2005 Camry. Not driven much, around the block twice once a week.
The car will not start. When I attempt to start it, I hear a bunch of clicks. Last couple of starts, cranking seemed sluggish.
I measured the voltage at the battery terminal and got 11.79 volts, with the car at rest, and not attempting to start it. The battery is from January 2019. It is an AutoCraft Gold, Part Number 24F-6. It has a rated capacity of 750 CCA. I used a performance tool battery tester.
It’s not to intuitive on how to use it. But upon connecting it to the battery I get “BATTERY TEST” and select the enter button. It prompts me “BATTERY TYPE” with options of “STD” or “AGM”, I seleted STD as I believe that is correct for this type of battery. I get prompted with “RATING STANDARD” and shown “SAE”, pressing the left and right arrow buttons doesn’t seem to do anything, so I think it’s the only option. After pressing enter on SAE, Im shown “BATTERY CAPACITY ### SAE”. I used the right arrow until “750 SAE” is displayed and press enter. After the test is completed I get “BAD REPLACE”. So I think I need a new battery for this car?
I also disconnected the connector going to the starting motor. I measured zero volts when someone sits in the car and turns the key. One probe on the connector and one on the positive terminal. Looking at the terminal, 12 V is sent to connector when the key is turned, this creates a voltage difference across the coil closing the switch to energize the starter motor. So I think this is working correctly, at least power is going to the connector to the starter when turning the switch, starter relay is good, ignition switch is good, fuse is good.
I suppose I could try jumps starting it, but if the battery tester worked as supposed to, and I used it correclty I think I just need a new battery? Thanks for any help!
Before replacing the battery, recharge for 12 hours and test again. On the other hand, a 6-year-old battery is near the end of its life expectancy.
A battery that has been stored in a discharged state for a long time can take 4 to 8 hours before it will begin accepting a charge, a trip around the block will not add any charge to the battery.
A 6yr-old battery would be very questionable in my area, due in large part to the heat
I agree to charge and retest . . . If you happen to have a charger. Don’t run out and buy one just for this
If you don’t have a charger, just replace the battery . . . 24F at Costco is my suggestion . . . and proceed from there
I suggest avoiding Walmart. My brother’s had bad experiences where they cheated him and refused to replace a bad battery bought from them that was clearly well within the free replacement period
You may be overthinking this. If the car starts right up with a jump start, then the battery is at least suspect, being as old as it is. Once started you can use your multimeter to see if the alternator is charging. Of course that could be tricky since a very dead battery might not charge. I would suggest jump starting, and if it starts, then put the battery on a 12 hour slow-charge, and see if the car starts. If it does, then test the alternator with the MM. As you rev the engine, the voltage shoujld increase. If the engine does not start after the slow charge, well then you have your answer. In any event, your battery is near end of life anyway.
+1
In addition to that twice around the block routine not being sufficient to charge the battery, it is diluting/polluting the oil with water vapor because the engine never warms-up sufficiently to “cook off” the moisture, and this practice inevitably leads to a build-up of damaging engine sludge like this:
If the OP wants to hang onto a rarely-used car, that’s his business, but he should be aware that he is actually doing harm to the engine with his twice around the block routine.
For the OP: If you don’t drive much but want a car, buy an EV like a used Nissan Leaf. The price will be attractive and you could charge at home with a regular house current line (120V) or use a commercial charger. Recharging won’t cost much, especially at home. One reason the purchase price is low is the limited range. For you, that’s not a problem.
This becomes a less attractive option if you make occasional long trips. Still, an EV can work then too. I own a Tesla Model 3 and made trips from Central Maryland to Allentown, PA and Richmond, VA and still had plenty of charge remaining at arrival. I needed a recharge to get home, but that’s no big deal. Model 3s have significant depreciation, but for you as a buyer that’s a good thing. If you are interested, we can talk more here.
How far to drive it so it’s not the issue? I be sure to get to operating temperature with my twice around the block routine, at least the temperature gauge says so on the dash, right in the middle.
I’m going to try jump starting it to confirm it’s the battery.
Then try charging the battery, to see if just over discharged due to lack of use.
Be forewarned. Jump starting a vehicle with a dead battery, and then removing the jumper cables once the engine starts, can result in damage to the alternator.
I no longer jump vehicle to vehicle because of the risk of major eletronic damge that can happen. I either take the battery out to charge , use a battery jump pack or have the local towing service use their equipment for a small charge ( last time it was 25.00 ).
Looking at what is said online to maintain a car not driven much:
Need to move the car some non zero amount of miles in order to avoid getting flat spots in tires.
Need to apply the brakes to keep things from getting rusty.
Need to get up to operating temperature to burn off moisture within engine
Do all manufactuer recommended maintenance based on time and not mileage. So if drive only 100 miles in six months, still change engine oil
The consensus is to drive 20-30 minutes at least once a week, in terms of time. Is this just to keep the battery charged only? You could drive for a whole lot less time and still get up to operating temperature. If maintaining the battery is the only thing driving 20-30 minutes once a week, than simply using a battery maintainer would accomplish the same thing?
If so then seems like you just need to move the car some non zero mileage once a week and get up to operating temperature, and push the brake pedal down a few times while moving. If it’s 20 minutes, 2 miles, or 20 miles, it doesn’t matter, as long as the car is on enough time to get up to operating temperature. Use a solar battery maintainer to maintain the battery while not driving it. Complete all recommended maintenance based on time If I did all of this, would I be achieving the same goals if I drove it 20-30 minutes once a week?
Trying to learn here and thanks everyone. I’ll use a battery charger and not jump start it.
The battery is dead, it needs to be recharged before starting the engine. There is no use in jump starting the engine, you can’t drive the car with a dead battery.
If you drive around the block every day, you may need to drive 30 minutes each week to vaporize the moisture that accumulated in the engine oil.
A better plan would be to use the vehicle for grocery shopping once each month and recharge the battery every 90 days. That would be sufficient driving to prevent flat spots on the tires.
As to replacing the car, consider this: The vehicle lasted 20 years without engine failure, how many high voltage battery failures would you experience on a Nissan Leaf in 20 years?
Thanks all! So I’m just wondering if you drive for a few minutes than let it idle the remaining time, so the total on time is 30 minutes once a week, would this accomplish the same thing in terms of driving for 30 minutes, in terms of keeping a car not driven much?
Also wondering, I know some people “long term storage” their car or don’t drive it during the winters, and can go months without even starting their car. Based on what everyone is saying, this will allow moisture to accumulate in the engine and not get burned off, so you really shouldn’t long term store a car?
Idling won’t do as good a job of charging the battery or heating up the oil as driving for those 30 minutes. And the moisture accumulates from short drives, not from just sitting there.
As previously stated, you idling won’t help.
If you want to keep your current routine, just take it for a drive at highway speeds once a month for 30 minutes. You’ll be fine.
If you don’t drive your car for months, don’t worry about it.
As Nevada_545 noted, your car lasted 20 years without engine failure. Being a little conscious of your driving habits in order to prevent moisture buildup is sufficient, without the need to keep you awake at night.
