# Another Battery Question



## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

I've been to three places trying to get a diagnosis and no one seems to know what is wrong. 

The battery in my Z28 is rated at 650 CCA which is what it's supposed to be. 

When I start the car it needs to charge the battery and the alternator runs high on the guage. After about 8-10 minutes it settles where it should be. 

I had my charging system checked at 3 places and they all tell me the same thing, to charge the battery. 

I'm not sure how old the battery is but it looks fairly fresh. 

It has about 550-575 CCA every time it's checked which is low. 

The alternator is putting out 13.77 volts under load and 13.93 with no load. 

The battery connection is tight. The ground is tight. 

They tested for drain at 2 of the places and both said it was ok and the battery was not excessively discharging when everything is shut off. 

Why won't my battery charge fully and hold a charge???

Should I just go buy a new battery and see if that fixes the issue???


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## alsgto04 (Nov 21, 2007)

Im having the same problem with my goat every time i turn it on i need to charge the battery and it keeps on discharging within a couple days. My battery connection is also tight. I need help on this one also.


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

sounds like you both just need new batteries. no big deal. also, alsgto04, if your car still has the stock battery, I am kind of surprised it still works, especially being from an area with harsh winters. I'm from New England and I've replaced my battery twice (the factory batteries are known to have problems). Finally stepped it up to an Optima Yellow Top D35 and have never had a problem since


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## alsgto04 (Nov 21, 2007)

Yeah its still the stock and yes our winters are harsh. I think i have to step it up also to the Optima yellow top. :cheers


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Maybe the following will shed some light?


*Why won't my battery take or hold a charge?* A battery may not accept a charge for several reasons. Your battery may have a bad cell or an internal short and therefore be irreparable. Or it could be so severely discharged that it will require a professional caliber charger to charge it. Many home chargers have minimum voltages that must be present in the battery before the charger will switch on. Normally these low voltages are well below those exhibited by a battery that appears to be "dead."

Often however, the battery is not given the adequate amount of time to accept a charge. One of the best tips regarding battery charging is to observe the charger's ammeter swing needle (available on some chargers) during the charging procedure. After the charger is connected to the battery and is on, the needle should deflect to a high amperage level if the battery is partially discharged. If the battery is severely discharged, the needle only deflects slightly away from zero. Continue to observe the needle in either situation. On a normally discharged battery only, the needle will start to taper in amperage back toward zero, usually in less than five minutes. This reduction in amperage typically indicates the battery is accepting a charge. On a severely discharged battery, the needle will start off very low then rise. This rise of the needle is a preliminary indication that the battery is accepting a charge.

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Its cold now and my car sits in the garage. The battery cells were low of water and I filled them before tenderizing the battery. I put the tender on it for 1 day before it showed full, and it had plenty of cranking amps for a few days of ignoring the car. After about 4 days I fire it up and I can feel it not firing with the cranks it had. The battery is on my 2005. The battery Volt meter in my cluster gauge shows my battery reading strong, nearly 14 but I can feel the battery cashing out. Time to change it out


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

GTO JUDGE said:


> ---------------------------------------
> 
> Its cold now and my car sits in the garage. The battery cells were low of water and I filled them before tenderizing the battery. I put the tender on it for 1 day before it showed full, and it had plenty of cranking amps for a few days of ignoring the car. After about 4 days I fire it up and I can feel it not firing with the cranks it had. The battery is on my 2005. The battery Volt meter in my cluster gauge shows my battery reading strong, nearly 14 but I can feel the battery cashing out. Time to change it out


 when my car sits for any extended length of time, I always disconnect the battery. for the 1 minute it takes to unbolt the clamp, it saves the battery much un-needed drawing down that shortens it's life. doesn't matter how good of a battery you have on a newer car, it's going to go dead if it sits, from all the electronics in these cars


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Using a battery tender keeps the battery juiced up. If a battery sits in a dormant state even in a cold garage for months without being used, the power slowly diminishes even if the battery is disconnected. The battery should be kept at full charging power to prevent shortened battery life. The battery tender prevents discharging of the battery. Having to reprogram radios etc can get old.

*HOW CAN I REVIVE A SULFATED BATTERY?*

Starting and other lead-acid batteries are perishable. During the discharge process, soft lead sulfate crystals are formed in the pores and on the surfaces of the positive and negative plates inside a lead-acid battery. When a battery is left in a discharged condition, is continually under charged, or the electrolyte level is below the top of the plates, some of the soft lead sulfate re-crystallizes into hard lead sulfate. It cannot be reconverted during subsequent recharging. This creation of hard crystals is commonly called "lead sulfation". It accounts for over 80% of the deep cycle lead-acid battery failures. The longer sulfation occurs, the larger and harder the lead sulfate crystals become. The positive plates will be light brown and the negative plates will be dull, off white. These crystals lessen a battery's capacity and ability to be recharged.

Sulfation is a result of lead-acid battery discharge while in storage, which is a consequence of parasitic load and natural self-discharge. Parasitic load is the constant electrical load present on a battery while it is installed in a vehicle even when the ignition switch is turned off. The load is from the continuous operation of electrical appliances, such as, an emmissions computer, a clock, security system, maintenance of radio station presets, etc. While disconnecting the negative battery cable will eliminate the parasitic load, it has no affect on the other problem, the natural self-discharge of battery. Thus, sulfation can be a huge problem for lead-acid batteries while sitting on a dealer's shelf, in a basement, or in a parked vehicle, especially in hot temperatures.

