Vet

No Big deal, but today I came out to start my C6 (was about 70 miles from home, had it parked overnight at a hotel), door opened fine, etc, pushed the start button and barely cranked. Wouldn't turn over.

The lights, DIC etc all seemed to be working fine. I checked the volts on the DIC and it read about 10.5 volts. I thought maybe a bad cell? Battery is a Diehard Gold, purchased about 1 year ago. I keep it charged, even when the car sits.

Got a jump from another car, started engine, drove 70 miles home (mostly highway but some slow traffic too), no problem. DIC read 14.2 - 14.7 volts the whole way back, car / computer acted normally.

Parked car in garage, shut it down, pulled out my AutoXray "intelligent" battery tester, it read, "10.58 volts, bad cell, replace battery".

First time I had a problem with a Diehard... I guess it happens. I haven't done anything to "abuse" this battery, so I guess it's just a lemon. Has low mileage, low use, I keep it charged with a Battery Tender (same Tender I've used for over 10 years on many other batteries and never a single battery problem).

Glad I was able to drive it back because I know other owners have reported erratic computer behavior when the battery voltage isn't right. But since the DIC read over 14 volts the whole time driving back, I guess the alternator was keeping things up to snuff... and hopefully I was not at risk of damaging anything by running with one bad cell. Thoughts?

Tarl

You should be fine. Take that bad boy to Sears get a pro-rated replacement....shouldn't cost you much and be on your way!

Seadawg

I'm keeping my eye on the fairly new lithium ion car batteries that are hitting the market now.

Totally sealed, very lightweight, lots of longgggg power, etc. are the sales pitches for them.

Cost and lack of real world testing are the current drawbacks (for now)

C6RaceCar

There is your problem. Overcharging. Even though you may have a tender, no need to do this on a street car. I dont know anyone locally that does this. We are all still doing good on the oem battery. As long as you start the car every few weeks, you will be fine. No need to over do it. Like the guys that come home from a cruise and pop the hood to put a fan on the engine. NOT NEEDED.

JoesC5

A float charger(mantainer, tender) is different from a battery charger. I keep 4 cheap Harbor Freight float chargers on my three Corvettes and my mower year round. The float charger on the 56 stays on year around, as I only drive the car a couple times a year. A float charger does not overcharge a battery.

JoesC5

I believe a Diehard Gold has a 36 month free replacement warranty. Sears should replace it no charge.

LS WON

Never had good luck with Diehard batteries. Currently using CTEK tender on 2005 AC Delco battery. (original).

C6RaceCar

Once again. This is complete overkill. Im sure you are doing damage to the battery no matter what you think the float charger is doing. Take it off the corvette for the year, and let it be. Then at the end of the year, you will see the car and battery will be fine. Seriously you are creating issues you dont need. I never understood this. If you dont plan on driving the car over winter, the correct way to take care of the battery would be to remove it from the car all together and bring it in the warm house. Put it in a safe spot in your closet and forget about it. Then in spring, put it on a tender for a few days and it will be brandnew. This trickle or float charging year round is completely useless and will damage batteries.

Al Gumby

This ought to get good....

Vet

Thanks for the replies

A few notes...

If my car sits for 1 to 2 weeks, I won't put a charger on it. But sometimes when the car is sitting for over 2 weeks, I'll put the Battery Tender on it just until the indicator shows fully charged (usually takes a half a day to a day), then I unhook the Tender. I don't leave the Tender hooked up all the time (even though, in theory, doing so is not supposed to be a problem). I actually don't use the Tender too often. So, I don't think I'm overcharging the battery.

I will also mention that my original OEM Delco lasted over 6.5 years and still going strong, with the same type of treatment (occasional Battery Tender use when sitting over 2 weeks). That battery tested in excellent condition even at 6.5 years (well, a slight bit tired, but still totally fine), but as a general rule I don't run batteries longer than 6 years so I changed it at that point.

