Posted By: Got2Gnow
Is my battery dead? - 04/29/14 01:45 AM
Went out to start my Dart yesterday and got the dreaded "click". Tried to jump it with my Neon. Put the cables on it and turned over about half a revolution then "click". Let the Neon run for a while to let it "charge". Turned the key and "click".
Borrowed a 2A/6A/10A charger and connected it to the battery. Plugged it in and pressed the 2A charge button. The charger then automatically shut off "FAULT" after about 2 seconds.
Is it time for a new battery? Is it possible for a battery to be that dead that quick?
And yes all connections are clean and tight.
Posted By: RapidRobert
Re: Is my battery dead? - 04/29/14 01:51 AM
I'd slow charge it overnight (6A) & report back. but your saying it kicks the charger off pretty much immediately with a fault indication?
Posted By: okie
Re: Is my battery dead? - 04/29/14 01:54 AM
Sounds like it has shorted on the inside, I would say it is bad. Take it to O'Rielly's are some where they can check it.
Posted By: Sxrxrnr
Re: Is my battery dead? - 04/29/14 07:12 AM
Most battery chargers are unable to recharge a completely dead battery. The dead battery to the charger shows as no battery hooked to it and the charger refuses to try to charge. Check out Optima(there are others) whose chargers can deal with this.
You also may try hooking up a fully charged good battery in parallel using jumper cables to the failing battery(negative to negative and positive to positive) and let this set for a few hours. This will transfer energy from the good battery to the failed one. You then may find that your failed battery has regained its mojo and then your charger will happily charge it to full capacity. I would try this before considering it doomed
Disconnect the terminals and clean the posts, leave the wires off and slowly charge with a 1/2 amp charger for at least 24 hours. If it doesn't charge , its toast. If you don't have a 1/2 amp charger Harbor Freight has them on sale starting 5-01-14 for about 6 dollars and they work great. I use them on the race car during the week, my motor home, and tractor. Like I said leave the wires disconnected when a battery is "super dead"
To add to the above post I bought my Mothers 2003 chevy malibue when she passed away in 2009 and the stock battery was totally dead twice from my sister leaving the glove box open. I brought it back both times and I am still using the 11 year old battery.
Posted By: kloyiod
Re: Is my battery dead? - 04/29/14 05:28 PM
2 questions. How old is this battery, and how long did it sit idle without any use? The average lifespan of a battery is 4 years, they may live to 8-9 years but your living on borrowed time.
Yeah it's all about the Mojo & I suspicioned that we were missing something here cuz an internally dead shorted batt is rare & hooking up the cables correctly is simple & I'm now also wondering how the batt went completely dead