OK, so when I was about to leave to the party on saturday, I went to start my girl's and it was dead. I jumped it, took a second but it finaly started. I disconnected the negative battery cable, and it kept running, so i thought maybe it was just the battery. I let it run for a while, I shut the car off, and it was dead again. So at this point, I decided not to go out because I was scared to be stranded.(and I wasnt going to drive my car) So the next morning, I took the battery in to the parts store and had it tested. He said the battery was junk and I need a new one. So I bought a new one, and so far, the car has started perfectly. So I guess my question is, do batteries just go out? Or is it possible I'll be running into some more problems? Thanks in advance -Tony
Did you drive it around? The alternator isn't going to fully charge it at idle. Batteries do go out... especially if they require maintenance and it is ignored. I'd still check for a burnt out light left to on and such tho...
Yeah, if you would have driven it around for a while, it may have acquired some life again. Typical lead-acid batteries do not like discharged and charged too many times. They start to bulge, and then you know they are headed south.
yeah, I'm sorry, I didnt mention that. Yeah, we drove up to cub which is about 2-3 miles away, she ran in and I sat in the parkinglot. all together it was running for about 30 minutes, both driving and sitting at idle. I didnt think of looking for a burnt out light, I'll do that tonight. thanks for mentioning that.
A burnt out light would drain a battery no more than a switch left off. An incomplete circuit is an incomplete circuit.
Fuji's battery just crapped out on us at a friends house just like that. Dead, pooped! So it's possible
What piddster said. Everytime a standard lead acid battery gets discharged more than about 20% it causes actual physical damage to the plates. Being completely discharged does a lot of damage. If a batter was marginal and then got heavily discharged, that could pack it in right there. Better to have it happen now than in the middle of January at least.
well, I checked last night and all lights are working perfectly, so I think it was infact just the battery. She hasnt had any trouble starting it now so I think we're good. Thanks for everyones help.
The battery in our car just dumped itself the other day as well. No apparent reason--it ran the day prior, but in the morning it was borked.
