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Old 07-27-2012, 07:21 PM   #1 (permalink)
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I know its not a hybrid, but...

Idk if I missed something about EOCing but I've been getting great mileage from coastimg on long hills and FASing at lights and today my battery died at work. :O I didn't think it was having any negative effects because it started fine and ran smooth, and i had just filled the tires to the max wall, so I was all excited to hit 50mpg. Is there anyway to ensure the battery handles the engine being off?

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Old 07-27-2012, 07:59 PM   #2 (permalink)
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Did it fail or was the battery just run down? What is your commute like and how often are you restating you car?
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Old 07-27-2012, 08:30 PM   #3 (permalink)
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It was just run down, like if the lights were left on. My commute's only about 5 miles, and there are a lot of lights and hills in between.
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Old 07-27-2012, 09:53 PM   #4 (permalink)
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If you're doing a lot of engine off you can run your battery down, especially if you have such a short commute and it doesn't have enough time to charge back up. You might need to top off the battery now and again with a battery charger, or put a small solar panel on the car. If you end up having to replace the battery it would be a good idea to go with a deep cycle since they're made to be run down more without damaging the battery.
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Old 07-27-2012, 10:14 PM   #5 (permalink)
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If it is the original battery and it's 4 years old, it may be time for a replacement anyway. Maybe an upgrade to handle the engine off operation.

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Old 07-27-2012, 10:15 PM   #6 (permalink)
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If you have DRLs that won't help either. If you go with a solar charger don"t go too small. Three or five watt not the 1.5s and lots of sun. Did you have the battery tested? Four to five years is what I expect from OEM here in So Florida.
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Old 07-27-2012, 10:51 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Alright, I was just wondering what was causing it. I'll keep that to a minimum now. What's the best length to be doing that? And what about at lights? I can get on the interstate for certain trips but it's no more than 20 miles at a time, if that puts things in perspective.

Also, what are DRLs?

Last edited by Sheikz2; 07-27-2012 at 11:34 PM..
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Old 07-27-2012, 11:56 PM   #8 (permalink)
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Any time you run your battery dead or even to where it is cranking over slow it's a good idea to put it on a plug in battery charger to make sure it's charged up 100%, having a battery that is half charge will mean that over time your battery only can hold half a charge at best, so you will slowly kill it, charge it up and even a battery that is 5 years old can have years more of life.
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Old 07-28-2012, 02:02 AM   #9 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheikz2 View Post
Also, what are DRLs?
Daytime Running Lights. Lights that are on all the time when the ignition is on.
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Old 07-28-2012, 02:09 AM   #10 (permalink)
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So the battery won't charge completely under normal conditions (no EOCing)?

And no, no DRLs

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