Is my battery cactus?

[TJohn]

Hi guys.
Couple day ago started my 2004 VY SS Crewman. Black
Ran for a second, then stopped.
Tried to start it again, just a weird sort of hiss, not the tick of a starter motor, a hiss.
Took the missus car to work.
Missus tried it later, not enough oomph to start it, chucked it on the charger, all good.
That morning was bloody cold, could that have had anything to do with it?
Why did it start, then stall?
Was the hiss the fuel pump?
Battery is cca600, not sure how old, first time it's happened.
Any help/advice greatly appreciated, too much of a tightarse to buy one if that's not the actual problem.

 

[Trevor loves holden.]

Stick a multimeter on it the battery should be 12.6v or above at standing, when you run it then should read 14.4v or near to it, if not your alternator killing your battery, give it a rev too while checking if it stays stable then its your battery, hiss could be anything, air vacuum or body throttle sucking once it stalled.

 

[Deuce]

Leave multimeter on your battery and crank it over. See what the voltage drops to and report back.

 

[TJohn]

Ok.
Standing at 12.69
Cranking dropped it to 10.4
Running at 14.62
A quick revving went to 14.61, then returned to 14.62.

 

[Trevor loves holden.]

Ok.
Standing at 12.69
Cranking dropped it to 10.4
Running at 14.62
A quick revving went to 14.61, then returned to 14.62.

What about when loaded up like lights, A/C , radio on.

14.8 would start to be a worry and 15 volts would be a real concern, but 14.6 is fine. Battery voltage is fine but check after a night to see if its holding charge. Cranking volts are normal.

 

[1985VK]

Make sure your battery terminals are tight, and clean between the posts and the clamps.

 

[TJohn]

Righto, started schmick this morning and leaving work. A/C, lights and radio on on the way home, dash gauge exactly halfway between the 12 and next mark at highway speed. 13? Got home, idling with multimeter on, A/C, lights, radio reading 13.93. Revving 13.91.
edit. Terminals clean and tight already

 

[vc commodore]

To me, the load under cranking indicate the battery is weak and you should look at replacement.

I have an older style battery load tester here and anything under 11 amps, under load indicate the battery is weak...Your cranking amps is at the mid range of the weak indication, on my load tester.

Another indication a battery is starting to fail is, they usually fail to crank the car, or are very slow cranking in cold weather, which you indicated.

Your voltage from the alternator seems fine, so you could discount that being the issue.

Just to re-confirm in your own mind, pop into a place that sells batteries and get them to do a load test and see what they come up with

 

[1985VK]

Make sure the battery is fully charged if you take it in for a load test.

Is there a sticker on the battery that might have the code to tell you how old the battery is?

 

[TJohn]

****, never even heard of a load tester. Would've thought a multimeter would do that.
Ok, I'll swing by a battery joint tomorrow.
Stickers all over the battery, nothing to indicate dates, though. (that I can see )