Recently, I replaced the alternator and the battery in my truck. I was having trouble starting my truck when the temperature dropped below 30F. I took it to the dealer and he informed me that my Cold Cranking Amps on my battery were down to 306 (They are supposed to be 550). What could cause my battery to lose CCA’s when it isn’t even a year old?
The most common cause is a draw that kills the battery. It could be bad cells in the battery also. You can try to get a battery replacement under warranty, but a battery upgrade is good, you get what you pay for.
This might be a helpful link.
I had a battery not 6 months old completely die and refuse to charge. That’s why they have warranties. BTW, it was only the battery. The car still has the same alternator and battery cables as before, just with a replacement battery that has held up for the last 3 years now.
It’s not clear from your post- are you asking about the battery that was replaced along with your alternator? Or is this a subsequent battery replaced by itself?
Tell us about your typical driving pattern. Lots of short trips? Infrequent use?
I was just trying to express that the alternator and the battery are less than a year old, they were actually purchased on the same day. The new alternator does a great job of recharging, I can tell that by my battery gauge after the truck finally fires up. But for some reason on cold days when the truck doesn’t seem to want to fire, the new battery is really low (It wont even hardly roll the window up or down). I’m very careful about leaving on lights and such. I have had the truck for about a year and a half and only put about 10,000 miles on it. I usually drive the truck back and forth to work, and the occasional trip around town. Its just odd that a battery that new with a good alternator lost so many cold cranking amps.
I will get a replacement battery, and I’m sure that will solve my problem. I’m just wondering if its going to solve my problem short term, or if there is something that could slowly be draining over time.
Sounds like a bad cell,better get another battery-before it kills the altenator.Always charge the new battery before it is put in service(I know scarcely anyone does that,but most batteries off the shelf are probaly pretty low,having been merely activated) Altenators are designed to top off,not charge dead batteries-Kevin
Funny you say that, just yesterday I was at a mechanic shop. You all know those racks of battery’s in the lobby of most shops. This guy had a full rack and all the battery’s were hooked to a trickle charger. Never seen that before, ever…but I tell you what if I ever need a shop he is going to get my biz
Batteries that are a few days, weeks, or months old fail all of the time. I bought a new Sears Die Hard on a Monday and by Tuesday evening it was dead; never to be resurrected again.
If you buy another battery look at the date code tags on the battery case and get one as close as possible to the current date. Setting stagnant on the shelf for months before being sold is not good on them as they start sulfating to some degree because of this.
Some years ago while in a local farm supply store here getting a few tires I got to browsing the batteries as I waited. I noted that about half the batteries there had date codes that were anywhere from 6 to 10 months old.
This store sells a lot of batteries so one has to assume that some employees were not keeping the stock rotated.
Goodjob GS,You are using commomsense,discharging also ruins a lot of those boosterpacks-Kevin
It’s possible that you received a defective battery, probably past it’s shelf life. I imagine that you got the poor result during the load test. BTW the battery has to be fully charged before they can perform a load test. Also make sure that you have the right CCA stamped on the battery.
The store where I bought the battery was gracious enough to give me a new battery. I noticed an immediate difference in the way the truck fired up. Hopefully this battery will last longer than a year this time, and if it doesn’t I think I have a different problem.