Related to the connections/corrosion angle, I now consistently recommend that electrically conductive grease, e.g., Sanchem No-Ox-Id A-Special, be applied to any connection you're dealing with if you're taking the time to clean it or work on it in any way.

I've been working on two different late-70s Rolls-Royces for 7 years now, and it's amazing how many electrical issues are the result of nothing more than oxidation/corrosion at connection points. If you give these connection points a very thin coat of electrically conductive grease I cannot begin to tell you how much that decreases the rate of oxidation/corrosion afterward.

 

right now....i am not using my other jag...but.if i don't drive it around, if i don't trickle charge it...at least once a week...and /or start it up...it dies on me...so i will be trickle charging this winter or buying a new battery.....but you use it everyday for the most part you seem to have identified a cc issue won't the problem just get worse when the real cold sets in?

 

Well, like an idiot, I forgot to bring the battery tester home with me on Saturday. I'll bring it home tonight, disconnect and charge the battery, and test in an hour. I'll post the results tomorrow.

 

Well, after 8 years 6 months, and about 70K miles the Interstate battery I had in the car decided to die. I can't complain, at all, about the service life I got out of that battery.

I ended up going to Wal-Mart and getting an EverStart Maxx type H8 battery rated at 900 CCA. I got one of these (different size, though) for my Shadow II about 6 or 7 years ago and it's still going strong.

 

I bought a battery maintainer (Battery Tender Junior, to be exact) from work this morning, and hooked the car up to it. I've had it on for an hour, and it's still charging, so the battery was definitely not fully charged (even after my 30 mile commute). When it's fully charged, I'll test the battery, then disconnect it and test it in an hour or two. Then I'll compare test results and decide if I want to invest the $95 for a new battery.

 

The Battery Tender Junior charges with only 0.75 amps, so I hooked the car up to the charger we have here at work. I had it charging for 4 hours on a 2 amp charge, and still wasn't even to 80% charge. I decided to replace the battery. We'll see if the gremlins disappear...

 

That's normal for a partially discharged battery. Either .75 or 2 amps is not much juice to get things done in a hurry.

At this point, you don't know why the battery is low

- bad charging system
- parasitic drain
- bad battery

I'd put the existing battery on a charge of ~20 amps or so till it comes up to 100% and see what happens from there.

 

I'll do that anyway, but I've decided I want to keep the new battery. The car sat for months before I bought it, and lately with the cold weather, it has been cranking slower than normal. I'd like to start with a new battery that I can take care of properly, and don't have to worry about down the road. I'll check for parasitic drain to make sure the new battery doesn't go down.

Charging system is at 13.68 volts at idle (in Park), which is normal from what I've read on the forum.

One thing I did notice while charging the battery was, even though the voltage was going up, the CCA were continuing to drop. After charging for 4 hours at 2 amps (after a 30 mile nonstop drive), the CCA was down to 720.

Gotta love working at a parts store and having a charge account. Anything I charge gets split between two paychecks on the following month. Makes life a lot easier sometimes... lol

 

chad..good for you re new battery....assuming you got the varta.....not available in my neck of the woods so i got an interstate which i am happy with.....with the discount you get no brainer i think....if you are loosing current somewhere still let us know...good luck

 

We carry Deka, so that's what I went with. I'll be checking it tomorrow, just to be sure there isn't a parasitic drain of some sort.

 

The #1 reason for not starting is a weak battery. I replace every 3 years and that solves it for me. Anything with computers likes good stable electrical power. Your battery readings do sound reasonable though. Always check for corrosion on the terminals.