[AltoLXI]

Not able to start my car since today morning. Cranked 2-3 times but did not start. ICE and headlights (a bit dim rather) are working fine. This happened couple of weeks back but after waiting for few minutes, the car started, but not today.

The car is Alto (30k kms till date), seven years old, Exide battery that has not been replaced since the car was bought. I use car only once a week.

Last week the local car garage guy checked and there was no distilled water. He added it.

Do not know whether it is dead battery or other problem. How do I check?

[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Not able to start my car since today morning. Cranked 2-3 times but did not start. ICE and headlights (a bit dim rather) are working fine. This happened couple of weeks back but after waiting for few minutes, the car started, but not today.

The car is Alto (30k kms till date), seven years old, Exide battery that has not been replaced since the car was bought. I use car only once a week.

Last week the local car garage guy checked and there was no distilled water. He added it.

Do not know whether it is dead battery or other problem. How do I check?

7 years! I think its time to let it go and get a new one. That battery served you almost twice its average life.

You could get the cells checked to confirm before replacing it, for some of it might be dead.

[HimuraKenshin]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Do not know whether it is dead battery or other problem. How do I check?

TO check the condition of the battery, you have to check 2 things:

1. The resting voltage of the battery, do this with a regular digital multi meter.The resting voltage should be above 12.4 V

2. To check each of the cells on the battery with a hydrometer. With a hydrometer check the specific gravity of the electrolyte in each of the cells. The usual specific gravity for normal lead acid battery should be around 1.26. Any extreme variation, means the cell is kaput.


let me know your findings

cheers!

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by ajaypjayaraj

You could get the cells checked to confirm before replacing it, for some of it might be dead.

Originally Posted by HimuraKenshin

TO check the condition of the battery, you have to check 2 things:

1. The resting voltage of the battery, do this with a regular digital multi meter.The resting voltage should be above 12.4 V

2. To check each of the cells on the battery with a hydrometer. With a hydrometer check the specific gravity of the electrolyte in each of the cells. The usual specific gravity for normal lead acid battery should be around 1.26. Any extreme variation, means the cell is kaput.


let me know your findings

cheers!

The battery was dead. Suraksha Nexus replaced the battery with the new Sonic FS 1080 battery. Cost me 3250 (250 discount for not returning the old battery).

[pramodpk]

Yesterday the OEM battery of my almost 5 year old Fiesta Petrol failed without any warning. I had parked the car in the office in the morning and in the evening the car was not starting. There was no reponse when turning the ignition and the stereo display went blank. The car did not show any symptoms of a weak battery. Replaced it yesterday itself.

[NPV]

Folks need some help. Amaron OEM battery on my Siwft Dzire is still working fine, just 3 months short of 7 years
Of late, I do find that the car does start on the first crank but the crank seems to be just a bit longer and the battery test during the recent 60k service says battery is bad and needs to be replaced. It still hasn't stalled or failed, so is this the right time to change ? And what is the recommended battery ?
Battery Report at 50K service:


Battery Report at 60K service:

[freedom]

Originally Posted by NPV

Folks need some help. Exide OEM battery on my Siwft Dzire is still working fine, just 3 months short of 7 years
Of late, I do find that the car does start on the first crank but the crank seems to be just a bit longer and the battery test during the recent 60k service says battery is bad and needs to be replaced. It still hasn't stalled or failed, so is this the right time to change ? And what is the recommended battery ?

Are you waiting for it to fail? . Life of a battery if 3 yrs, it can be stretched to to 4 yrs.
7 yrs.. change it ASAP.

[Aroy]

You seem to have got an exceptionally good battery. You can try your luck and wait for it to fail. With lowering of temperatures in winter, the load will increase, and you can expect it to fail around January.

[ALTIMAed]

I remember once someone telling me, "my car is doing a 'lazy' start'", I was like, What???

"Lazy start", then it struck me, longer cranking than usual!!!

I said, time for a battery change buddy!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by freedom

Are you waiting for it to fail? . Life of a battery if 3 yrs, it can be stretched to to 4 yrs.
7 yrs.. change it ASAP.

Originally Posted by Aroy

You seem to have got an exceptionally good battery. You can try your luck and wait for it to fail. With lowering of temperatures in winter, the load will increase, and you can expect it to fail around January.

Originally Posted by ALTIMAed

I remember once someone telling me, "my car is doing a 'lazy' start'", I was like, What???

Thanks for your recommendations, I'm pro-actively working on getting the battery replaced before it fails!
As a first step I inspected the battery today and realized it is in fact an Amaron Go 38B20R type battery (model 38B20RMF) (not Exide as I'd mentioned earlier).

Since it has been working wonderfully well for almost 7 years, I wish to replace it with another Amaron battery.

Confirmed with my car's manual that battery type is 38B20R which is a 35Ah battery.

Looking up some of the sites I was a bit confused seeing 38B20R type batteries in Amaron are available in PRO, FLO, GO, BLACK and FRESH models and the only difference is the warranty ?

When I search by manufacturer and car model, some sites even suggest batteries with models like 40xxxxx, these are also 35Ah or 40Ah ?

[Rahul Bhalgat]

The stock battery of my SX4 Zxi is now 5 years and 6 months old. It is still working fine.

Nowadays, the cranking time has increased a bit. But it is not still very long.

Plan to replace the battery soon.

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

The stock battery of my SX4 Zxi is now 5 years and 6 months old. It is still working fine.

Nowadays, the cranking time has increased a bit. But it is not still very long.

Plan to replace the battery soon.

5 Years and 6 months

Thats the longest i have heard someone using their battery, My previous XUV's battery was almost 3.5 Years old and still used to crank the same way, On the other hand my 1.5 year old jetta's battery seems to be dying.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

5 Years and 6 months

Thats the longest i have heard someone using their battery, My previous XUV's battery was almost 3.5 Years old and still used to crank the same way, On the other hand my 1.5 year old jetta's battery seems to be dying.

The stock OEM battery in my Swift Dzire is just 2 months short of being 7 years old and still working well, hasn't failed yet but the crank has gotten just a tiny bit longer and I plan to replace it this week to be on the safer side (see above posts).

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by NPV

The stock OEM battery in my Swift Dzire is just 2 months short of being 7 years old and still working well, hasn't failed yet but the crank has gotten just a tiny bit longer and I plan to replace it this week to be on the safer side (see above posts).

What do you mean by the crank gets longer? If the battery is weak, it will show a difficulty in cranking. If the crank is longer, doesn't it mean that it is taking longer for the engine to fire up?

I replaced the battery of my Alto last week because it showed difficulty to turn the starter.

Get your battery checked before replacing (the voltage).

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by NPV

Folks need some help. Amaron OEM battery on my Siwft Dzire is still working fine, just 3 months short of 7 years
Of late, I do find that the car does start on the first crank but the crank seems to be just a bit longer and the battery test during the recent 60k service says battery is bad and needs to be replaced. It still hasn't stalled or failed, so is this the right time to change ? And what is the recommended battery ?
Battery Report at 50K service:
Attachment 1422720

Battery Report at 60K service:
Attachment 1422721

Hi NPV,
I have one query. My car has run for 58k kms and have been on stock battery since i brought it in 2012 Jan. During 50k kms service I had asked the service person to check the battery state and they just told me it is fine (then did not give any report like what you got). Now, when i go for 60k kms service, I am planning to ask them to check the battery again. Do, i need to specifically ask for that kind of report?

Note: I have not noticed any change in battery performance so far, but i am worried if it happens to die down all of a sudden!