Battery Done?!?!

[06EXP]

Well the wife tries to leave for work this morning and the truck is DEAD! Not even a hint of turning over.

So I hook up to my truck and let it run for a few minutes and try to start hers. It would barely turn over once and then go to clicking. I let it go for longer and same thing. I finally had to give up and let her take my truck since she was going to be late, and I rode my motorcycle. Is it possible for the battery to go from fine to DEAD overnite? I am going to try to get it started after work and take it to O'Reilly's to have em test it and replace if needed.

And I'm fairly certain it is the battery cause before I hooked it to my truch the interior lights and puddle lights were on but VERY dim, once I hooked to my truck they went full bright.

 

[corvettej]

If the battery hasn't been changed since new that about right, my truck did the same thing, all you have to do is look and see if the eye is green if its the original, if not the battery is bad.

 

[06EXP]

Thanks for the reply corvettej, I will look when I get home.

Another question to all, is an Optima worth the extra money for a daily driver?

 

[Racenut]

I have had a few batteries give out with no warning at all so I would say yes it is possible, even thou it really sucks because it is always bad timing. As for the optima a lot of people swear by them but I don't really see the need unless you live in extreme temperatures (cold or hot) or if you are running a lot of stereo equipment. A lot of people down here in New Mexico run the optimas because of the 100+ heat in the summers and the teens in the winter nights, but I have had good luck with the walmart batteries. I always get the one with the highest warranty and that way when it goes I just swap it for a new one ( a bit cheaper and you end up with a new battery every 1.5 to 2 years from my experience). Hope this helps

 

[06EXP]

Thanks Racenut.....it turned out to be some corrosion on the terminal. I went home at lunch and went to wiggle the connector and it kind of "broke free" and I wiggled it back and forth a few times and she fired right up.

Took it to Advance Auto so they could test it just to be sure, and what do you know battery is just about good as new! SWEET!

 

[corvettej]

Like racenut said "Walmart is the place for batteries". I have four vehicles and all of them have Walmart battery with 3 years free replacement before they are pro-rated. Walmart has a good return policy.

 

[jjbusa]

same thing happen to me at work. ended up being the battery post was loose.

 

[nvycrmn]

one thing you can use to help with the corrosion is di-lectric grease. just put a little bit around the terminals and you should be good to do.

 

[panda24619]

i have a corrosion problem and have yet to put the grease on even after nvy told me to do it during our off road trip. sry. put the light covers on though. but i used simple green and it clean off with no rubbing or anything. all corrosion was gone. and has yet to come back after a week. so who knows. simple green will clean the world.