just a warning post. (12v battery problems... EOC)

[justme1969]

I have noticed a 2.5 mpg drop in fuel yesterday and accompanied squeel at restarts.
The latter is not uncommon in the POS anyhow it comes and goes with the weather litterally.
But after coming to complete stop after key off Glide yesterday car did not desire to start.
I do alot of Key off glide about 1/4 of my 85 mile daily round trip.

The short of this story is combination issues, extreme use of coasting key off during morning run in darkness. High seasonal temps combined with grill blocks and belly "engine" Pan {exceptionally high temps in the Bay} add an underdriven pulley = Alt only charges at 12.9 volts and 49 amps. and prolonged use under these circumstances.

I recharged battery last night and measured volts checked belts etc.
The battery condition is still good but I havent gotten a recent amp reading from alternator. I just felt that others should understand these conditions b4 they take a weakened battery into upcoming winter months.

This Morning squeel was only upon start up, so battery has truly been beaten up by those combined effects.

[night9]

So the POS finally Died ; )

[MetroMPG]

Bummer!

Add another one to the pile. Seems we get a couple of "I MURDERED MY BATTERY!" threads each year.

Conventional lead-acid starting batteries do not like to be deeply discharged. People doing repeated engine off stops/coasts or alternator deletes need to monitor voltage, avoid regularly discharging below ~50% or ... well, you know what happens.

Battricide!

[euromodder]

Batteries die anyway.
How old was it ?

[Blue Angel]

I've wondered about this... nice to have a highly technical term associated with the condition. Battricide seems to work, especially since "battery" just doesn't make sense.

It seems the newer the car, the smarter they come, and the more they hope the driver is too "normal". My Cruze has a post-start mode that automatically increases voltage (and therefore charging current) immediately after an engine start to compensate for the energy pulled during starting.

I don't EOC too often but I do shut off at lights. I'm wondering if this post-start mode will hurt anything? The car has a three year B-B warranty, so I guess if the battery survives three years of this treatment it can't be too bad for it?

[orange4boy]

OP's battery may just have been weak already.

Lead acid is really not a good match for an ICE. They actually require a long slow recharge after a discharge so even without EOC, your battery may be dying:

The electrolyte of a stratified battery concentrates at the bottom, starving the upper half of the cell. Acid stratification occurs if the battery dwells at low charge (below 80 percent), never receives a full charge and has shallow discharges. Driving a car for short distances with power-robbing accessories contributes to acid stratification because the alternator cannot always apply a saturated charge. Large luxury cars are especially prone to acid stratification. This is not a battery defect per se but the result of use.

From the battery university

Every car should have a solar tender in them or be trickle charged at home to prevent Premature battery death.

[justme1969]

The battery was recuperated but it has been my experiance in the past they never perform the same again. It was a 2 years old $230? best of orileys gold series that would fit hole. I wanted the extra reserve and without regard to weight gain because from Oct. till?? May Im driving 40 minutes in the dark.
It was just too much and under hood is too hot for even Ideal recharge on return trip. It has stayed over 90 all summer. I sure am ready to replace the POS. It has sure been an interesting project.

Ps. jumper cables in trunk starting yesterday!

[justme1969]

Add another one to the pile. Seems we get a couple of "I MURDERED MY BATTERY!" threads each year.

Conventional lead-acid starting batteries do not like to be deeply discharged. People doing repeated engine off stops/coasts or alternator deletes need to monitor voltage, avoid regularly discharging below ~50% or ... well, you know what happens.

Battricide!

Actually its worse than that I have a charge indicator light, that tells me voltage regulator is swiched to charge. I was trying to break 40 mpg so might have intentionally ko coasted a few extra spots to beat charge draw.
Yep I did that ! made bad situation worse 4 battery and it got even.
I think a solar charge would be awesome Idea as its going to sit in lot 7-10 hrs a day after I suck it dry in the morning run...
Notice nowhere in here do I indicate I plan to change my behavior just adding a safeguard. lol Im hard headed!

[jedi_sol]

time for a deep cycle battery and relocation to your trunk! That'll fix the problem for sure.

[Daox]

Definitely go deep cycle.