Oil change places used to come out and show you that your power steering fluid is dirty and you need to replace it. (scam)
A new one MIGHT be the "replace battery" scam? They show you your battery measures: volts = 12.57V Measure CCA = 388 and Rating CCA = 600 (CCA is cold cranking amps)
I know the 12.57 is OK. Can anyone tell me if 388/600 calls for a new battery?
How do you "know" 12.57 is ok. What is 100% charge
Even if the charge is bad it doesnt mean you need a new battery. Your alternator could be bad and I dont think I would allow the guys down at the oil change pit to diagnois this.
Jimmie
12.45 is 75% 12.65- 12.8 is full charge so if your battery tested 12.57 is near 90% and not fully charged indicating something is wrong. it could be just dirty connections or a bad ground but you need a pro to look it over not spiffy boob. If the caps can be removed testing each cell is an important test. I dont think spiffy will do a proper load test and look up the proper charts to figure it all out or look for the easy fix since a new battery is all they want to sell. I looked at buying wiper blades from them but it was an off brand with no warranty against streaking, only tearing, so it is a worthless warranty on an unknown blade and I passed. Most any good local mechanic does this all for free or a very small fee, but your battery is not 100% and is sulfating from being under charged, get a pro to do it right for you.
Does your battery start your car?
If it works, don't fix it!
If your battery gets to the point where it will not start your car, THEN do some troubleshooting to find the problem which might be something other than the battery.
Sounds like a scam, to me. I'm with you, Bill. Cleaning the terminals and grease the terminals is a good idea. Ideally, I like to replace a vehicle battery after 4 years, cause that's how long mine typically last (4 years, and a couple months). I magic marker the purchase date on the battery itself.
I've replaced my own power steering fluid with a squeeze bulb, get as much as I can, and put fresh transmission fluid in its place. Do it again in a week or so, to get what dirty fluid was trapped in the lines. Other than a leaky hose losing fluid, dirty steering fluid has never troubled me or any of my vehicles.
No, because I can't read your damn light yellow type. I *could* if I wanted to set "read all messages in plain text" but I don't.
My battery is 9+yrs ('01 Buick), a Delco under the back seat.
How long did they have the interior lights and headlights on before taking that bogus reading?
I was at a big name oil change place recently and the guy came into the waiting room to show me how dirty my air filetr and cabin filter were. The cabin filter was FILTHY. Two problems... It was not even close to being the correct filter for my car, and I HAD REMOVED THE CABIN FILTER long ago. I often park at a marina with the windows rolled down in the summer, so a cabin dust filter is completely useless.
If it's still starting the car, it's good. that's a duh. you can't measure CCA in the field. The battery should be able to hold a load of half the CCA without dropping below 9.6 volts for 15 seconds. That's the closest you can come to actually measuring the CCA. But, bottom line, if it's starting the car, why would you worry about it?
Perhaps this wouldn't be a problem for you if you did either of the following sensible things:
1) Use a real news client instead of Outhouse Express 2) Killfile anything coming from webtv.net on the grounds that only the terminally clueless use webtv anyway
I bought an '84 Buick used in '91. Six years later, the battery failed. When I removed it, I discovered that it was the *original* battery: the date code stamped into the case showed it was made in November '83.
That was a Delco too.
Full charge 2.10 - 2.13 vdc/cell x 6 @ 70F
Buy a Hydrometer and measure the SG of each cell. That will tell you the charge state of the battery by cell. Specific gravity of properly charged electrolyte is about 1.28 or a 36% acid 64% water mix.
If your battery has not been:
A. Deeply cycled or discharged fully multiple times. B. Stored without a full charge and suffered Sulfation. C. Overcharged.
And is 5 years old or less it is probably ok. Take your vehicle to an auto parts store that offers a free in car diagnosis of the charging system. Many like Pep Boys, Autozone, Napa will do this.
The battery in my 96 Honda Accord is going on 9 years old and a recent check found it still in good electrical condition. The Honda is my #2 vehicle and sometimes goes a few weeks or so without a start. I keep a
1 amp maintenance charger on it so that's probably the reason it's been trouble-free.A new one MIGHT be the "replace battery" scam? They show you your battery measures: volts = 12.57V Measure CCA = 388 and Rating CCA = 600 (CCA is cold cranking amps)
I know the 12.57 is OK. Can anyone tell me if 388/600 calls for a new battery?
"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson
Did they say the air in your tires needed changing, too, and that they have a special on that this week? Whenever the battery falls to that level, it is for sure the air in the tires needs changing, too.
Steve
re: "If your battery gets to the point where it will not start your car, THEN do some troubleshooting to find the problem"
Hopefully that point will be in your driveway on a lazy Saturday morning, and not when your wife or daughter has the car and can't start it in a poorly lit parking lot late at night.
snipped-for-privacy@invalid.com
I am not going to change anything for one jerk that can not hit Cmd/A
I you are on a PC there must be a way to read the post, or you really do not care?
snipped-for-privacy@milmac.com
Best advice I have heard. Why continue to aggravate yourself.
I ran into that.
They did a valid load test with a valid tester. However the test is based on the CCA rating of the battery (a value that they enter). The CCA entered was not the rating for my battery. GIGO.
May not be the same as what you saw.
I read - skim, actually - maybe 8 newsgroups. OE works just fine.
That would work :)
Do you mean Ctrl + A maybe?
Right. Appently you don't either.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.