Hi everyone, hope everyone is staying safe. I need some advise, it’s just me and my mom and we don’t have anyone to take us if we need a ride so our car is very important. Back in march our car wouldn’t start, we called AAA they said everything was testing fine but the battery was only 20% so we bought a new battery. Anyway tonight the car would not start again and we called AAA. They guy came out and said the starter is fine and so is the the alternator but the battery is only charging at 60% and that is why the car won’t start. I asked for a new battery since it is under warranty and he said no because there is nothing wrong with the battery. What i don’t understand is, if everything is testing normal but the battery how can it not be the battery. I asked him was it the battery that was causing the car not to start and he said yes. Any advise will be much appreciated.
You need to have the charging system tested at different RPM’s
Tester
You don’t need to buy a new battery each time it is discharged to 20%, it is rechargeable. Do you recharge you phone battery or replace it?
The first time they told me the battery only had 20% left and we needed a new one. We just bought this battery not even 3 months ago we shouldn’t have to charge it already
How much is the car being driven?
A battery is a tank for compressed electrical energy. An alternator is a pump that produces electricity under pressure to operate the vehicle and fill the battery as needed. The starter uses the compressed energy from the battery to spin the engine over in order to get it to run.
If the battery test significantly below its rated capacity and the alternator test indicates that it is operating at its rated capacity then it can be assumed that the battery is either weak due to a malfunction or it has a leak somewhere.
If standing over your hood with proper test equipment several here could almost certainly determine what is currently wrong but that’s not the case so you must have someone who is well experienced and willing to look under your hood. The “guy” from AAA may or may not be technically up to the challenge or he may be pressed for time and feels it necessary to “shoot from the hip” and throw his best quick guess at the situation and hope for the best. But there you and your mother sit “in the dark” so to speak.
So for now
Do you have access to a battery charger?
Would you feel safe connecting the charger to your battery?
If so connect the charger and if there is an amp gauge on the charger notice the relative level of charge immediately after the connection and post here. And ‘relatively’ means did the indicator needle move only a small fraction from 0 or did it move near 1/2 the sweep of the gauge? If the meter moved significantly leave the charger operating for several hours and when the meter fall back to near 0 the battery should be fully charged.
Post results.
If the car isn’t being driven much the battery won’t be able to recharge. A trickle charger or a longish drive (~30 minutes) would help. I take the family cars out for a drive at least once a week or so.
AAA is good for a jump or a tow but for a diagnosis take the car to an independent mechanic to have the charging system and battery properly checked.
Ed B.
We go out once a week
It sounds like this vehicle is used a lot.
Tester
we go out once a week
i don’t have a battery charger but i might be able to get one from amazon
I may go out with my Accord once a week.
It always starts.
Tester
How far, needs to be at least a 30 minute drive, one way.
Not 15 minutes to the store, shut it off, then 15 minutes back home.
i think it only takes us about 7 minutes to get to the store so it would be a total of 14 minutes both ways, i guess we don’t drive enough but i didn’t know that was bad. When we did get the new battery the next day when we started the car there was a knocking sound and a strong chemical smell, i 'm thinking it could be a bad battery, but that went away so we didn’t think anything of it
My 2012 Camry with the original battery that I bought in 2011 is driven to Walmart for a grocery pickup about every 10 days. !5 minutes each way and it is doing fine.
On the car that hasn’t hardly gone anywhere the last few months, I’ve been putting the battery charger on it every couple weeks just to keep the charge up. You can get a cheap charger at Walmart, farm store, or any of the auto stores. Under $50. I’d do that for sure. Then you know the battery is being fully charged regardless of how much you drive. You don’t have to leave it plugged in or you can get a maintainer at the same place that will keep the battery fully charged. The other thing you can get for less than $100 is a battery pack. Then if you need to jump start it you can do it yourself without calling AAA. You’ll always be ready to go battery wise anyway. I have all three. In addition I have a battery tester that I will check the condition on the batteries a few times a year or more to see if they are nearing the point of being replaced.
Thank, that sounds like a good idea, my mom and i won’t have to be afraid of getting stuck anymore. Can you please tell me what is the difference between a battery charger and a battery pack? Which one is best if you can’t start your car due to a low battery?
A battery charger you hook it to the battery and plug it in to a wall outlet. It’ll charge the battery over night or in a day or so to a full charge. A battery pack is just a portable battery that you can use to start a car but it won’t keep your battery charged. I’d say a charger sounds like it’s more important but the battery pack would make sure you didn’t get stuck somewhere.