car battery ???

cjdelphi

Joined Mar 26, 2009
272
If you're worried about getting stranded due to the battery not turning over the engine which requires a fair few amps unless the alternator is then run sufficiently to charge the battery back up to top, multiple starting and stop trips will quickly run down the battery, you should be able to get 12 or so engine cranks to get the motor going before it starts to wurr wurrrr wuuuRRuuuururrurrr rrrrrr rr urruru urr

if it's a manual, you can roll it down a hill or get some people to push you along, if it's an automatic you can't do it without causing significant damage but it's possible, once saw a mitsubisih sedan automatic splutter and stop and stutter and start once it hit about 55kml it fired up on all cyclinders...

so around 60kmh pushing an automatic along does work... but it might ruin your gearbox very easily, whatever was left of your starter and serious damage to the engine, who knows i'd not try it i know.

alternatives.

1. Buy a new car battery.

2. Buy one of them jump starter cable pack so you can steal someone elses money

3. buy one of them jump starters, look like a plastic red fire can with a voltage meter and two huge clamps...

4. Save yourself some money and buy the cheapest 12v lead acid battery you can find for bike , small car, even a 7ah sealed lead acid battery would do absolutely fine.....

get two cables link them to the battery on the car, it would work and probably give you 2-3 engine starts if you're lucky :)

5. Live in a hot country and stick a solar panel on the roof to charge the battery in the day. :)
 

Kermit2

Joined Feb 5, 2010
4,162
You have a shorted cell in the battery.

12.7 to 12.8 is the voltage of a fully charged battery. IF it has not been recently on any charging device. Surface charge will cause a battery to read about 13.2 to 13.8 volts when it has recently been connected to a charging source.

You stated a reading of 12.3 12.4 right after a charging. It should be 13.2 to 13.8, sometimes even 14. something just minutes after removing the charger.

The other 5 cells are super charged and giving you an almost normal reading. As soon as you try to draw current from the battery it will become useless for what it was designed for.

Starting batteries are made of hundreds of very thin lead plates, and can never be used as a battery in the true sense of the word. They can give you a huge surge of amperes then must be immediately recharged before they begin to crumble apart. They must remain charged at all times.

Storage batteries can have lead plates as thick as 1/4 inch. 1/8 or a little less being the norm for good types.

Stop fussing over the dead STARTING battery. They die suddenly and most times unexpectedly. If you must have a long current drain battery- be aware that deep cycle batteries can function as a starting battery. Just never the other way around.
 
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