End-of-life battery...

[Psylocke]

Suppose your battery is towards its end of life and could die anytime soon, is it a good idea to keep a spare dry-charged battery in the trunk?

Do you just pour in the electrolyte, install the new battery and you're ready to go?

[yebo]

bad idea to keep a battery in the trunk, and it's a worse idea to keep adic in the trunk. why? suppose you get into a collision. the battery goes flying through the rear seat, into the passenger compartment and hits you and the passengers. the acid, full strength sulfuric acid, also goes flying through and burns everyone.

if your battery is near the end of it's life why not just replace it? trade it in.

[OTEP]

Yebo is correct. Even when properly restrained, a battery is supposed to be in a vented area. Trunk mounted batteries on race cars and European sedans are vented to the atmosphere.

Why not just keep the phone number of your battery supplier nearby? Most shops deliver within 30 mins. The shop I get my batteries from is in Quezon City and they also deliver to Caloocan even faster than some fastfood joints. We have a bettery charger at home and jumper cable in the car in case the battery flattens during non-delivery hours.

[ts1n1ta]

i've just recently replaced my battery... The guy from the store said that after 15 months (end of the battery's life) I could just bring it to him and they will refill it with distilled water and it will last for another 15 months. How true is this??

[mazdamazda]

bad idea... i learned the hard way.

even the fumes can corrode papers and whatnots lying in your trunk.

[mbeige]

For those who have acid drain holes sa battery, get a length of tubing and route it outside the car, away from the body. That saves one from having rust near the battery area. When you buy a battery it usually comes with one pero maiksi, so just rig one up and hide it properly para malinis tignan.

If you know the battery is failing, there's no point keeping it and risk having a dead car on the road. Change it soon.

I've had the battery on my car for nearly 3 years, and that's what we got when we acquired the car. Bakit 15 months lang yung life niya?

[alsosing]

you better buy an auto emergency power supply. i have seen in banawe a multi-function jump starter (capable of starting your car in case of lowbat) w/ compressor, blinker, long-beam light, 12VDC outlet, battery indicator.

[afrasay]

may mga tell tale signs na malapit na ang battery magpaalam, like hindi na one click and mabagal ang cranking (redondo) ang pag start sa morning pero for the rest of the day one click siya. have it check once this happens. in my experience (diesel) mga 2 to 3 days before hindi na kayang i-start ang engine mo.

[userfriendly]

i've just recently replaced my battery... The guy from the store said that after 15 months (end of the battery's life) I could just bring it to him and they will refill it with distilled water and it will last for another 15 months. How true is this??

As far as I know when the battery dies, you need to replace it. When a battery dies, it is usually caused by a hole in one or more of the plates. This can be checked by removing the battery from the car and shorting it by connecting both terminals with a wire. If the water boils then there is a hole on the plate and the battery has to replaced. Replacing distilled water will not work.

[baludoy]

aside from the slow redondo, what are the other symptoms of a battery nearing its end?