Water Level in Battery

dtownfb

Toay I went to have my oil changed a local fast lube company. During the normal sales pitch to do other services, they mentioned that the water was "bone dry" in my battery and shoud be replaced. They offered to replace it with an Interstate battery for $119. Needless to say I did not take them up on this "bargain" but it did upset me. Plus I have not had any problems or symptons that the battery is going dead. In all my years of going to fast lube places, Ihad never had them mentioned about water level in the battery let alone checking for it.

I have a Walmart EverStart battery in my 1996 Explorer V8. The battery is about 2-3 years old. I guess my questions are. were they correct that I need to get my battery changed because the water was dry in the battery? Why can't I just fill it with distilled water? Is the Ever Start batttery considered a "maintenace free" battery? How do you lose water in a sealed battery?

As youcan see my question are numerous. Any help is appreciated.

vidtech

i would just fill the cells with distilled water up to the indicator ring or a little above the plates.do not overfill.

zueslewis

Follow vidtech's advice - the fast lube sales pitch was a scam, provided you've had no charging problems.

Mr_Shiftright

Just fill it up and keep an eye on it. If a battery goes "bone dry" it will die, so obviously yours wasn't that dried up.

Battery life is normally around 4 years.

dtownfb

thanks for the info. i knew it had to be scam to sell you a battery. It will be the last time i ever visit that place.

kinley

that is "maintenance free" by adding distilled H2O infrequently the bunny inside is seldom thirsty.

div2

The water level in the battery in my wife's 1997 528i(6/96 build) was below the electrolyte plates when we bought it in 2001. I refilled the battery with distilled water and the unit is still going strong at over six years old.

swschrad

I had a SOS call from my sister, must have been 20 years ago now, bad stink under the hood 100 miles away. it was still pretty sour when I got there, and it came from a battery that had been boiled when the mechanical voltage regulator contacts had stuck. boiled darn near dry. poured in some distilled water, pulled the top off the regulator and used my new digital voltmeter to set the regulator after filing the points, and we bought that car a new battery when we got to town, and a new regulator the next day when she was home and parts houses were open. the SOS call, of course, came at 10 PM.

of course, there is never a sale on when you are Stuck Outta Luck.

I replaced that battery because it had been burned dry, and the odor indicated to me that we had plate damage. lucky it didn't catch on fire, battery fires are reputed to be terrible.

anybody who never encountered a mechanical "relay" voltage regulator, be thankful. they were a little twitchy.

dtownfb

I'm glad to see there doesn't seem to be any long term damage if no water is in the batterry. I put some water in the battery last night. Interestingly, right on the battery it says if the dot (and it was) is Clear to add water. Amazing how quick those guys were to sell you a battery instead of simply offering to add water and mentioning that I should keep an eye on it. Well they lost a customer. Not that any of the workers there care.

isellhondas

I guess I've always figured that if the tap water is good enough for me to drink it's good enough for my battery!

Of course, I've been in parts of this country where the water smalled too bad to drink too!

haspelbein

In my three cars, the batteries are 6 (x2) and 7 years old. I've maintained them, the exteriors are clean, and they crank just fine. (I just jump-started somebody with the 7-year-old.)

Even with no ailments, when should you take your battery out to pasture ?

zueslewis

Buy the best for the least!

Mr_Shiftright

With modern cars, and if you live in a severe climate, (that means either real cold OR real hot, by the way), I wouldn't push it more than 4 years. After that, it may work okay for a couple yaers if you're lucky but it will fail suddenly when you need it most.

haspelbein

I live in a very moderate climate (Bay Area). Probably the reason why I got away with it for so long. The 'sudden' aspect of the failure is what concerns me most. Would there be any way to check the condition of the battery ? Any characteristics during charging/decharging that could indicate the impending doom ?

Well, I should probably just stop being cheap, I guess.

zueslewis

we're talking 30-50 bucks! That's less than I spent on movie tickets and snack bar robbery last night to see Tim Allen's new Santa Clause movie!

haspelbein

But, I'll have to shell out a little more. I'd say I'm looking at probably $110 (Sears) to $200+ (MB dealer).
And since I have no idea where the Sears battery came from, I'm inclined to go straight to the dealer.

P.S.: Is the movie worth watching ?

zueslewis

What about an Optima battery? They're $125 or so and the best on the market from all my surveying.

haspelbein

But they don't seem to make any for my W210 E-Class. (At least the search tool comes up empty on Optima's site.)

zueslewis

as it would be indicated on a Die Hard or other battery.

haspelbein

...that I mentioned earlier. There is a generic European Import battery for the Die Hard brand.

