The Automotive Thread

[Master slacker]

My dad's Jeep (3.8L JK, don't know the year) had an issue last year that lit up the ABS light and he had trouble driving.  Couldn't figure out the problem and I forget what it was in the end.  But the point is he had to take it to the stealership to get fixed.  :dunno:

 

[Orchid PE]

Just
Empty
Every
Pocket

 

[Road Guy]

I did find lots of people that had similar issues "online' but most of them also experienced a loss of power or some other action - I am going to get the wire replaced and then see what happens from there -  Have had several code readers on it but nothing comes up - but the lights would generally go away after around 30 seconds or if I turned the vehicle off and then off again

 

[Master slacker]

... but the lights would generally go away after around 30 seconds or if I turned the vehicle off and then off again

 

[Road Guy]

It would work for about a week

But we had several people in our neighborhood having similar issues a few years ago, apparently some of the coating they use for wires is tasty for squirrels..  Guess I need to get some ammo for my Benjamin!

 

[blybrook PE]

I had an ABS issue on a Ford Ranger, was the wire connector at the master cylinder. Changed the connection and all the warning lights went away.

Although, there's a better repair for all of it, cheaper too if the vehicle isn't having issues - Electrical tape.

Just cover the offending light and continue driving!

 

[MA_PE]

My brother was having abs light issues with his 2008 bmw 335ic convertible.  Took it to the dealer and they said the system needed to be replaced and estimated the repair at $12k.  He took it to a local mechanic would said he could do it for $6k.  He’s had the car since new, it’s always garage and only has ~80k.

 

[Road Guy]

Before I will ever take another vehicle back to the stealership (other than for a warranty repair) I’ll take it down to the city and leave the keys in it with the windows down and take the insurance claim...

 

[JayKay PE]

JK doing not so exciting car stuff to you guys, but ultra exciting to me!!! 

Wednesday night, when I left work, little Corolla was having trouble turning on.  I'd push to start and it'd sound like it was whining while waiting for the engine to actually catch, but once it did, it was fine/ran like normal.  The little engine warning light came on during the 'attempts to start' but promptly turned off when the engine finally turned on and the electronics in the car weren't flickering or anything.  Yesterday, same thing in the morning (took a little bit longer to start, but I just held the button for like 5 seconds instead of the normal 'just push'), but the afternoon starting was much quicker. 

I'm used to my car batteries just dying/my car not being able to turn on, not doing this weird trickle/maybe kinda start, so I wasn't sure if my shorter commute was causing some issues.  I do only drive like 2 miles/10 minutes in the morning for city driving, versus my original driving mode of around 60 miles/1 hour of highway, but the temperature dial always gets up to the middle during the drive.  Also, it got pretty cold on Wednesday, nothing too serious/my car has been in colder weather, but it was a bit of a change from the 50 F (?!) temperatures we've been happening.  Only research said it might be the alternator or starter, but I only got the car (new) in June 2016 and it's at 60k miles.  Like, I've never heard of an alternator getting replaced so young and I was also told to listen for clicking with the starter issues?

Any who, after work I drove home and let it sit for a little in idle for like 5-minutes before turning off.  Car was totally warmed up.  Popped the hood and there wasn't any corrosion on the terminals buuuuuut there was some corrosion coming out the seam in the front of the battery.  Got the car in June 2016, so the battery is only 3.5 years old, buuuuuuuut I don't think it was replaced after I had that huge fender bender in November 2018/they said it wasn't damaged.  Changed clothes and then drove to Costco to a) drive it a little longer/see if the battery would recharge and b) buy a new car battery.  Car started fine after I left Costco, after the gym, and this morning.

I haven't replaced the battery yet, since it's been gross raining last night and today, but I think I'm going to just do it even though my car was fine this morning.  The Corolla is, I think, literally the easiest car to replace a battery on and that corrosion coming out the front seam is making me ultra leery that there isn't a leak or crack or something inside the casing.  I def do not think it is the alternator or starter.

Thoughts on this long-winded tale of me just replacing a battery?

