What are signs that your car battery is alsmost dead?

Question

I think the car battery is dying on my 03' ford focus. I bought it used, but it's now approaching 50,000. It's been having a little trouble starting. Should I go ahead and replace the battery?

Answer 1

the best thing to do in a hard start condition is to take the car to a part store like o reillys or advance auto or auto zone something like that and have them do a load test on the battery, do a charging system test on the alternator to make sure the battery is receiving a charge and a starter test to see how many amps the starter is pulling out of the battery on start up to do this test u should disable the fuel system by pulling the fuel pump fuse and crank the starter for 10-15 seconds and observe. these three tests will tell u the problem most starters on average driving last usually 100k mi alternators usually go 70k mi and a new battery should last between 36 and 60 months usually after 60 i check the battery every oil change. copy and paste and print this to take with u so u can explain to a mechanic or parts person what should be done to your car

Answer 2

Hi. There is a difference between a dead and discharged battery. In some vehicles, the computer that runs all the elecronics and alarm cause a small drain off the battery. The battery itself also has parasitic drain, which is totally normal. After a time without the alternator replacing this drain, the battery will lose cehmical energy to start the car. If it is only discharged, the energy can be replaced with proper charging. If it is old or damaged, it will not be able to store enough energy to reliably operate the car. If after charging at 10 amps for 8-12 hours you can get a voltage of 12.8 -13.2 volts, (after a quick, heavy drain to remove surface charge, ie starter for 3-5 seconds, headlights for a minute) your battery most likely is ok. If the battery will not take a charge,one or more cells boil heavily during heavy charge/discharge, the voltage is below 11 volts after 4 hours at 10 amps, or it is old, it may very well be a bad battery. The best procedure is a voltage, specific gravity acid test, and a load test. within 4 hours a battery should be 98% diagnosable. But yes, they are all signs of a "discharged" battery, vs a "dead" battery. NEVER remove any battery terminal of ANY car manufactured after 1985 while running OR "on" as the internal regulator may and usually WILL be seriously dammaged from the initial voltage spike that WILL result. Also, that spike can damage short and long term memory in the various computers within the car, as well as overloading the alternator. It is also just plain dangerous. NO NO!

Answer 3

Signs Of A Dying Battery

Answer 4

Battery normally last 3-5 years depend on the element/usage, if your Battery is 3 or more yeas old and you have a slow crank in cold mornings and OK in warm mornings then it time to replace it before you get stranded.
Your local Auto Part stores have Battery tester that can check it for you just to verify it.

Good Luck

Answer 5

Get Halfords to do a free battery load test.
This is different to just using a volt meter which puts no significant work load on the battery.

DIY by turning the ignition key to the fist point, turn all the headlights, rear window heater, fan etc on BEFORE you strat it in the morning, if the car starts easily, then no worries, if there's a slow turning over of the engine and the headlights go dim, bright as the engine is turned over by the starter motor, then change your battery.

Hope that helps.
Do it before it dies though or you'll be late for work 1 day!!

Answer 6

Click, Click, Click. Thats what you will hear. Or nothing at all. Best bet is to have the entire ele4ctrical system tested. Usually any AutoZone will check this for free. They will load test the battery and the starter draw, check& test the cables and the alternator output. They can tell you what is failing on the car and recomend a repair. They also install their batteries free of charge.
good luck

Answer 7

if it is having trouble starting because it is cranking to slow, it may be the battery or possibly the alternator is failing. I would suggest getting it checked first then replacing the item that is failing. If you just want to take a chance make sure the battery terminals are clean and tight first, if they are then the battery is most likely failing.

Answer 8

i would take it to auto zone or some place of that sort. they can check your battery for free. sometimes when your battery is going bad, it will be harder to start in the morning after it sits all night, and it will be easy to start if you are in and out of your car say running errands. your alternator will keep the charge on the batter but the long time over night the charge will disapate. your alternator could be going out too and not making enough juice to run the car and charge the battery.

Answer 9

Take it to Sears, or a shop of your choice and have them hook up the starting system tester. Most places will do that for free and they can tell if your battery, alternator or both are going bad.

Answer 10

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