vettenut

I have noticed latley every time I put my 2008 in the garage and attach the Battery Tender it takes over night to fully charge. May this mean it is time for a nee battery?

NofakeJake

My experience has been the battery that comes with the car when it is new lasts about 5 years. Lets see...2008 and 5 is _ _ _ _

I always buy my replacement batteries from the dealership, as it comes with a warrantee and they have been exceptional in honoring it.

Now we can get into a discussion as to which battery is best for the OP.


YEEE hawww

dvilin

I have a 2008 with the orginal battery and it usually takes a good 6-8 hours before I get the solid green light on the Battery Tender.
Driving around it reads 14.5 volts drops at idle to 14.0 at times. I will replace the battery in the Spring just to be on the safe side.

Vette5.5

I just automatically replace my car's battery's every 4 years or so, whether it needs it or not. For what they cost, just find it's not worth the hassle. My Vette' has an Autozone Gold, and my daily car an Advance Auto Gold. With the discount code's these places send out, usually under $100 bucks.

LS WON

My 2005 factory Delco battery takes a few hours to get fully charged to when green light stays fully lit.

sweeper

Just made a trip to Florida.My friend has a 2008 and it was fine all the way down.Went out to get luggage after sittng an hour and battery completely dead. Replaced it with no other problems.

calemasters

No. It just indicates the battery is not fully charged when you parked the car.

CroOrange

Replaced mine last year.

JCtx

Remember an alternator only 'bulk charges' a battery, so it'd never turn green after hooking it up to any trickle charger, even after an extended highway drive. The only way to know for sure if your battery is good is to load-test it, BUT you can be sure it's bad if after fully charging it (green light) and let it settle for a few hours, it doesn't read higher than 12.60 volts... which is the minimum voltage recommended to perform a load test. Finally, I'd also just replace it after 4 years man. Piece of mind. If you buy a brand new one and fully charge it before cranking it for the first time, and take care of it since day 1, then you could extend its life to maybe 5 years. But just not worth the inconvenience for $100 IMO. Good luck.

bolivar

I've never heard of 'bulk charging'?

But there are various messages on this forum about how much power a Corvette continues to pull immediately after shutting down. So, a battery could be about at its max, and since it takes up to 20 minutes or so to totally go to 'sleep', it could pull quite a bit of juice out. And since all the 'trickle' chargers have very low power, it could easily take several hours to get the battery back up to max.

LS WON

What's a load test and how long does it take?

Boomer111

A machine puts a load draw on the battery and tells you if the battery is still able to hold a charge. Takes just minutes to hook up and test.

KWC6

I replaced mine in my 08' about six months ago. I keep battery tender on it and it takes a few hours I guess to be solid green. I suggest you replace your battery for it's only a matter of time. When it goes it's never a convenient time either.

Vette5.5

A load test is basically a big heating element that put's a load on the battery for a short time, and only takes a few seconds. You can generally pick up one of these up pretty cheap from places like Harbor Frieght. I have several batteries around here, so just caughed up few more bucks for a Midtronics conductance tester. Doesn't really put a load on the battery, but calculates active plate area CCA, as tend to sulphate over time, reducing battery capacity. Most better shops, use these now, as much safer, with no sparking.

LS WON

Perhaps something the dealership can do free of charge if my car is in there for service?

Scotten

Any idea how you can tell how old your battery is? I bought my 2008 as CPO in 2011 and you'd ***ume they replaced it, but I'd like to know for sure.

bolivar

Most batteries have a date stamp in the plastic somewhere. And, it might be somewhat difficult to read.

Might be something like 12133. Which means the 133 day of 2012.

Good luck looking.

fnsblum

The bulk charge is the first charging step when you start the engine. It is the highest amp rate the battery will see. If your system is working properly the charge rate will decrease until the battery is fully charged. Again, if the system is in good condition this will not take very long. Mine will start the car and after approximately five miles at 50 mph the battery will be back at 12.65 volts after sitting several hours. I did install a new battery a month ago. Later! Frank

HarleyB

In (the REALLY HOT parts of) Arizona we're lucky to get 2 years out of a new OEM battery. My C5Z Delco lasted 2.003 years, my '08 C6 Delco lasted 1.996 years*.

*replaced by dealer under warranty

jamesw95

I just put the third battery in my 09.