SOLVED: Dead battery 3.5yrs old - CENTURY 68MF

[stovepipe]

Heyo,
I left my SS in the garage for 6mths but forgot to disconnect the battery, which is flat. A Century Ultra High Performance 68MF with 36mth warranty, but purchased in ~Sept 2020

The indicator panel shows it as RECHARGE (clear ring, red dot) as opposed to FULL or REPLACE. So the battery itself is atleast not saying it's completely dead for replacement.
First I tried to jump start it, no luck. Decided to leave the donor car hooked up and running for ~15mins. It would get some reaction with the locks and stereo light getting power now. Trying to turn on the ignition would flatten it again. Fully flat again, no stereo, etc.

Next I tried ~24hrs on an old trickle charger (arlec), on LOW setting, 12V. Again, got a little bit of action with lights/stereo coming on but when going turning on ignition it would start stuttering (not the engine) and clicking and flashing all over the dash, like it was having a seizure. Tried again, managed to get a very weak crank out of it but no fire. Stereo and security LED still had power. Hooked it up to another car to jump start again and managed to crank it and fire it up.

Left the engine running for 25mins in the garage. Came back later that afternoon to go for a drive, dead again.

Yesterday I got a new 'intelligent repair charger' for car batteries online. Hooked it up on REPAIR mode which does the pulsing thing. Gave it 8hrs or so until it said FULL. Ignition did the flickering clicking dash thing again.

Hooked the thing back up to normal charge/trickle mode overnight. This morning, the screen read OFF so I guess full. Same thing - lights but flickering dash ignition, no crank.

What the hell is going on with this thing?!?!?! Battery is annoyingly ~4mths out of warranty, but surely it should last longer than 3.5yrs!!??

Anyone had similar experience or know whats happening?

thanks

 

[losh1971]

Century are not great batteries. Delco are the best.

 

[gossie]

Simply buy a new battery.
Your old one is finished and I’m not surprised.

 

[chrisp]

Heyo,
I left my SS in the garage for 6mths but forgot to disconnect the battery, which is flat. A Century Ultra High Performance 68MF with 36mth warranty, but purchased in ~Sept 2020

The indicator panel shows it as RECHARGE (clear ring, red dot) as opposed to FULL or REPLACE. So the battery itself is atleast not saying it's completely dead for replacement.
First I tried to jump start it, no luck. Decided to leave the donor car hooked up and running for ~15mins. It would get some reaction with the locks and stereo light getting power now. Trying to turn on the ignition would flatten it again. Fully flat again, no stereo, etc.

Next I tried ~24hrs on an old trickle charger (arlec), on LOW setting, 12V. Again, got a little bit of action with lights/stereo coming on but when going turning on ignition it would start stuttering (not the engine) and clicking and flashing all over the dash, like it was having a seizure. Tried again, managed to get a very weak crank out of it but no fire. Stereo and security LED still had power. Hooked it up to another car to jump start again and managed to crank it and fire it up.

Left the engine running for 25mins in the garage. Came back later that afternoon to go for a drive, dead again.

Yesterday I got a new 'intelligent repair charger' for car batteries online. Hooked it up on REPAIR mode which does the pulsing thing. Gave it 8hrs or so until it said FULL. Ignition did the flickering clicking dash thing again.

Hooked the thing back up to normal charge/trickle mode overnight. This morning, the screen read OFF so I guess full. Same thing - lights but flickering dash ignition, no crank.

What the hell is going on with this thing?!?!?! Battery is annoyingly ~4mths out of warranty, but surely it should last longer than 3.5yrs!!??

Anyone had similar experience or know whats happening?

thanks

The very best way to kill a battery is to discharge it very slowly and deeply over a very long period of time. The sulphate crystals that form are both hard and large and just about no amount of recharging will break them up.

Time for a new battery.

 

[stovepipe]

ahhh damn well there you go - I had no idea 6mths would kill a battery.
yep after some further phone calls and reading this morning, I'm off to get a AC Delco (so much cheaper than century too, whats up with that)

 

[losh1971]

I bought the 780cca Delco I think it was. It's the biggest one that fits.

 

[stovepipe]

I'm going for 22F680SMF under their recommendation. Is 780 not overkill?

 

[losh1971]

I'm going for 22F680SMF under their recommendation. Is 780 not overkill?

Possibly. I just wanted the biggest one that would fit. I tried seeing the model number but I can't read it as its hidden where I can't see it. It could even be a 760 or 770. I can't find an invoice.

 

[chrisp]

ahhh damn well there you go - I had no idea 6mths would kill a battery.
yep after some further phone calls and reading this morning, I'm off to get a AC Delco (so much cheaper than century too, whats up with that)

Initially, I would look in to how the battery is being recharged rather than the battery itself. If the car isn’t been driven all that much and sits around for extended periods, the battery will eventually discharge (due to a small ‘key off’ load in the car). So the brand and model isn’t going to make a lot of difference really.

If the car sits around for extended periods, maybe make a note in your calendar to give it a recharge (using a bench battery charger) every few months or so. An occasional short drive doesn’t really recharge a battery properly, but it does help.

Also, when you get a new battery, give it a proper (bench) recharge before using it. It’s good to know that the battery is fully charged in case it happens again. It’ll be one less thing of the list if you end up tracing a fault in the car that is causes excessive ‘key off’ load.

 

[stovepipe]

Good tips. Yep, it will not be driven very much (in fact parked interstate...)


Should it be OK if I just disconnect it when I leave it? Give it an overnight charge when I come back?

The Century battery replaced an Exide battery that also died after 3yrs with reasonable driving until COVID lockdowns when it was barely driven (and also had major mech issues and significant works at DPM).