Indestructible battery
Discussion
I hope this is engine and drivetrain related. If not someone will no doubt move it. My 2001 year Ford Focus is now just over 14 years old. I've had it for 11 years since 2004. I've been waiting for the original battery to die for many years based on the fact that no replacement battery I've ever bought has lasted more than 3 or 4 years. However this silver calcium OE Ford battery soldiers on for ever without apparently degrading at all. The car was off the road for three years some time ago with the battery just left to go flat which normally kills them. After a recharge it was good as new again. Today I went out with the digital multimeter to check the voltage and it's 12.49V a few hours after its last run to the shops. That's pretty much a perfect brand new condition voltage at the current rather chilly ambient temperature.
Has anyone had a battery last longer than this?
Why won't the damn thing die?
If they can make batteries last this long why don't all of them do so?
Has anyone had a battery last longer than this?
Why won't the damn thing die?
If they can make batteries last this long why don't all of them do so?
Sardonicus said:
Your battery is a freak of science Puma.
It seems to be. I'm not complaining mind you. I'm quite happy not to have to lash out on a new one. Just wondering what if anything might ever kill this battery. I was thinking the cold winters after I moved up to Scotlandshire in 2012 would finish it off but we don't seem to be getting any of those anymore. No snow even for the last two years although it was down to minus 7C in 2012 one night. I actually went out to see if the car would start and it did so quite happily. I can't imagine we'll have temperatures lower than that very often.I had jury service for the first time yesterday so I was panicking all weekend that I'd oversleep or the car wouldn't start so I stuck the battery charger on it just in case on Sunday for a few hours. Seems I needn't have bothered. Sat in court twiddling my thumbs for two hours with 60 other people until finally someone got round to picking 15 of us, none of which was me, and then the rest of us were able to bugger off again. Seemed to be an extraordinary waste of everyone's time.
There might actually be a battery voltage related issue but I'm puzzled as to why. The engine check light came on a couple of months back when the car hadn't been used for a while and DTC code 9318 came up on the dashboard test which is low battery voltage. Not surprising as the voltage really was quite low but a good charge up fixed that. However I reset the code and put the check light out by disconnecting the battery last w/e and thought that would be the end of it. The light is back on again today though and this is only supposed to happen at 10 volts or less from what I can see on'th intergoogles. Voltage is actually 12.25 just now which is not exactly stellar but seems to be plenty to start the car. I've also just checked the charging voltage with the engine idling and that's 14.9v so no problem there.
Could it be that the voltage is dropping below 10v during cranking and this is what's triggering the check light?
I may actually have to start facing up to the fact that one day in the not too distant future I'm going to have to shell out for a new battery finally.
Could it be that the voltage is dropping below 10v during cranking and this is what's triggering the check light?
I may actually have to start facing up to the fact that one day in the not too distant future I'm going to have to shell out for a new battery finally.
Jimmyarm said:
If your alternator is charging at 14.9v, you might find that it is the issue !
I don't see why. The Smart Charge system on modern cars with silver calcium batteries can generate very high voltages and 14.9v is not unusual or any problem for the battery. The main thing was to ensure the alternator is actually charging which clearly it is.Max_Torque said:
It's not unusual (/tomjones) to find corroded and hence high resistance wiring on older cars, resulting in a large voltage drop at high currents
My mate and I had a play around today with some WD40 and vaseline. Then we looked at the battery and alternator connections. Ooh er missus. Anyway we got the voltage with every possible ancilliary switched on from somewhere in the 11 volts range to over 13v. With just the headlights, radio and fan blower on full it was still over 14v. 14.4v I think. Only the front and rear heated screens dropped it back. I'll call that good enough for now. I rarely use either of the heated screens.Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff