The last few weeks the voltage has been measuring less than 12.6 a couple of times, so I started to look for a new battery. No-one has them in stock so I prolonged ordering one till I found a good price, brand, etc...

Friday afternoon I was running errands for a NYC weekend trip. I started the car for the 3rd time that day (it was in the garage thankfully), and it stalled and died!

Plugged in the ELM and noted P0232, P0087. Measured the fuel pressure at about 180kPa. Well under nominal. Then I yelled: "Dam! My f****** fuel pump just died!". I settled down and thought "Wait a minute, I don't remember seeing anyone on the forum post about a dead fuel pump... let me check the battery". Sure enough, the voltage was at 11.9 V. I reset the battery and started the car. No codes, and fuel pressure back to normal.

Since no-one had them in stock, I called up my dealer (who I just picked up bushings from) and asked if they had batteries. They had 1 left. Drove over, measured the voltage at about 12.75 and made the purchase. It's an 'Interstate' battery, non AGM. Price was a bit high but I think they come with a 2 year warranty from interstate.

He said they rotate them regularly so they don't sit around for too long. This one was about 4 months old. The old battery was just about 2.5 years old. Swapped them out and haven't had a problem all weekend.

Add this to the list of 'electrical gremlins' attributed to a bad battery.

 

And did you make sure the battery was fully charged....and I mean FULLY charged before installation? Off-the-shelf batteries are never, almost never fully charged regardless of what the clerk might say.

 

What is considered 'fully charged'?

I left it on the CTEK overnight and took a 3 hour drive I took the next morning. Pretty sure it's 'fully charged'.

 

Uh, no. New batteries should be charged with a CHARGER, not a Maintainer. 24 hours on a 10-amp charger is a good start. Anything less is, well, LESS.

 

And the CTEK unit clearly indicates full charge (which can take 24 hrs or more depending on battery condition) by the light display. When the right-most green light comes on, it is fully charged. Before that appears, it is not. So when you were about to disconnect the battery for your run, was it fully charged?
Several months ago I purchased a new battery for the XK. The clerk told me that yes, it was fully charged. Of course, it wasn't, and I knew that it wouldn't be. Before I installed it, the battery went on the CTEK unit and it was indeed more than 24 hours until it showed full charge.

 

Now imagine if the whole car was a battery

 

Yes, the light was green when I removed it. Didn't bother checking voltage at that point. I was satisfied with the 12.72 V I measured when I picked it up.

So yes, It was 'fully charged'.

 

I just replaced the battery in my 2015 Lincoln on Friday. New battery measured12.65 volts. Close enough for me. I've never charged a battery before installation. I guess I've been lucky.

 

Fully charged batteries by definition are 12.6 volts or above resting state (car not running). Why do you think we always read comments from techs like NBCat to confirm voltage is 12.6 volts? You're correct in your assumption that it was fully charged. At 12.72 volts, it doesn't need to get any chargier:-)


But don't take my word for it:

Fom Autobatteries.com

When Fully Charged, How Many Volts Should A Car Battery Have?

Fully charged automotive batteries should measure at 12.6 volts or above. When the engine is running, this measurement should be 13.7 to 14.7 volts. If you don’t have a multimeter to tell you the voltage of your battery, you can do a test of your electrical system by starting the car and turning on the headlights. If they are dim, that indicates the lights are running off the battery and that little or no charge is being produced by the alternator. If the lights get brighter as you rev the engine, it means the alternator is producing some current, but may not be producing enough at idle to keep the battery properly charged. If the lights have normal brightness and don’t change intensity as the engine is revved, your charging system is probably functioning normally. If you’ve been experiencing problems with your battery system and the headlight test checks out okay, you should check whether or not the battery is holding a charge, or if something on the vehicle is discharging it.

 

Thats funny I was reading the same thing off Google before!

 

When buying a new battery I always shop around, pay for it on the phone and ask the battery shop to put it on charge overnight for me before collecting. If I'm buying mail order I put it on a proper charger for 24hrs and then a CTEK for 24 (overkill I know!)

When I have my CTEK connected to the battery when in the car (once a month in Summer and twice in Winter) I can monitor voltage via my tracker, it will increase to as high as 15v but then it drops back to around 13.5v

All of my batteries for the last 10yrs are still good, but I have bought two new batteries that had dead cells.If I buy a 2nd hand car over 4yrs old I always replace the battery or get the seller to do it

In my 150 I did replace the battery before finding out that it was my dash-cam (newly/poorly installed) that was the cause of the drain, that original battery was just fine after a recon with the CTEK

I think I put a type 019 in to replace the OEM 017, with all the electrical stuff...plus stuff I've added, it's nice to have the reassurance of some extra ommph!

 

Yeah that was my intention also, unfortunately I had an emergency and needed one ASAP.

My only question now is: what do I do with the old battery?? I'm wondering if I can refurbish it and make it new again.

Anyone ever do that?

 

I have. Then you can use that as a jumper (safest kind for a jag)
You can also get $15 bucks for it.

As a tip to others, just take a voltage meter with you when buying batteries, its the best way to avoid the rotten ones.
Buying them from the bigger places that have no way of testing the battery or keeping them fresh while they sit on a shelf (such as Sam's Club, Costco) can be used in an advantageous manner,....turn it in couple months before your warranty is up.
They have no way of disproving you. Now you are just going with the flow of a disposable world.

I just bought a common battery- it cost a $100 (wow) got it home, the bloody thing had 60% charge, as it would sitting on a shelf.