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What is the best car battery in India?

Car Battery Conundrum

  • I have a brand new car battery. My car has some issue that is (still) draining the battery, after I already had a mechanic look at and fix what was supposedly the issue.What can I do so that my battery doesn't go dead and get ruined over the winter while the car is idle? From what I could see online, you can't just take the battery out or it will go dead. It's a brand new battery - been in the car less than a week. The car starts up, but as each day goes by, it takes slightly longer (.5 more seconds) to start up. Something is draining the battery. Whatever it is drained the previous battery so completely that it ruined it and made it unable to be recharged (and multiple aaa drivers said that). I thought I had the issue fixed and some warning lights that were on are now off. The door light doesn't stay on anymore even after the door is closed. But apparently there is still an issue of some sort that is draining the battery. So I have a brand new battery now (I put it in a week ago), and I don't want that to happen again. I can't drive it around (it is in a safe parking place on a street), but I can start it up every few days. It is not near an electrical outlet. In searching, I also read that various car parts could be damaged if the battery is removed for extended periods of time. What can I do so that the battery doesn't go dead?

  • Answer:

    By "find a kill switch" I think ShutterBun meant "have a kill switch installed". Finding the source of battery drain can be a challenge. Keep in mind that the battery is getting heavily drained every time you start the car, though, and then the alternator charges it back up. So there's a big difference between the situation where you leave the car for a few days and then the battery's dead, and the situation where you drive the car a lot and then the battery's dead. One thing you(r mechanic) can do if it's the "drains when the car's not in use" problem is put an ammeter on one of the battery leads, observe the current, and pull a fuse at a time until it stops. I can't entirely tell from your description if you're planning on putting the car away for the winter, but if you are, you can pull the battery. But a battery in a car left idle for a while will suffer a little regardless. Motorcyclists who put their bikes up for the winter use a http://www.batterytender.com to condition their batteries while they're sitting unused, either on the bike or off. There are Battery Tenders for car batteries too.

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You should be able to find a "kill switch" that will safely disengage the battery without harming anything. (though if your stereo has an anti-theft code, you may need to re-enter it each time. Sitting disconnected shouldn't harm a modern car battery. (they sit on shelves at auto part stores for months at a time, after all.)

ShutterBun

Ask your mechanic about the alternator--that's what repeatedly killed our batteries, and the first mechanic we took the car to missed it somehow. And it's not heinously expensive (it cost us about $350, I believe)--although if that's the problem it's not like you have a choice about whether or not to repair. Sorry I don't have an answer to the more immediate question. Good luck with this!

supercoollady

(it's the kind of thing they use on boat batteries, which routinely sit unused for months at a time)

ShutterBun

It isn't the alternator (had that tested), but I will look and see if there is a switch!

furious

Oh, by "find" I meant "purchase." (they're not standard equipment)

ShutterBun

From what I could see online, you can't just take the battery out or it will go dead. You can test the situation with a cheap voltmeter. The harbor freight people will shttp://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-92020.html. You'll also want some alligator clamps (or a friend) to hold the test leads in place while you work. Disconnect your positive battery wire and hook up the voltmeter (on DC amps) from the positive terminal on the battery to the positive battery wire. If all the lights are out there should be maybe 100 mA being drawn (that's just a guesstimate). OK, now pull fuses one by one, noting which ones cause the number to drop. The ones that caused a big drop are your suspect systems. The problem with bench testing your alternator is that it still might not be charging the battery even if it passed the bench test with flying colors. This is because the field terminal might not be receiving voltage under your hood. No field - no charge. The system should be running at 14.5 volts when the car is running. If a cheap volt meter across the battery terminals while the engine is running says 12 v, you're probably not charging the battery while you drive. (MIND THE FAN WHILE YOU CHECK THIS!) Heh. On preview, what Mendel said.

Kid Charlemagne

Oh, okay, thank you. I think I'll just take the battery out and take my chances with any other issues until spring. I saw in searches that I should get fuel stabilizer and put that in. Do I need to do anything special in storing the battery? I plan on storing it indoors for winter, but does it matter? Could I just put the battery in the trunk?

furious

Just disconnect the cables and leave the battery in the engine compartment or wherever it normally is. No sense hauling it in and out.

Sternmeyer

Is getting it checked by a different mechanic a possibility? Because if you've changed the battery and checked the alternator, that seems like a good idea. Alternatively: what kind of car do you drive? I have a 2003 PT Cruiser, and there's a known problem where Cruisers sometimes develop a short in the wiring of the multi-function stalk (the handle that controls the fog lights), and even though you've got the lights turned *off*, those fog lights are *on* and draining power..... perhaps you have something similar. Oh, and you say the car is parked on the street --- you might check, but a lot of areas limit the amount of time a car can stay in one place on a public street: in my area, after 72 hours (3 days) you risk tickets and towing.

easily confused

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