I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Thanks

Brendan.

"Rednadnerb" wrote in message
...
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Thanks

Brendan.

I suppose he kept the battery?

"Rednadnerb" wrote in message
...
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Thanks

Brendan.

Yep

However it can often be an alternator earth strap or auxiliary belt problem
which means that the alternator does not charge the battery nor supply any
current for the car at all so car draws all of its power from the battery

I presume the mechanic checked the alternator output voltage as well

Tony

"Rednadnerb" wrote in message
...
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Thanks

Brendan.

You could always post on topic at uk.rec.cars.maintenance

Tony

The message
from Rednadnerb contains these words:

I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Happened to me very recently so it can happen. Not to say that your
sister didn't get conned though.

Got my car out of the garage for my weekly trip to the shops. Switched
off to go and shut the doors and set the alarm. When I returned car
wouldn't start.

Called out the AA who started the car via jump leads, ran some tests,
and pronounced the battery u/s. Sold me another cheaper than I could
have got a replacement from Halfords. I presume the battery was original
so that would make it 6 years old when it expired.

--
Roger Chapman

Rednadnerb wrote:
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Thanks

Brendan.
They can. However the more likel cause is a corroded connector that 5
minutes of fiddling will fix.

Thanks all.

It was the AA so I'm sure it's all above board. Just thought I'd check
though.

On May 23, 9:31*am, Rednadnerb wrote:
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Had *exactly* this before myself, it /can/ be a classic symptom of
oxidised battery clamp connections.

Often misdiagnosed by putting a meter on the *clamps* and not on the
battery *posts*.

For a temporary fix loosening the clamps a little and twisting them
breaks the oxide layer... for a while.

cheers,
Pete.

Rednadnerb wrote:

It was the AA so I'm sure it's all above board.


Why does the fact it is the AA make you so sure?

The AA is a commercial company, looking to increase sales. Don't you
think they will pay a commission to their staff to sell batteries and
other items to stranded motorists?

I think the time has long gone when you can trust anyone. ;-)

In article
,
Rednadnerb wrote:
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Yes - the original one on my BMW did this just days outside the three year
warranty. Started the car from cold normally and drove to the shops. After
shopping - only about 1/2 hour or so - it was totally flat. I've never had
a battery die like that before. They usually give some warning. In case
someone says there was something up with the charging circuit, it's not
happened with the new battery which is now over 5 years old.

--
*Don't byte off more than you can view *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 23 May 2008 05:39:41 -0700 (PDT), Pete C wrote:

Had *exactly* this before myself, it /can/ be a classic symptom of
oxidised battery clamp connections.

The normal give away of a high impedance connection after trying to start
a car with a sudden "dead" battery is a warm or hot (be careful)
connection. Doesn't have to be one of the battery terminals either any one
of the connections in the high current path can do it, including earth
bonds.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On May 23, 5:02*pm, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
On Fri, 23 May 2008 05:39:41 -0700 (PDT), Pete C wrote:
Had *exactly* this before myself, it /can/ be a classic symptom of
oxidised battery clamp connections.

The normal give away of a high impedance connection after trying to start
a car with a sudden "dead" battery is a warm or hot (be careful)
connection.

In my case the terminals weren't warm at all.

Bad clamp/post connections can also mean the battery does't get
charged properly and ends up being misdiagnosed as a bad battery and/
or fails due to undercharging.

cheers,
Pete.

I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.

A mechanic in our place happened to mention that newer batteries can
and very frequently DO fail in this manner after replacing mine -
although I don't know the reasons why.

He had no reason to lie to me, as my original battery really had gone
west (after 8 years), failing to start one unexpectedly cold morning.

In article ,
Colin Wilson o.uk
wrote:
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.

A mechanic in our place happened to mention that newer batteries can
and very frequently DO fail in this manner after replacing mine -
although I don't know the reasons why.

IIRC, something to do with the calcium technology used these days.

--
*If they arrest the Energizer Bunny, would they charge it with battery? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 23 May 2008 23:51:06 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Colin Wilson o.uk
wrote:
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.

A mechanic in our place happened to mention that newer batteries can
and very frequently DO fail in this manner after replacing mine -
although I don't know the reasons why.

IIRC, something to do with the calcium technology used these days.

Hmmmm,

50 years ago the connections between each of the series connected
cells in a car battery, from terminal to terminal, were made by lead
bars about 1" x 1/4" . These could become cracked at the joints /
welds and since the cells were series connected the whole battery
could became O/C without much warning.

In those days you were advised in the event of a battery behaving in
any unsatisfactory way to "Take it to a battery specialist".

Fat chance nowadays, just as productive and maybe easier to take it to
a Chiropodist. TBH, probably about the same in those days if the truth
be known. :-(

I don't know how the connections are made underneath the plastic skin
of a "sealed for life" battery nowadays, probably you might as well
replace it if the same thing happens, not much alternative.

If it happens at the side of the road all you can do is to ensure you
don't pay over the odds for the replacement.

IGWS that alternator, dynamo, regulator, drive belt etc. problems
still occur from time to time, hopefully less frequently than they
used to.

