Last night my battery gave up on me

[Basill]

I have a new shape Vectra 1.8, Its an 05 company car with 93K on it, after a
couple of relatively short trips I left the car for about two hours, when I
returned there was not enough juice in the battery to turn the engine over
even once, I had to call the RAC, after less than an hour waiting even the
radio started to cut out. One very dead battery!
With my last Vectra I had exactly the same problem at about the same age,
just not on a cold night. Although both times I did get sort of warning in
the mornings when might be a tiny delay between turning the key and the
engine turning over. That time I got a jump start from the RAC and had the
battery tested at Quickfit where it passed (!) However it let me down the
next day and I got a replacement from the RAC.

Do todays batteries all go from fine to useless so quickly? I`m sure we
used to get more warning ie poor cold starting etc.. I`ve had failing
batteries that needed a bit of nursing before but what surprised me was that
both batteries let me go out and about but let me down during the day.

If you have one about that age I`d consider carrying a warm coat or a
blanket it was a chilly wait for rescue!

Any one else suffered the same?

Cheers,
B

 

[Peter]

I have a new shape Vectra 1.8, Its an 05 company car with 93K on it, after a
couple of relatively short trips I left the car for about two hours, when I
returned there was not enough juice in the battery to turn the engine over
even once, I had to call the RAC, after less than an hour waiting even the
radio started to cut out. One very dead battery!
With my last Vectra I had exactly the same problem at about the same age,
just not on a cold night. Although both times I did get sort of warning in
the mornings when might be a tiny delay between turning the key and the
engine turning over. That time I got a jump start from the RAC and had the
battery tested at Quickfit where it passed (!) However it let me down the
next day and I got a replacement from the RAC.

Do todays batteries all go from fine to useless so quickly? I`m sure we
used to get more warning ie poor cold starting etc.. I`ve had failing
batteries that needed a bit of nursing before but what surprised me was that
both batteries let me go out and about but let me down during the day.

If you have one about that age I`d consider carrying a warm coat or a
blanket it was a chilly wait for rescue!

Any one else suffered the same?

Cheers,
B

Yes. I've had this twice. once on a citroen GS and later on a Rover 216.
In both cases the problem was mechanical, a cracked link between
adjacent cells. When you are running there is a bit of acid in the gap
and it seems to work ok, but as soon as you try to draw a lot of current
the acid blows out of the gap and everything stops. Also in the "good
old days" when charging systems were less then effective a failing
battery would give warning by slow cranking, dim lights &c long before
it really failed. Now the alternator keeps it topped up all the time and
it goes on and on and on till it fails.

 

[Martin]

Yes. I've had this twice. once on a citroen GS and later on a Rover 216.
In both cases the problem was mechanical, a cracked link between adjacent
cells. When you are running there is a bit of acid in the gap and it seems
to work ok, but as soon as you try to draw a lot of current the acid blows
out of the gap and everything stops. Also in the "good old days" when
charging systems were less then effective a failing battery would give
warning by slow cranking, dim lights &c long before it really failed. Now
the alternator keeps it topped up all the time and it goes on and on and
on till it fails.

I've only had a couple of battery failures in about 25 years of Vaux
ownership (and much of that time, running two Vauxhalls). Both were after
many years and >100k miles and both died slowly enough that I was able to
get replacements before being stranded.

In contrast, back in the 60s, almost every battery failed in its 13th
month - just after warranty expired !

What I have discovered (the hard way) is that - unlke the "old days" when
people bothered about such things - today's batteries can't keep the side
lights running over night. And that triggers alarms at ungodly hours :-((

 

[Roger R]

Yes. I've had this twice. once on a citroen GS and later on a Rover 216.
In both cases the problem was mechanical, a cracked link between adjacent
cells. When you are running there is a bit of acid in the gap and it seems
to work ok, but as soon as you try to draw a lot of current the acid blows
out of the gap and everything stops.

It happened on my Astra just as suddenly as you describe. (16 months ago)

On a warm sunny spring afternoon the battery started the car perfectly
normally and I set off to a distant location stopping in the layby at at the
local shop about 1/2 mile from home. The car would not restart, battery
would not turn the engine at all.

As I was near home I took the battery out and carried it back and put it on
charge. It would not take any charge at all.
The local car shop nearby put their tester on it and said it was duff.
It had a little clear lens in the top that showed green - and still did
after failing. I think it was exide brand.

Your explanation of the cracked link in the plates fits here.

I couldn't have asked for a more convienient situation/location for the
failure, but it might have been very different.

Roger R