2nd Battery, Finally

[Marcoose]

Yesterday the Zed got it's very second battery since manufacturing in February 2016. (In-service was September 2017.)

Quite impressive it lasted this long. Everything was working fine, except the service clock reset wasn't happening with the old battery. The indy said the monthly trickle top off likely extended its life.

 

[AnubisZed]

2016 to 2023??!! Nah, that's nothing, mine was 2011 to 2022 It would complain if the ignition was on without it running after a minute or so, but still started perfectly, was (is) my daily, and the roof would still open and close without the engine running (I've got SmartTop), but it was starting to bring up random faults so it was time for a new one.

 

[Marcoose]

Good for you, Dave. Way to go.

I reckon that being a daily driver helped keep the battery in good shape. Our Zed is only driven once a week, sometimes twice. Its battery doesn’t have many opportunities to recharge.

 

[Pyranha]

I am still on my original 2012 but I can feel it is getting weak, especially in the cold mornings.

 

[matsmith749]

I'm never certain how to know - when I was twiddling with the apple carplay install at the weekend I got a couple of battery low warnings - probably to be expected.

I will do a standing voltage check after I do my long journey of the week (Tuesday - 5 hrs in the car) & see what it reads.

Apparently healthy & fully charged (which it should be after that run) looks like >12.5V with ignition off. We shall see

 

[matsmith749]

Ok so my battery reading straight after unlocking the car was 12.07 volts.

After a multi hour journey I would have expected it to be as well charged as it is going to get - and 12.07v looks to be about 50% charged.

6 years old, I guess it's lasted how long it should.

I've had a couple of battery low warning when fitting kit in the last week or 2, and a couple of 'minor' electrical gremilins - looks like it's time to get a new one fitted.

 

[Marcoose]

Always charge your new batteries !

 

[Johnbmwz4]

Mines a 2013 and pretty sure it’s on original battery. Nothing in the service history saying anything and no receipts for one. The previous owner did put it on a trickle charger when not in use (religiously apparently ) as do I. Never had any low battery warnings (yet)…These modern chargers (CTEK) tell you if the battery can’t accept full charge or is on its way out don’t they according to the charger manual.

 

[matsmith749]

John - I don't think they do to be honest.

As the battery fails, it still accepts what looks like a full charge (at least to the charger). The problem is, a degraded battery fails to sustain it's voltage under load - starting can suffer, and lots of the electronics on the car are extremely voltage sensitive.

So a battery that is at maybe 50% (like mine) starts the car just fine. Roof works. No massive drama.

BUT.

I have a few minor glitches, like the boot not always soft closing (wires are fine - I checked them). The screen for the sat nav doesn;t always close when I switch off the car. Sitting in the car with the stereo on for 15 minutes sometimes gives me a 'battery low' glitch.

I've seen these issues (or similar) on other cars - and they go away after a battery change (not a charge). Something people don't realise is that if a car battery ever fully depletes (ever), it will never regain it's full capacity. It's broken. It may work ok, but could also strand you somewhere.

Every time you start the car you are putting the battery under extreme levels of stress - it will only do this for a certain number of times before it needs replacement. The clock is ticking - no matter how you 'maintain' it. You can certainly extend the lifespan of a battery by good practices, but you canne beat the laws of physics.

Most of us have bought these vehicles 2nd hand - how can you be sure of the real history? Someone saying they kept it on trickle charge means nothing to me. I would be suspicious - why did they start doing that? Was it because they saw a battery issue & tried to do something about it?

They are a maintenance item TBH, and after a lot of years I cannot be doing with all the hassle of a battery that is starting to go flaky. I replace at first sign of badness if the battery is >5 years old.

Aging battery is one of the primary root causes of a hundred different misc issues on a modern car. Battery & tires are one of my first auto replacements when I buy any car over 5 years old if there is any doubt at all when they were last done.

Google for 'most likely cause of vehicle breakdown' - result is battery.

Why would you not change it?

 

[Jasonn]

I changed mine last year 2016 and around 46k (I'm the second owner - bought it in 2019 with around 32k so probably the original battery) its my daily driver/mobile office (less so with WFH now).

Had the power steering fault and I drive screen not opening properly - new battery fitted just before the snow hit glad I did it.