Originally Posted by Rusty (Post 3952010)

The avg life of a car battery is 3 to 5 yrs. You get anything over that, the stars are in alignment for that battery. The life span of a battery is dependent on a few things. Age. The number of times it has been deep cycled. That is draining the battery to almost zero volts, and bringing it back up. If the battery has run low on water, if the plates has been exposed.

The plates in a battery get a build-up of sulfate on them over time. If the sulfate breaks off the plates in a big enough piece. It will short out 2 plates next to each other. Causing a dead cell. Each cell is good for 2.2 volts. what causes the sulfate to break off. Age, it just fakes off. Running low on water and exposing the top of the plates. Air hits it and causes a reaction. Vibrations in the car.

Originally Posted by CivilPenny (Post 3952133)

UPDATE 3...we charged the battery up to 12.5v yesterday, then unplugged the negative terminal and let it sit over night until now at 2pm. Read the battery and it was still at 12.3ish, hooked up the cable, and the car started. This in theory should eliminate the battery as the cause, because if it were the battery, it should have depleted greatly by itself over night. This means I have something drawing power while the car is off. I was praying it was just the battery, but now I have to take it in to have it diagnosed. Going to let it sit with terminals hooked up for a few hours and will read it one last time.


Weird, waited a few hours and tested it. Read 12.5 right where we left off...could the problem have solved itself..?

Originally Posted by CivilPenny (Post 3952133)

...could the problem have solved itself..?

Originally Posted by CivilPenny (Post 3952133)

UPDATE 3...we charged the battery up to 12.5v yesterday, then unplugged the negative terminal and let it sit over night until now at 2pm. Read the battery and it was still at 12.3ish, hooked up the cable, and the car started. This in theory should eliminate the battery as the cause, because if it were the battery, it should have depleted greatly by itself over night. This means I have something drawing power while the car is off. I was praying it was just the battery, but now I have to take it in to have it diagnosed. Going to let it sit with terminals hooked up for a few hours and will read it one last time.


Weird, waited a few hours and tested it. Read 12.5 right where we left off...could the problem have solved itself..?