My car has been in storage for an extended period of time. I always have a battery tender hooked up when it is in storage. When I start it now it is reading 14 volts. Does this mean it is holding a charge well or the car is charging at a high voltage because the battery isn’t holding a charge? It's a 72 month OEM battery that is 7 years old. The car is barely driven, maybe 1,500 miles a year.

 

Completely normal.

 

I would be looking to put in a new AC-Delco 78-6YR ($104. at Chevy). It has the minimum 120 RC (reserve capacity) for the C5 electrical system.

A seven year old battery is not reliable.

Nice video to watch although it is related to ECL, there is important battery information here:

http://vettetube.com/view_video.php?...25f49408d959ca

 

Mine runs 14 volts.

 

Same as mine.

 

Mine runs 14-14.2

 

There is often some confusion about what the DIC voltage reading shows you. It doesn't show the battery output so you can't get a true reading of the health of your battery from the DIC. To get that you need to measure across the terminals of the battery with a multi meter with the engine off.

A 12v battery will give the following readings at various states of charge:

State of Charge Specific Gravity Voltage

100% 1.265 12.7
75% 1.225 12.4
50% 1.190 12.2
25% 1.155 12.0
Discharged 1.120 11.9

The DIC shows alternator output. Initially you'll get 14.2 volts as the alternator is charging at max rate to top off the battery. As you keep your battery on a tender it shouldn't take long before the battery is fully charged. At that point the alternator will back off and you should see something about 13+ volts. If it never drops below 14v it could indeed be that the battery is on its way out.

I agree with the comments that typical battery life is about 5 years so yours may be coming to the end of its life. Seven years old puts it as an 03. You have a 98 so it must be a replacement battery. The 01s to 03s had AGM batteries but were replaced at the end of the C5 run (03-04 IIRC) by lead acid batteries. You could have either. That said, for a weekend car kept on a tender I wouldn't replace it until it starts showing signs of failing.

HTH

 

WOW!!!!!!
That is like getting a PHD in batteries. 14 minutes long, I only got into it for 5 minutes and the guy was making me go crazy with the down to the micron learning about batteries. I would like to see him do a dissertation on how to use your power seats. That would probably be 3 hours long.
YEA, I got the gist of what he was saying, and thanks for the link Jet-Jock, and all of the other replys.
I was sending my wife an email today about how old the battery was, maybe 3 years or something. Then I looked at my receipt and was really surprised that I bought it 5/18/03. It's an AC-Delco 78A72 that I got from an auto parts store.
My concern is that if it gets too old it could start leaking acid down onto the computer and AC lines. That seems like a smart place to have those components. It looks like it was just installed yesterday, it's so spotless. Then again everything in my engine bay looks that way, A 98 W/ 17,000 miles.
Not a garage queen, just a toy that I don't need. I drive it when I feel like it. I really don't want to force myself to play with my toys if I don't want to, just for the sake of doing so. In the past I never had a car with readout like the DIC. I would look at the gauge and it was fine if it was in that range. My mom , (I'm 53) wont let me drive more than 3miles from home, so I'm not afraid of reliability, just the danger of it breaking down and the acid leak. I'll probably replace it anyway, being 7years old just for that reason.

 

The leaking AC Delco batteries were fitted from 97 to late00 early 01. They had a design flaw which meant that it was possible to over tighten the leads and break the battery case at the side post. That allowed acid to leak. The case was redesigned about 01 so the later batteries don't have that flaw and you'll be OK.

 

Yep, that is what I was thinking

 

The voltage is fine, but IMO I'd be watching the battery closely since it is 7 years old.