battery life
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 408
Likes: 1
From: Western Washington
battery life
I recently bought an '07 C-6 coupe. I use the car on week-ends, but not every week-end. I keep a Battery Tender on the car when I'm not going to use it for more than a day or two, so the battery is always "topped-off". My limited knowledge has taught me that when a battery dies, it's the amps that aren't sufficient, not the volts. You can have 13-14 volts in the battery, but if the amps are down, you've got a problem. So the Battery tender says the battery is full (of volts) but how do I know when the amps are declining and it's time to replace the battery. My car is four years old and that's about the life of a typical battery, but I've had them last much longer (my Harley has been going strong for seven years now- I keep it on Battery Tender too).
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: McGregor Iowa
You are talking no load Voltage.When Amps fall off under load its because voltage is falling
off.Voltage is electrical pressure.Amps are electron current.You need to do a load test on your battery.
off.Voltage is electrical pressure.Amps are electron current.You need to do a load test on your battery.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Well,,,,,,,,,, you can go about this in a couple different ways:
1. Fully charge the battery. When the engine is COLD, measure the battery voltage with a multimeter. Have someone start the engine. Watch the battery voltage during the cranking process. If the voltage drops below 10 VDC,, you batter can no longer provide the correct cold cranking amperage. Voltage is inversely proportional to current. When you apply a LARGE LOAD on the battery, if the battery plates are sulfated or damaged, they will NOT be able to output the required voltage. All the modules in the car have a LOW VOLTAGE SHUT OFF. If the voltage drops very low, modules will drop off line until the voltage returns to normal.
2. Take your battery to AutoZone or Advance an have it fully tested.
When the OEM battery in my 06 Coupe was three years, it would start the car fine BUT I would get random DTCs and weird dash IPC problems. I did the crank test and during cranking the voltage would drop as low as 9.0 VDC.
New Wal-Mart battery solved that issue!
BC
1. Fully charge the battery. When the engine is COLD, measure the battery voltage with a multimeter. Have someone start the engine. Watch the battery voltage during the cranking process. If the voltage drops below 10 VDC,, you batter can no longer provide the correct cold cranking amperage. Voltage is inversely proportional to current. When you apply a LARGE LOAD on the battery, if the battery plates are sulfated or damaged, they will NOT be able to output the required voltage. All the modules in the car have a LOW VOLTAGE SHUT OFF. If the voltage drops very low, modules will drop off line until the voltage returns to normal.
2. Take your battery to AutoZone or Advance an have it fully tested.
When the OEM battery in my 06 Coupe was three years, it would start the car fine BUT I would get random DTCs and weird dash IPC problems. I did the crank test and during cranking the voltage would drop as low as 9.0 VDC.
New Wal-Mart battery solved that issue!
BC
SUBVETTE
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,841
Likes: 93
From: San Diego CA
Well,,,,,,,,,, you can go about this in a couple different ways:
1. Fully charge the battery. When the engine is COLD, measure the battery voltage with a multimeter. Have someone start the engine. Watch the battery voltage during the cranking process. If the voltage drops below 10 VDC,, you batter can no longer provide the correct cold cranking amperage. Voltage is inversely proportional to current. When you apply a LARGE LOAD on the battery, if the battery plates are sulfated or damaged, they will NOT be able to output the required voltage. All the modules in the car have a LOW VOLTAGE SHUT OFF. If the voltage drops very low, modules will drop off line until the voltage returns to normal.
2. Take your battery to AutoZone or Advance an have it fully tested.
When the OEM battery in my 06 Coupe was three years, it would start the car fine BUT I would get random DTCs and weird dash IPC problems. I did the crank test and during cranking the voltage would drop as low as 9.0 VDC.
New Wal-Mart battery solved that issue!
BC
1. Fully charge the battery. When the engine is COLD, measure the battery voltage with a multimeter. Have someone start the engine. Watch the battery voltage during the cranking process. If the voltage drops below 10 VDC,, you batter can no longer provide the correct cold cranking amperage. Voltage is inversely proportional to current. When you apply a LARGE LOAD on the battery, if the battery plates are sulfated or damaged, they will NOT be able to output the required voltage. All the modules in the car have a LOW VOLTAGE SHUT OFF. If the voltage drops very low, modules will drop off line until the voltage returns to normal.
2. Take your battery to AutoZone or Advance an have it fully tested.
When the OEM battery in my 06 Coupe was three years, it would start the car fine BUT I would get random DTCs and weird dash IPC problems. I did the crank test and during cranking the voltage would drop as low as 9.0 VDC.
New Wal-Mart battery solved that issue!
BC
Racer
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 263
Likes: 4
I recently bought an '07 C-6 coupe. I use the car on week-ends, but not every week-end. I keep a Battery Tender on the car when I'm not going to use it for more than a day or two, so the battery is always "topped-off". My limited knowledge has taught me that when a battery dies, it's the amps that aren't sufficient, not the volts. You can have 13-14 volts in the battery, but if the amps are down, you've got a problem. So the Battery tender says the battery is full (of volts) but how do I know when the amps are declining and it's time to replace the battery. My car is four years old and that's about the life of a typical battery, but I've had them last much longer (my Harley has been going strong for seven years now- I keep it on Battery Tender too).
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