The car battery was working fine until I accidentally left the parkers on.
It was flat so the NRMA got it going, they said the battery was quite new. So I drove it around for a while, but the next morning it was flat again, NRMA got it going, this time I drove it for even longer, Now it is flat again.
What would be the best course of action now?
I do wonder how Pam functions on a day to day basis sometimes with the number of small issues that end up being Ozbargain post worthy.
being stranded was not a small issue to me
Recharge overnight with a decent charger (something like a CTEK)
This.
Your car's alternator is not designed to "charge" the battery, it's better described as "maintain battery charge".
You need to charge it with a proper charger.
I think you'll find that the side effect of having an alternator in an ICE car is that it actually charges the battery after it has been "shocked" from starting the engine on a cold damp morning with thick cold oil…….. maybe there are new alternators which are designed to not charge the car battery?
But an alternator is not designed to recharge a fully flat battery.
A battery that has gone flat twice probably had some damage to the cells. Lead acid batteries don't like being flat.
@munecito: as to the original point …but it will on a long journey….If the battery is dead (low CCA etc)…the road side guys would (should) have identified a dead cell etc…..
@Ade99: @Ade99 people that say they went for a long drive almost never get to drive at least two hours at optimal revolutions for the alternator to recharge a battery.
Plus an alternator working hard to recharge a fully depleted battery overheats, and a hot alternator becomes less efficient.
@kiitos: "By discharging a lead acid battery to below the manufacturer's stated end of life discharge voltage you are allowing the polarity of some of the weaker cells to become reversed. This causes permanent damage to those cells and prevents the battery from ever being recharged."
Nope, weather or not they manage to charge the battery a bit or not - they are not designed to re-charge flat batteries.
It's by desgn.
Absolutely. I have Ctek smart charger 5Amp and charge battery overnight straight to Battery. without removing in car leads. I do this once a year before winter.
Try a smart battery charger to give it a good charge?
https://sydneytools.com.au/product/noco-genius5au-6v12v-5a-f…
Try a battery charger (take it out the vehicle and charger overnight).
Or get a new battery looks like the only other alternative.
get a garage to check the CCA rating…that will give a good idea as to battery health….
NRMA would have done this when they attended site. They'd also have checked the voltage being provided by the alternator.
They can't check the battery health with the battery flat.
The alternator may provide charge but the cells may be fried from being deeply discharged.
you would hope so!
How old is the battery?
Dead alternator? How old is the car?
2004
It's Pam's new corolla. Keep up dude.
I don't think this will be the last thing we hear about her 18yo car either
"Car wont start"… possible reason… no keys.
If alternator issue there should be a little symbol on the dash. In the old days there were dials which showed when the alternator was not charging the battery / supplying the right voltage.
NRMA must have a red phone that rings when Pam calls. Jeeeeezus.
Did the NRMA mechanic check the battery voltage with the engine running?
Your alternator could be stuffed.
yes I was hoping that he would. All he said was the charge was only down a little bit
Take it to your mechanic, something might be going wrong with the charging system.
Yes I will do that rather than just getting a new battery via NRMA
Take it to an auto electrician. This is their bread and butter.
They can plug in and advise the state of the electrics, battery CCA rating etc…..
I would not bother with that until the battery has been on a charger overnight, a completely flat battery needs a LOT of driving to charge it back up.
tx
This is a nice surprise.
Buy a GooLoo jumpstarter when they are reduced again. Handy to have around next time its flat.
This previous post maybe of interest.
This time the NRMA took a look and he said the alternator and charging system was fine but the battery was no good and coudnt hold a charge (a cell fault) so I purchased and installed a new one with them. Saves me a trip and going anywhere, thems the breaks
How much out of curiosity?
205 ouch
That's ok. You paid about an extra $50 for the convenience. Probably worth it.
@MS Paint: Meanwhile my Audi's battery cost $400 and i had to install it myself :( - took the best part of an hour and the front seat had to come out.
How good is german engineering.
Never again.
Next time i'm going to call NRMA to install it.
@Drakesy: Q7?
But a 2004 corolla is a 3 minute job for someone who makes a living out of swapping batteries.
@Drakesy: Next time you need a car battery, try Bunnings.
In the past I've scored replacement car batteries for up to $100 less than for the same one from Supercheap.
They may have to order it in, but if you can wait a couple of days its a no brainer.
@batfastard: Unfortunately high power euro car batteries are a different breed.
You can shop it around but wont get much of a discount.
And bunnings doesnt have them as theyre pretty specialized
@Drakesy: The battery under the seat or in the boot will outlive batteries in hot engine bay. Also vibration causes the stuff on the plates to dislodge and you end up with a very unhappy battery.
You don't have to stick to certain brand, as long as you believe it's a good brand, CCA and capcity number matches it will be a suitable candidate.