 

[MA_PE]

Is it a sealed battery or can you open the caps on the top and see the fluid level inside?

If you’ve got caps, pop them off.  The level should be covering all the plates inside.  If it’s low it might be a sign that you’ve got a slow leak (combined with your observation of deposits at the seam it would seem likely).  Then it should be replaced.

Of course replacing it couldn’t hurt period. Note that completely disconnecting battery power on most newer cars clears parameters stored in memory like the preset radio stations and if the transmission learns your driving style and adjusts shift points accordingly.  Not a big deal but if there’s any learned settings it needs to go through the learning process again.  FWIW most mechanics usually have a 12v power supply they temporarily connect while swapping batteries so the memory settings aren’t lost.

 

[JayKay PE]

I think it's a standard sealed battery (there was nothing on the top except the connectors), but the fact that there was corrosion on the front middle of the battery at the seam, aka: as far from the terminal connections as possible, makes me think there is a slow leak going on.  Is it possible to crack something inside the battery and not have any damage on the outside?  The battery is on the side where I crunched in the front driver's side, so I'm thinking it might have been tapped or something when the radiator got crunched, but not actually scuffed up?

As for caring about settings: I actually don't listen to the radio that often, now that the commute is so short, and I try to catch up on my podcasts if I am driving semi-longer now (I maybe get through one podcast show a week, when I was going through one a day on the previous commute).  I'm actually walking a bunch more so I have an excuse to listen to my podcasts, so I have been ditching my car if I can walk to wherever I'm going if it's within 20-minutes.  I can always relink my phone, which I sometimes have to do due to Toyota entune randomly resetting, and that's really the only thing I car about setting-wise.  Thanks for responding!  I figured it was the battery, and my dad did too, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask the 'auto thread'.

 

[Road Guy]

3.5 years is a pretty good life for a car battery - I would recommend just taking it by advance auto parts (or similar store) and they will check it for you.

 

[JayKay PE]

Yeah, I might hit up autozone tonight after work and have them test the battery, alternator, and starter.  My dad mentioned they'll do it for free, so I figure why not?

 

[Master slacker]

3.5 years is a pretty good life for a car battery - I would recommend just taking it by advance auto parts (or similar store) and they will check it for you.

:blink2:

wut?  For all of our vintage cars, I don't know of any battery that has lasted less than five years.  I had a DieHard Gold last nine years and two plain-Jane Duralasts go five years.  We're currently running on two Wal-Mart  Everstarts I installed three years ago.  Take a Benjamin to Wally World and get an Everstart, but bring in your old battery for the core charge unless you want to make a second trip back to the store.  :2cents:

 

[Road Guy]

Well let me restate, in Colorado and other places that have a "winter" 3.5 years is a good run. Even buying the most expensive ones I don't gamble past 3 winters.

 

[Flyer_PE]

^Agreed.  3.5 years is about normal.  I've managed to get 5 years out of a car battery once or twice here but those are outliers.  I think the car manufacturers have been reducing the battery sizes to save weight.  This leaves less margin to lose to aging and shortens the usable battery life.

 

[mudpuppy]

I finally had to replace the battery in my 2006 Aveo in 2018.  I have no idea where AC Delco sourced that thing, but 12 years for a battery in Michigan was amazing!

 

[Master slacker]

Note to self, stay in sh*tty public school system area to save on car battery replacements.

 

[blybrook PE]

I've had batteries last anywhere from a year to over ten years. The one in my plow truck is going on 7 years, the wife's truck was just replaced and it was 10 years. My daily driver had new batteries 6 years after purchase from dealership. For living in -40 degrees and having hard winters, that's really good for the battery.

With the signs of corrosion, there's likely an issue inside and time to get it replaced. Either swing by Orielly, Autozone, Carquest or similar chain and have it swapped out.

 

[JayKay PE]

Yeah, I bought one from Costco for $78.  Going to install myself since the Corollas are the easiest thing to remove/install.  Know all about positive negative, then negative positive when disconnecting and reconnecting.  Don't feel like paying when it's a simple pop-out/pop-in job.