DG

Derek Geldard wrote:

I don't know how the connections are made underneath the plastic skin
of a "sealed for life" battery nowadays, probably you might as well
replace it if the same thing happens, not much alternative.

I had two batteries fail in the manner described - total sudden
failure - within a week of each other.

I was told that on modern batteries the top section, including the
connector posts, is a push-fit on the rest of the battery. Sometimes
these connections just fail and, being internal, are uncurable other
than by battery replacement.

In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article
,
Rednadnerb wrote:
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Yes - the original one on my BMW did this just days outside the three year
warranty. Started the car from cold normally and drove to the shops. After
shopping - only about 1/2 hour or so - it was totally flat. I've never had
a battery die like that before. They usually give some warning. In case
someone says there was something up with the charging circuit, it's not
happened with the new battery which is now over 5 years old.

Had this happen aabout 18 months ago - Car (Merc Auto) didn't start
one morning - got a jump start, drove 45 minutes up the M5. Stopped at
a service station for a P break, car wouldn't start again. Got another
jump start- took it directly to Bristol Batterys (bottom of the M32) and
bought a new one. They stuck a tester on the battery (great big springy
resistor and an ammeter!) and one cell started fizzing after half a minute
- so they told me it had gone into reversal (or something). Anyway,
that was good enough for me as I knew the battery was new from the car
purchase (10 year), so I just bought a new one off them on the spot,
put it and and it's been fine ever since...

Gordon

"Gordon Henderson" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article
,
Rednadnerb wrote:
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.
There were no warning signs, no sluggishness, always started first
time and she had just driven it 50 miles down the motorway, stopped
briefly, went to restart and nothing, dead.
I've never heard of a battery doing this, has anyone else?

Yes - the original one on my BMW did this just days outside the three year
warranty. Started the car from cold normally and drove to the shops. After
shopping - only about 1/2 hour or so - it was totally flat. I've never had
a battery die like that before. They usually give some warning. In case
someone says there was something up with the charging circuit, it's not
happened with the new battery which is now over 5 years old.

Had this happen aabout 18 months ago - Car (Merc Auto) didn't start
one morning - got a jump start, drove 45 minutes up the M5. Stopped at
a service station for a P break, car wouldn't start again. Got another
jump start- took it directly to Bristol Batterys (bottom of the M32) and
bought a new one. They stuck a tester on the battery (great big springy
resistor and an ammeter!) and one cell started fizzing after half a minute
- so they told me it had gone into reversal (or something). Anyway,
that was good enough for me as I knew the battery was new from the car
purchase (10 year), so I just bought a new one off them on the spot,
put it and and it's been fine ever since...

Gordon

Happened to me as well. The car had done a 200 miles journey. I parked the
car up for 15 minutes and when I went back to it the battery was dead. I
just bump started the car, drove to the motor factors, bought a new battery
(about £40) fitted it and everything was fine 2 years later when I sold the
car. No warnings, no sluggish starts in the morning. The battery just died.

Adam

In article , Derek Geldard
scribeth thus
On Fri, 23 May 2008 23:51:06 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Colin Wilson o.uk
wrote:
I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.

A mechanic in our place happened to mention that newer batteries can
and very frequently DO fail in this manner after replacing mine -
although I don't know the reasons why.

IIRC, something to do with the calcium technology used these days.

Hmmmm,

50 years ago the connections between each of the series connected
cells in a car battery, from terminal to terminal, were made by lead
bars about 1" x 1/4" . These could become cracked at the joints /
welds and since the cells were series connected the whole battery
could became O/C without much warning.

In those days you were advised in the event of a battery behaving in
any unsatisfactory way to "Take it to a battery specialist".

There used to be one in Cambridge, "The Cambridge battery Service" where
there were men in big rubber aprons and a stink of hot pitch and carboys
of sulphuric acid and some real fumes;!.

They used to be able to repair joints like that and had little crucibles
of Lead on the boil and could change individual battery cells etc!


Of course all long gone now the name lives on they now sell Mobile
fones;!..

--
Tony Sayer

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember tony sayer
saying something like:

There used to be one in Cambridge, "The Cambridge battery Service" where
there were men in big rubber aprons and a stink of hot pitch and carboys
of sulphuric acid and some real fumes;!.

They used to be able to repair joints like that and had little crucibles
of Lead on the boil and could change individual battery cells etc!

There are still battery specialists around in the manner you describe,
but they are usually to be found messing around with fork-truck
batteries and the like, where it's certainly worthwhile to refurb and
repair individual cells.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

"It's a moron working with power tools.
How much more suspenseful can you get?"
- House

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Colin Wilson o.uk
wrote:

I lent my car to my sister who had to call out a mechanic when the car
battery died, he said they can suddenly fail and sold her another one.


A mechanic in our place happened to mention that newer batteries can
and very frequently DO fail in this manner after replacing mine -
although I don't know the reasons why.


IIRC, something to do with the calcium technology used these days.

That is what my garage told me when my petrol Rover 45 would not even
turn the starter motor. I had left it standing for 10 days, until I
could give it a run. I put it on charge for 48 hours and it didn't take
any energy out of the charger. The battery was only 3 years old. It was
this incident that taught me that you can't expect a calcium technology
batter to recover from going flat.

Dave