16.1. How do I prevent sulfation?

The best way to prevent sulfation is to keep a lead-acid battery fully charged because lead sulfate is not formed. This can be accomplished three ways. The best solution is to use a charger that is capable of delivering a continuous "float" charge at the battery manufacturer's recommended float or maintenance voltage for a fully charged battery. 12-volt batteries, depending on the battery type, usually have fixed float voltages between 13.2 VDC and 13.6 VDC, measured at 70° F (21.1° C) with an accurate (.5% or better) digital voltmeter. Charging can best be accomplished with a microprocessor controlled three stage or four stage charger, such as a Battery Tender (Deltran), Truecharge (Statpower), BatteryMinder, Schumacher, etc., or by voltage regulated float charger set at the correct voltage, such as a ChargeTek, etc. By contrast, a cheap, unregulated "trickle" charger or manual two stage charger can over charge a battery and destroy it.

A second and less desirable method is to periodically recharge the battery when the State-of-Charge drops to 80% or below. At 70° F (21.1° C), a battery with 100% State-of-Charge measures approximately 1.261 Specific Gravity or 12.63 VDC and at 80% State-of-Charge, it measures 1.229 Specific Gravity or 12.47 VDC. Maintaining a high State-of-Charge tends to prevent irreversible sulfation. The recharge frequency is dependent on the parasitic load, temperature, the battery's condition, and plate formulation (battery type). Temperature matters! Lower temperatures slow down electro chemical reactions and higher temperatures speed them up. A battery stored at 95° F (35° C) will self-discharge twice as fast than one stored at 75° F (23.9° C).


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## GM4life (Mar 18, 2007)

Good info Judge. Also make sure that your connections is clean, and no corrosion. Take a terminal cleaner and clean both sides if it is. If you can take off your altnator and have it checked (if you don't know how to yourself) check to see if it is good as well. If your altnator has a short it will also drain your battery.


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## Aramz06 (Mar 2, 2008)

My original battery was replaced at 16,xxx miles, and a month later I had the same problems you guys did. Took her in for service and explained that its a new battery, they replacd the alternator and no problems since.


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## fergyflyer (Apr 18, 2005)

I changed the battery. I started the car and the voltmeter went way up. I let the car run for about 10 minutes and then drove it a bit, about 30 minutes of run time. Voltmeter came to normal after about 5 minutes and stayed there. 

I let the car sit for about two hours and went out and started it. Voltmeter surged for about a minute and then went to normal. I think I found my problem, a weak cell in the battery. 

It wasn't that old either. It was the cheapest battery that Autozone sells but the manufacture date was 04/07, so it was less than 2 years old.

I put in Advance's titanium battery with an 8 year waranty and a 3 year free replacement. We'll try that out. 

I'll update in two to three weeks when I test the battery and charging system again.


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## raspantienator (Nov 20, 2007)

*holy informtion judge*


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

fergyflyer said:


> * It was the cheapest battery that Autozone sells *but the manufacture date was 04/07, so it was less than 2 years old.


'nuff said!!!! there is a reason why it is the "cheapest" one the sell. as I can say until I'm blue in the face,and people still doubt it...you get what you pay for


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Northeast Rod Run said:


> 'nuff said!!!! there is a reason why it is the "cheapest" one the sell. as I can say until I'm blue in the face,and people still doubt it...you get what you pay for


Cry once when you buy it, or cry everytime you use it.


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## MJGTOWISH (Jun 15, 2006)

For you guys who are using Optima or planning to upgrade to one I suggest useing the blue top and not the yellow For Two reasons The blue version of the Optima Is a deeper cycle battery and two are cars have I high drain on the battery IMO, the computer is just thristy.

Where I got this info. Their website two Me and the following story.

My older much older Cousin Has a Chevy nova with a Crate Big Block 572 He well not even touch this car after about the middle of october till about late april or may and it sits in storage on jack stands in a storage unit that whole time, OF course don't forget stay bill or run it dry And for the past two years when i go to help him get it oing is starts Every time the first time every time.

Lets see if we can go three for three this year arty: Talk back to you guys in may


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

MJGTOWISH said:


> For you guys who are using Optima or planning to upgrade to one I suggest useing the blue top and not the yellow For Two reasons The blue version of the Optima Is a deeper cycle battery and two are cars have I high drain on the battery IMO, the computer is just thristy.


 the reason I bought the Yellw Top is because it is recommended (by Optima) over the Blue Top if the car is sitting for extended periods of time. 

the biggest difference is that the Blue Top is a marine battery, but how does it fit in the GTO? because I can tell you that the "regular" Yellow Top has the terminals on the wrong side of the battery, and I think it looks like crap when people just buy that one and stretch the cables to fit. if you buy the D35 (it is a bit pricier than a normal Yellow Top, but worth it), it fits perfect in our cars because the terminals in our cars are set-up like a Mustang. either way, I had to do my own research for fitment because Optima doesn't have a listing for either car

hope this helps a little and doesn't add confusion for anyone


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## Northeast Rod Run (Oct 29, 2008)

Rukee said:


> Cry once when you buy it, or cry everytime you use it.


that is the best quote I've read in a long time. you sum it up perfectly

maybe a new signature line


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