure of it's age. This makes the 3rd battery that's been on this car. The one from the factory lasted 4 years. The second one lasted maybe 4 or 5 years as well. So this one has maybe been on the car for 4 or 5 years. Since I've had the car for about 15 years.
So I finally took it to the dealership to have the defective passenger Takata airbag replaced. Well come to find out the dealership said mine did not have this air bag after all!
The day I took it in, the interior light was not lit up and the battery was dead as a door nail. I checked the voltage after disconnecting the trickle charger and it was less than 2 volts.
Last time I checked, the LED on the trickle charger was still burning. But I guess I need to see if the charger itself didn't die.
I have no idea how long the battery had been sitting there dead. I found if they do go dead, if you can recharge them within a couple of days they can be saved. But if they sit for any length of time, they are toast.
After I got it home, I gave full charge and so far it seems to be holding but I say the battery is going to need replacing.
Could topping the battery off with distilled water while hooked to a trickle charger have done something to the battery?
I have trickle chargers connected to all of my vehicle's batteries if they sit for more than a couple of weeks. This is the first experience I've ever had like this.