For those start-stop vehicles you will need different batteries that fns handle deep discharge and quick charging.
very cheap…decent batteries are more like $400 and up…..
@Ade99: A $400 battery would be 25% of the value of Pam's car.
A $400 battery is cheaping out on a start stop E Class MB. It's all relative.
@Ade99: But if one buys an Excide ( extreme) battery which warrants 42months period costs only some $175.00 only. I have some worries over my 3 1/2 years Corolla’s battery which however my mechanic said it was still alright hence no buy yet from Bunnings.
@The tiger: They don't cost $175 anymore at least the one I'm looking at doesn't.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/exide-extreme-x55d23cmf-vehicle-…
Lead acid batteries don't like being deeply discharged. As you find out the bells suffer damage from it.
There are many deep discharge lead acid battery.
May be deep cycle which aren't your high CCA type and still don't like to go under 50% of charge before your cells start suffering.
…have you tried turning it off and on again?
yes that worked once when I went to the gas station, thank goodness I was able to get home again
supercheap auto does free battery recharging
Take it to a scrap yard u get 5 dollar back
if you connect the jumper leads to your nips , you get a good jump start to the day
No you dont, it's DC, all you get is pinched nipples.
@pegaxs: DC or AC you need at least 35V across the nips to feel anything. Best is clamp your tongue 9V is more than enough for a shocking experience
Actually any battery shop will be more than happy to recycle your battery. Even if you don't purchase from them. The metal in the battery is worth some recycling money.
My battery has died about six times in the last year and the main reason is… I left something on. Do a good snoop around your car for any internal lights left on, a door slightly opened, etc etc.
Also when you say you drove it around, how long? It'll need at least 30 minutes (ideally much more) if you're going from a dead battery
I accidentally left the parkers on
Do you have a dash cam…often a villain for stealing power?
The problem is solely me. I would turn the inside lights on and leave them on for a week
Alternator might be kaput
Q. what are parkers for?
A. draining batteries.
go full headlights, always.
HI PAM!
Sounds like your alternator is defective
or
You need a new battery.
That was easy.
Nice change. Hopefully she doesn't lose the keys again. Maybe she should invest in some airtags for the keys.
Define " I drove it around for a while".
A five minute trip to the shops isn't going to do much.
Drive for an hour or two.
I feel your pain - this problem occurred a number of times with my 2006 Subaru, I only managed to get it fixed last year.
n.b. I am not a mechanic, so please excuse lack of tech details here:
my battery kept going flat, esp. if I didn't use the car for a few days, or after I left interior light on.
NRMA kept coming out, tested what could be draining the battery, sold me a new one, and even exchanged the new one again after a year because it kept getting drained
Had a number of ridiculous conversations with various experts about Chinese vs Korean vs Japanese vs Euro batteries along the way
I went to a mechanic (a high end one recommended by NRMA) with my new battery - they changed alternator (about $800) - but same flat-battery problem again after less than a year. Unpleasant conversation afterwards when I went back to say the alternator didn't work. They blamed the battery.
FINALLY, I found a good Subaru mechanic who said that I needed to always keep the headlights on when driving, because this charges the battery.
Alternatively, he could disconnect something (sorry lack of detail). He said it was not due to the alternator (I wasted money here) - it is due to this charging mechanism.
I don't understand why this is so, but leaving headlights on while driving has worked and I've never had a flat since. I also don't understand why in the early years of my car, I didn't have to leave the headlights on, but who cares - this solution works now. (But just in case, I also keep an instant jump starter in the car (costs around $50) - no need to wait an hour for NRMA. )
I don't know if Subaru and Toyota have the same system, but it's worth a try.
FINALLY, I found a good Subaru mechanic who said that I needed to always keep the headlights on when driving, because this charges the battery.
This is true of some modern cars that have a smart alternator, which are designed to save on fuel (and heat, and wear on the alternator) by running the alternator in an ultra low power mode most of the time. These variable-voltage alternators can go down to about 12.7v or so when driving with a fully charged battery with low electrical load. However if the system fails to detect that the battery needs charging, then the smart alternator won't charge it during low electrical load and will instead simply maintain the battery's current state of charge. This is also why smart alternators can't really charge a second battery in a dual-battery setup (need a dc-dc charger), while non-smart alternators can easily charge a dual-battery setup (just need an isolator).
An easy way to override the smart alternator and force it to run at higher power to charge your battery is to run a high electrical load, such as turning on your headlights. This will make the smart alternator output a higher voltage up to about 14.5v which will also charge your battery.
“I found a good Subaru mechanic who said that I needed to always keep the headlights on when driving”
Um, was this told to you on April 1st?
Nah i was told something similar cause i had the same issue in a Mazda. The idea is to force the car to go into high demand state. I think it could be a faulty circuit or sensor.
I think you’re suppose to charge an electric vehicle so it doesn’t go flat when you drive.