Given that the dimensions match, what other than voltage and CCAs should I look for to make sure I got the right one ?

zueslewis

size and terminal arrangement. Get the strongest one you can given the size family group.

haspelbein

...now I'm curious myself how it will work out.

zueslewis

then you turn your key...

Just kidding.

haspelbein

More like:

1. Drive to Sears.
2. Remove rear bench.
3. Remove battery.
4. Drop battery on foot while opening door to automotive department. Whimper.
5. Talk to 'service guy'.
6. Point to battery on rack after we-don't-have-this-item-response from 'service guy'.
7. Buy battery.
8. Hit door with battery on the way out, cracking the glass. Pretend not to notice.
9. Install the battery.
10. Install the rear bench.
11. Turn the key.
12. Realize that I forgot the radio code.
13. Drive to MB dealer.
14. Listen to why-didn't-you-buy-our-battery spiel. Get code.
15. Punch in code and drive home.

See, I have it all figured out...

zueslewis

tboner

Somewhere in there you have to pay the MB dealer for the code, some figure that exhausts any $$$ saved and them some.

Otherwise, great plan.

TB

swschrad

who also make the motorcraft batteries. johnson has typically been rated highly by CU and my experiences with both the OEM ford batteries and die hards from JC have been good.

armtdm

I concur that changing the battery every 4 years is the best, for $50-$90 it is worth saving the hassle of a no start on a cold morning etc. The Optimas are overpriced and the warranty (what little there are are pretty much worthless as they are prorated after a year or so) is no better then a regular water filled battery.

I love the Ac Delco, but lately I have been going with the Avanced Auto ones. Warranty is good etc. Also, I always look for at least the same CCA or higher as the OEm battery for a replacement. Few batteries are truly maintenance free (Delco is ) if the cell cover comes off it is not maintenance free and should be checked.

haspelbein

Actually, MB dealers will give you the code for free, if you ask nicely. I got it the last time through e-mail. Problem is, I forgot where I put the note with the code.

Another option is to wait until the battery dies, call the free MB roadside assistance, and buy the replacement battery from them.

But seriously, I will probably look up the specs over the weekend and start looking at batteries.

maltb

JC makes some of the die hard batteries, just as Delco makes some too. Interstate is 100% JC batteries, which have never given me a problem and their distributors are numerous.

swschrad

interstate has gotten a good rep in the past few years, and has a battery high in the ratings in the latest CU survey. guess that's part of it.

wain

Consumer reports a few months ago gave the Optima a very low rating even tho its very expensive

swschrad

thin plates wrapped in layers. that tells me reduced resistance to shock, reduced ability of the electrolyte to flow, potential for greater heating on the plates which can cause damage under load... it doesn't make as much sense to me as it does to some. see optimas being returned every time I'm in a batteries plus store for exchange. I can't see taking one over a logging road in my vehicle.

zueslewis

doesn't understand how cool an Optima battery is, though. They don't take "cool" into consideration.

swschrad

that's cool. you can shinny up a pole near a splice case, tap into a pair, and fire up the intern.... ahhh... but you need a battery to run the inverter.

darn.

zueslewis

have a hot rod.

lemko

You mean they still make batteries where you need to check the water level? I haven't needed to do that since I had my 1968 Buick almost 20 years ago. I thought all batteries were maintenance-free these days. I use AC-Delco batteries exclusively.

zueslewis

batteries dry out, depending on outside temps and engine temps. I check them any way - at least the ones you can get the caps off of.

spokane

Some "maintenance-free" batteries were sealed a few years ago but most good batteries now have a provision for adding water even though the misleading "maintenance-free" designation continues. A six-month check of the liquid level is usually sufficient. I find the sudden unexpected failure of a battery to be far more inconvenient than having a battery fail early but with a warning from reduced cranking speed. In that regard, the Johnson Controls batteries (Interstate and recent Sears Diehard) seem to me to be very good.

cutehumor

anyone use battery chargers to charge their car battery? I have a four year old battery in my car that cranks slow if the car sits for 3-4 days. It's probably on the way out. is it worth to buy a battery charger? I think they run about 30 bucks, but I also can buy a low end battery with low cold crankin amps for 30 bucks. Is it true you have to charge the battery after everytime you use your car? Please post any experience. thanks

alcan

Given the age of the battery, it's probably seen it's tour of duty. Have it load tested and the charging system output checked. Should take about 10 minutes to verify. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have the car checked for excessive parasitic current draw from the trunk light, glove box light, etc, when shut off. The $30 charger won't start your car if it's at home and the battery dies elsewhere.