Bonneville Battery...

So just when the weather is starting to get nice, my battery decides to die... Deader than a doornail. Not even enough electricity to actuate the power locks!

Jump start it and let it sit with my truck and the alt charging up the battery for 10 minutes. Then drive it around for quite awhile to see if it'll hold.

Drive to a friends garage and he tests the charging system. 103amps are flowin' from the alternator to the battery. Car starts fine at the shop, but battery dips to 8volts while cranking.

Drive the car home. Starts repeatedly in the garage without even a hint of the starter working hard. Now 2 hours later, still starts just fine. Disconnect the positive terminal and put my multimeter (in 20Amp mode) between the battery and the cable. After a bit, 0.01amps showing on the meter... Probably right, not enough to completely deaden the battery in just 5 days right? I had it sitting through the course of the winter (past 2.5 months) without so much as a problem. Drove it 3 hours on a trip this past Saturday and got home without incident...

Well, my question is this. Is it just time to replace the battery? Do they just fail like this, then come back to life again? Is 0.01amps enough to drain a battery over the course of not really even 5 days? Dealer wants $125 for the thing... And no other alternatives exist according to the parts stores around me... The battery is a 79 frame battery 12"long, 6"wide, and 7.25"tall (78 frame batterys are 10.75"long, 6.875"wide, and 7.25"tall - just my luck an oddball) and it sits under the rear seat...

What do ya think? Hope it wasn't too long of a read.

Dealer wants $125 for a new AC Delco
Advanced Auto wants $125 for a new Autocraft Titanium w/ 3yr free replacement / 7yr prorated warranty

Advanced has it in stock... Dealership needs a day...

Given AC Delco's reputation for leaking acid and having the positive terminals fall out... Think I'll go with the Autocraft unless anyone has anything to say bad about Autocraft batteries... I'd like to go with a Deka, but can't find a 79 frame battery from them...

Hmm they dont give you much for options. get the Autocraft then.

That's what I was thinking.

The local shop (where I had the charging system tested) sells Deka batteries. Deka makes a 79 frame battery that will work, but they are on a 2 week backorder right now.

Now if I didn't have to get the damn car inspected before the end of next week, I'd just wait for one of them. Deka batteries have NEVER let us down on the farm! But it would probably easily cost me $50 more than the others..

I think I'm going to go with the Autocraft, but I also think I'm going to charge this one up first and load test it to make sure it wasn't something stupid that drained the battery.

I know I'm being overly attached to this battery (or is it the money in my pocket lol), but the thing is, even after 2 hours of starting it up 5 times every 15 minutes, it still starts just like it did 2 hours ago. I've started the car 40 times in the past 2 hours and it doesn't sound like it's lost a thing. I shut it down as soon as I can too. Weird. Batteries (in my experience) just don't come back this quickly... I mean, it wasn't charged for more than 30 minutes worth of driving/idle time and 40 starts later, it's fine... That is unless its a cracked plate or something... Again, WEIRD!!!

Can you trickle charge when not driving it?

I could if I really wanted to, but with a 5+year old battery, why take the chance of it dying...

hmm yeah. Well, if you have to, you can drive around w/ jumpers and another battery in the trunk. I did a long time ago until I got around installing a new batt.

Time to just go buy a redtop optimax battery :)

Wouldn't work... No room for top terminals.

Dropped in a direct fit Autocraft Titanium battery this afternoon. The original was tested at Advanced and was bad. Shouldn't have to worry about it for another 3-5 years.

The dead one was the original Delco Batt right?

Yup. 5+ years old. It was low on fluid, but I wasn't going to mess around trying to fill it up only to gain 1-2 more years of wondering when it would go again. It was just time to replace it.

Dude I know you're not a big fan of AutoZone, but they have a 79-frame Duralast Gold (880 CCA, 1000 CA) with a 3 yr free replacement/8 yr prorated warranty for $100.

Too late now. Thanks though... Their website didn't show a thing when I looked.

Besides, I no longer have an AutoZone within reasonable driving distance. I'd have to drive over an hour and a half round trip to go to AutoZone now. Not worth it to save the additional $20.

Oh yeah well scew that, lol. I thought you had one close by.

Used to before I moved. Now it's a solid hour and a half to get there and back. My time is worth more than that $20 difference in the battery.

And it's not that I don't like Autozone's. Other stores that I have been in have been good, with knowledgable counter people, but the one in Batavia, NY is the absolute WORST. Their people are just plain idiots with zero knowledge of autos. I truely wonder how they manage to make it to the store in the morning.

i guess I am way to late in this powet then.

Since the battery is under the back seat, couldn't you extend the cables and mount it in the truck and go with a more conventional battery?

Could extend the cables yes... I do now believe that I could have used a group 78 (pretty much the norm) battery as they are the same height and width, but smaller length. Problem is that for a high enough CCA battery, I would have paid just as much.

As with any battery relocation kit, you MUST increase the CCA of the battery to overcome the losses of the long cables. My car has roughly 10' of cable to get from the positive post on the battery to the starter.

Even in the trunk, the battery would have to be vented to the outside. But then it would also take away trunk space.