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Battery maintenance

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  #1  
Old 03-17-2012 | 04:10 PM
bjr001's Avatar
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Default Battery maintenance

Hello,


Today I started my car and it gave a moan of a crank then silence for a second then it turned over. During this the lights on the dash dimmed but were fine when the car started. I checked the battery terminals and found one lose. Later when I started the car I experienced the same thing. I checked the battery acid level it was low especially one bank. I purchased some battery acid and filled the battery. The battery is about 3 years old.

I drove the car for a while to help charge the battery. When I got back I turned it on and it was only a little better in turning over. I allowed the car to sit for about an hour and the car turned over even better then before. My question is can the car charge the battery after all this or remove it and put it on a battery charger?


Thank you for your time.
 
  #2  
Old 03-17-2012 | 04:41 PM
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Super Moderator : And A Texan
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Car will charge the battery requiures some driving time, perhaps 15-20 mins. Have a battery load test performed. This will determine if battery is weak.

Make sure terminals are clean of any corrosion.

good luck
 
  #3  
Old 03-18-2012 | 12:34 AM
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Originally Posted by bjr001
battery acid level it was low especially one bank.
I purchased some battery acid and filled the battery.
Next time you can just add distilled water, $1/gal at grocery store.
The battery acid sold at car part stores is for adding to batteries when they're purchased dry.
No harm, no foul. Don't know how you dispose of un-needed battery acid. call your refuse company??


also we all charge batteries while they're in place in car - extension cord time.
 
  #4  
Old 03-19-2012 | 05:57 PM
bjr001's Avatar
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The AutoCraft (I think) battery was only 26 months old. The following day after I filled the battery the car started much better but still produce a weaker then normal crank. I took it to Advanced Auto where they charged the battery after which they declared it a bad battery. Not only that but the battery had very few miles on it. The battery was a gold series so they replaced it with a new battery at no charge.

This is my first Advanced Auto battery. In the past I normally went with DieHard, never had problems as early as this with so few miles. In the past I always just used distilled water but the Advanced Auto guy told me adding water is the best way to prematurely kill the battery and you should only add battery acid.

Thanks for all the help guys.
 
  #5  
Old 03-19-2012 | 08:22 PM
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so much for the Advanced Auto store near you ...
bad products,
bad advice.
 
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