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[Lizzie Zoom]

Yesterday went to my garage and noticed the central locking reacted very slowly when pushing the fob button - yes, you've guessed, went to turn the engine over and no chance!  Battery could put the dashboard warning lights on but nothing else.

Called the AA, told they would be with me in 40 minutes; the mechanic turned up after just 10 minutes.  Within 5 minutes he had jump started the engine, tested the battery and said it was charging ok.  Told me to run the engine for 40 minutes, so I drove to my daughters the long way round.

Left my daughters 3 hours later, turned the key in the ignition...................yes, nothing but the lights!!

Called AA again, told it would be 50 minutes, he turned up in 15, great.  He tested the battery and it had failed.  Bugger I thought as I did not want to spend money on a new battery this side of Christmas.  He said "don't worry about that. I can fit one now and you will not be invoiced for two weeks!"

Great, he fitted a Bosch and away I went.  Great stuff again!!  In recent years I have only used the AA when my battery fails, but again for me it proves the worth of that safety net which is the AA.

The 'old' battery that had failed was a GM one. only bought from Vx on 17/07/2017, but as bloody usual it is out of any warranty cover.  Still the AA price for the new battery is £9 cheaper than that one, and the AA chap said if I can find it cheaper elsewhere I can get a price match. Fair enough  eh?!

[Sir Tigger KC]

That's a coincidence Lizzie!  My Mondeo was as dead as a Dodo today! 

Luckily I have a new battery which I bought last month, so fitted that.  The old battery had 8 volts... 

[B52]

Batteries fail so quickly sometimes. I once started my 98 Omega and noticed it cranked a touch slow, drove 70 miles home and it wouldn't restart.

Usually get batteries online now - good price and generally next day delivery. Tayna is ok.

[dave the builder]

I always keep a spare ,charged up battery behind the drinker's seat in the footwell
though i do have RAC as part of my insurance and auto-aid also AA through a bank account
to be sure to be sure to be sure 

[Lizzie Zoom]

That's a coincidence Lizzie!  My Mondeo was as dead as a Dodo today! 

Luckily I have a new battery which I bought last month, so fitted that.  The old battery had 8 volts... 

The AA chap said sorting out batteries was all they were doing now. With me, you, B52 and all other motorists at the moment, I am sure the batteries are going due to the very low mileage we are doing at the moment.  After turning a 3.2 engine, or any engine, if it cannot do a good long run every week it must put a lot of strain on the battery and quickly make it go dud!

[Entwood]

That's a coincidence Lizzie!  My Mondeo was as dead as a Dodo today! 

Luckily I have a new battery which I bought last month, so fitted that.  The old battery had 8 volts... 

The AA chap said sorting out batteries was all they were doing now. With me, you, B52 and all other motorists at the moment, I am sure the batteries are going due to the very low mileage we are doing at the moment.  After turning a 3.2 engine, or any engine, if it cannot do a good long run every week it must put a lot of strain on the battery and quickly make it go dud!

The audi has not turned a wheel for 4 weeks, but the battery is in tip-top condition, as it has a "smart charger" connected to it for 48 hours  every 14 days. Modern cars with all the anti-theft devices and other stuff quickly run down a battery, and a battery discharged for even a short period is rapidly damaged beyond repair (look up sulphate to sulphide conversion) as the build up of irreversable hard crystals occurs when a battery is left discharged. PROPERLY charging can prevent this, and if the crystals are still "soft", even reverse it.

The problem is .. even a 20 mile run will NOT "Properly" recharge a battery .. but 48 hours on a charger will.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/sulfation_and_how_to_prevent_it?

[STEMO]

My astra is a 2014 and still has the original GM battery. Gets at least 40 miles put on it every day.

[New POD]

I've had My MV6 4 years now. No idea what brand of battery. But I've been doing lots of miles until March.  Then it sat at the end of the road. I didn't touch it due to wfh and furlough until August.
Jumping it off my wifes Astra didn't get it started, but via this very site, and especially thanks to Omegod, the crank sensor was replaced.  I jumped it off the Astra and moved it onto the drive. I charged up the battery for a day, and it started.  But the next day it wouldn't start. I charged it up again, for about 8 hours and then again the next couple of days.  I was expecting to have to get a new one, but it's been fine ever since. Mostly very short journeys too.  A few long will get ones but the last 6 weeks I've driven about 6 miles a week.

[Sir Tigger KC]

My astra is a 2014 and still has the original GM battery. Gets at least 40 miles put on it every day.

My Mondeo is 2008 and it was the original Ford battery that failed, so can't complain really.

[Lizzie Zoom]

I once had a company Carlton that did over 110K miles over two years from 1986, then we bought it to run as a third car.  When my ex traded that in at about 200k miles for a Senator in 1997 it still had the original GM battery with a brand name I cannot remember now, but were fitted to all Vx cars.

I was amazed how that one lasted.

[STEMO]

The name on my GM battery is GM 

[B52]

Delco/Delphi rings a bell somewhere

[Nick W]

I once had a company Carlton that did over 110K miles over two years from 1986, then we bought it to run as a third car.  When my ex traded that in at about 200k miles for a Senator in 1997 it still had the original GM battery with a brand name I cannot remember now, but were fitted to all Vx cars.

I was amazed how that one lasted.

Some do.
Most don't
It's pure chance which you get.

[Nick W]

Delco/Delphi rings a bell somewhere

Delco was just GM's parts brand, like Unipart/BL, Motorcraft/Ford, Mopar/Chrysler(US) etc etc. It doesn't necessarily mean the part was made by that company. That was often obvious when you opened your dealer supplied parts in their packaging to find a Timken roller bearing, Vandervell crank bearing, AE piston etc.


One of my friends insisted that he was going to only use genuine Mitsubishi service parts on his newly acquired Starion, that always entailed two trips to the local dealer in Bexleyheath. Which was a bit of a pain when you live in Chatham and work in Maidstone. We didn't take the piss much when he opened the genuine Mitsubishi boxes to find four NGK 'R' plugs that he could have got over the counter anywhere for a quarter of the price

[Lizzie Zoom]

Delco/Delphi rings a bell somewhere

That’s the one, thanks!