The Auto Zone that originally put the most recent ValuCraft battery in told me the one it replaced had a "dead cell" 3-4 weeks ago. They replaced it for free, even though when it was installed in October it was the dealer who bought it, so the warranty wasn't in my name. They replaced it and put the warranty for the most recent one in my name.

Now, about a month or so later, Freeland Chevrolet tells me the new battery has a "dead cell." One is a battery retailer, one a dealership. Evidently this is common usage.

I did have Auto Zone test the month old battery just the night before, and they said it was good. Freeland said they do a more complicated test on it than Auto Zone.

Anyway, the car has been left to sit since Friday about 11:15 am. I'll go out and try to start it later on today. We'll see then where we stand.

 

Well, as of 10:30 pm last night, the car started fine. No hesitation, fired right up after 59 hours sitting.

One weekend (fairly warm, at that) is far from conclusive, but I'm cautiously optimistic. If I have any further problems, I'll let you know. If I don't for a while, I'll try to remember to post that, as well.

 

That's actually quite easy to tell with a $5 battery hydrometer. A hydrometer measures the specific gravity of the electrolyte solution in a lead-acid battery. Cheap & easy way to check for problems.

There's a ground right under the battery, if I'm not mistaken, that was causing some weird issues on my car. I think it was a ground for the PCM? Don't remember now. Just had to disconnect it, clean off the corrosion, & reconnect it.

I really hope the battery was the problem, but you've got a much stronger battery there, too. If I were you, I'd follow Sparky-88's advice on looking for a problem. If you find it, it may be an accessory that really isn't needed (say, heated seats) and you could just leave the fuse out until you can get it properly repaired. 'Course, there are probably a few other devices on that circuit, but you get what I mean.

But here's hoping it was just the battery!

Cheers,
Jerry

 

Wouldn't the dealer have done that in their checks?! I mean, I paid them $70 for a diagnostic, you'd expect they would have done that; if not, they damn well should have.

If it ends up dead again, I'll try that out, and if I'm able to find out what it is myself, I'll make sure they know why I'll never bring my car there again, and I'll take it to Carl Black instead.

As of 11:30 pm tonight, she started up great (and it's 30 degrees here and snowing.) The volt gauge went over to 3 pips past the line I think of as "fully charged," but then about 7-10 minutes later dropped back to the "fully charged" line (mine always sits at 1 pip past center when it's fully charged.)

 

Who knows what the mechanic decided to check... not to be cynical, but you know.

I found a really good step-by-step article for diagnosing your problem. All you need is a $20 meter (or less) and some time. Check it out...

Hope you don't need it anymore.

 

Just wanted to update everyone on this issue.

As of Thursday, I've let the car sit, once for 5 days and another for 4, without starting, and both times when I go to turn her over she fires right up.

I guess it was the battery. :-)

 

Cool! Sometimes it's the simple things. Glad to hear it.