Yes, the Diehard Gold, 3 years free replacement... says it right on the side of the battery. So I do expect to bring it on over to Sears and be handed a brand new one. Though, I cannot find my receipt... but hopefully they have me in the system. I actually bought a Gold only a few weeks ago for a different car and I did happen to ask what would happen if the receipt was lost and the guy did say something to the effect, "we have you in the system". Guess I'll find out.

In the distant past, I've had brand new, top-quality Delco batteries fail prematurely, and have had el-cheapo Kmart batteries last for almost 8 years and still going (on old beater cars). I think with batteries, to some degree, it's just a bit of a luck thing. Too bad there wasn't a way of being able to test a battery and being able to see, in advance, if a cell was likely to go bad etc.... or is there?

With the AutoXray battery tester I have (it's the AutoXray code scanner with extra battery test accessory), it'll check the CCA and if what it finds is a certain percent below the rated CCA, the battery is considered weak and in poor condition (regardless of state of charge).... change before it's too late. But I don't think it can detect an impending cell failure.

I just don't like having headaches on the road. This is the first time I've ever had to jump start this car, in 7 years. And never got stuck otherwise.

LS WON

There are a few companies like Exide, Johnson and some others that make all the batteries. I am still on my original 2005 Battery and started using a tender a few months ago and it passed the load test and is still working fine.

LS WON

I have heard that Derek brand is good.

AORoads

Glad to hear you're ok. I think you are correct; so far, it's not possible to predict when or why a batt. will go bad.

As to the only a few companies making batts., true. But not all specifications sent to them by each company are the same. One company says X amount of lead, another says Y--same plant. Kinda like tires. A very long time ago, there was a Firestone plant in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. A plant foreman was a friend of the family. He said they made over a dozen major brands of tires---none were to the same specs. Lee Tires of Conshohocken was nearby; same thing, not as many brands.

Dudeurgettnavette

It's bound to happen

SUB VETTE

6.5 years on my original Delco and still going strong, but changed it anyway about a month ago just for peace of mind. I keep a Battery Tender + on it whenever it's in the garage. No overcharging possible with this unit.

LS WON

Same here a few months ago I just started using CTEK tender. Drive it once a week before that. I will change it next year even though it did pass load test again.

JCtx

That's the worst thing you can do to the engine, especially in winter. If you start your engine, beter drive the car at least 10 miles (15 in winter), to allow all condensation to evaporate. And a smart trickle charger like CTEK or BT+ is not going to overcharge the battery . That's the proper way to keep a battery charged, not starting the engine .

GOLD72

I have had nothing but good luck with DieHards over a great number of years.

FortMorganAl

Non-sense! How do you think companies keep battery banks charged where critical equipment is operated with DC? How do you think an uninterpretable power supply works? Yes, a charger will destroy a battery if left on after the battery is charged. I have seen people destroy a battery in 24 hours with a full power charger boiling the fluid out. A tender/maintainer is designed to be left on 24/7 for 20 years. It monitors the voltage and current and brings the battery to a charge level just below full. It "maintains" that charge level by balancing the current output to any external load on the battery plus the self discharge load.

I have left a Battery Tender Jr. on a battery for over 4 years continuously and the battery was just as good at the end as when it was new. I typically get 7-10 years from OEM batteries using a tender if the car won't be run for more than a couple of days. Many years ago I would disconnect batteries in the winter and I seldom got over 3 years. Modern cars put a reletively high load on the battery when off and, without a tender will kill a battery in a month or less. Even a week off a tender is going to damage the battery.

OP, you just got a bad battery. We haven't invented perfection in manufacturing yet. Failures happens. That's why Sears has warranties. The Die Hard Gold is 3 year free replacement and 100 month limited. Sounds like this shouldn't cost more than the time and effort to drive to Sears.

C6RaceCar

I guess all the play cars I have had over the last 20 years is proof that you are wrong. They all seem to be working great. All had OEM batteries.