# Mmmm battery, nom nom nom!



## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Against the advice of my peers here, I did not use a battery tender on my GTO while in storage. I ran her at the end of December for about 20 minutes when I checked on it last. She ran great, no problems. Went out today to check on it, lo and behold, no response from the remote, and no lights inside when I unlocked the door manually. The car looked ok inside and out otherwise, but my son and I were a little disappointed.

I have another battery left over from our old pontoon boat that showed about 11.08 volts, which is on a 2 amp charge as I type. It's just a temporary fix for when I go back on Monday, if it'll show 12+ volts in the morning. I'll bring the old one back and see if I can resurrect it.

So, worst case scenario, if I have to purchase a new battery, what is the absolute lowest Cranking Amps the GTO needs to turn the motor? I'm curious, as I don't need a BIG battery... it gets used at least every other day in summer, otherwise it sits in a nice warm garage for winter. I'm also going to be looking around for a master switch to cut the power without having to pull a terminal, so this doesn't happen again.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Are you sure the battery is dead? The reserve capacity could have been depleted but if jumped and allowed to charge it will come back. A battery tender will bring life back to the battery as long as the battery has not gone past the point of no return. Maybe allowing the battery to recharge then keep topping it off with a tender will stave off a battery purchase? 

As far as the CCA's if you have to buy a battery I would go with the max CCA's. This will allow you to leave it sit without the reserve depleting as fast as a battery with lesser CCA's. Keep in mind if batteries are allowed to sit sulfation sets in and that will decrease the longevity of the battery. Even if you install a kill switch, the battery will continue to slowly discharge. Regardless I would factor in a 60.00 battery tender in with a battery purchase.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

StarterGuard Failsafe Battery Support System - All Start Battery, Inc.


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## jpalamar (Jul 22, 2008)

I would remove the battery and hook it to a charger. If this is the first time the battery has been depleted, you may get lucky and it will take a charge and be fine. I killed my bike battery about 3 times now and everytime I've hooked it to the charger it charged back to full life.


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## Poncho Dan (Jun 30, 2009)

Thank you for the suggestions and responses. The old pontoon boat battery (not a deep cycle) did end up taking a charge and shows 12.88 volts, so I can just swap it. We'll see what happens to the one in the car... it's the factory AC Delco yet.



GTO JUDGE said:


> Keep in mind if batteries are allowed to sit sulfation sets in and that will decrease the longevity of the battery. Even if you install a kill switch, the battery will continue to slowly discharge.


I've heard of this, and I've also heard that the chemical reaction is slower the colder the battery is. In my case, it's a double edged sword because it's in a garage that's about 45-50 pretty consistently. However, there's really no power access that is close, so my hands are tied on the battery tender.

And Rukee, that is a pretty sweet little device, I'll have to pick one up.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Poncho Dan said:


> And Rukee, that is a pretty sweet little device, I'll have to pick one up.



Just ordered one for a friend with an `04 Jag that intermittently goes dead out of the blue, no rhyme no reason, everything checks out. Only does it like once every three weeks or so. I think it's the alternator doing it, but of course it checks out fine, it's almost $500 for a reman, and is just a bare to get too. This unit might be a better option then just throwing ridiculously priced parts at. It has a keyfob to reset it so you don't have to open the hood.


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