[OrrieG]

Short story. Took my wifes CRV into dealer 12/17 (Monday) for 30 K service which included battery and charging system check. Leave on 12/22 to New Mexico, drive two days stopping and starting 8-10 times. I notice on 12/23 Sunday morning at 8 degree temp the car is starting (turning) slower than usual. Get to NM and the car sits until 12/26 morning. I go out and it will not turn over, not head lights and guages are getting power but bouncing around. Do quick math, batter is 2 months short of 36 month warranty so I figure thats the problem. Get a new battery, put it in life is good.

Question: Should they have been able to tell 10 days before it died if the battery was nearing the end of its life?? Or did they not check it?? Or are new batterys designed so they don't go into gradual failure like the good old days??? I'm looking for some input before I go talk to the service manager at the dealer. Thanks in advance. Patrick

 

[Lionel-n-Chevelles]

The Dealership should have done a Load Test. That will tell the condition of the battery. When a Battery test results are 9.6 or lower, the battery should be changed.

 

[ironhead]

In a perfect world..there would be no intermittent concerns.Cut and dried.Black and white etc etc.Unfortunetly..we have the gray area.I think the service manager should goodwill the battery..seeing how that was the fix.Case in point..the wifes car.Passed every carbon pile load test and Midtronics cca available everytime.One time..and I repeat one time..the battery finally reared its ugly head.it was not on the carbon pile..but the midtronics puked up a bad cell.I replaced the battery and no more issues.I have replaced more batterys in 2007 than I did in 1977.Underhood temps kill batterys imo...and todays engine compartments are packed full.

 

[Jim Mac]

I stopped at a store went in, came out, the burb turned over slow. I took the battery to autozone to get another battery. They wouldnt warranty it unless they do a load test. I go back later that day, I get the "battery is fine". I tell them just prorate it and give me another. They cant do that. So I go and put it back in the burb. 3 days later it leaves me stuck. Fortunately it died at home. I go back and they tell me it was fine 3 days prior. Jim

 

[OrrieG]

Not after any money, I figure I got almosts 3 years out of a 3 year battery, just concerned that they didn't check it and I could have got stranded in the middle of know where. It was luck it happened in front of my kids house, lots of stops in the desert. Other concern is if they didn't check that, what else was shortcut??? Thanks for the replys, I'm going to bring it to their attention, if nothing else maybe I get a note in the file that I watching closer. Patrick

 

[swcash]

I think those little battery packs that you use to jump start the car are the nuts. For $40 or so you can keep one of in the old ladys ride and never worry about getting stuck with a dead battery. The also have a built in light and you can use them as a 12 volt power supply for spotlights and other things.
A battery or a starter will usually give some kind of warning before they go south. When you start the car, if it isn't turning over as fast as it usually does, a light should go off, not on the dash but in your head. Check the battery and the terminals, give it a charge if you don't have any checking tools. You should at least have a cheap Harbor Freight multimeter. What are they $6 battery included? Nine times out of ten if it's not the battery it's the starter. Since I keep everything forever and most all my vehicles are ancient, I pull out my receipt from my lifetime warranty and take the starter in for a new one.

 

[csmnlm]

IMO most batterys last atleast 3 to 4 years. Sometimes they give you a warning there going bad (crank slow or test bad). If you really are worried about being left sit I would replace the battery every 3 to 4 years.