How long does the batter in your car lasts for or when should you change it? I was cleaning the car today and the doors were open for the whole time. This was for about an hour or so. Anyway, the door light was on and when I tried to start...ka-put! It didn't want to. The battery was dead!

 

Try jumping it and see if the battery recovers.

Best would be to pull the battery and let it trickle charge.

Don't drain it further!

"Now you know how long your battery lasts"

It is completly up to usage and environment. Number of cycles, temp, draw, etc.

The battery is fine IMHO - not a weakness for the car... Even wit' muh bumpin' stereo!

 

Well actually I kicked started it and it works fine now, but my brother complained that he'd pay me to get a bettery for the car because the other day it wasn't startin' properly. But the thing is, I know my car, so I'd know when it gives trouble and how to deal with it, therefore I know how to start it properly.

 

One thing to look at is your audio system.

Even an 200 watt system can wreak havoc with the charging system and the poor battery is usually the victim of the constant shifts the alternator has to do to balance everything out.

In the end your battery life with be reduced twice as fast after you install that system.

Upgrading your grounding system will definatly help out. Jesus has anyone see what they use for the grounding wire (stock) its about the width of pencil lol no joke, 4 gauge or larger is the way to go. i got constant over heats from my poor AMP and even my Deck was getting extreme heat build up, same with my friends 2002 P5, yikes.

after the grounding upgrade the heat was less of a problem.



About the battery in general I would just Throw it out. because one day your going to be on a hot date, or need to get home and your battery is going to pick tthe worst time to "#**$ you in the A$$

Go out and pick yourself out a nice strong Crank battery. and avoid the CHICKEN !!!! hahah

 

So I guess I should forget this grounding thing you were mentioning because I was goin' to do that and then my next question would be, "How do I do the grounding thing?"
lol...

Crank battery you say? What kind of battery is that?
Someone told me on another forum to use yuasa.
Also, do I have to look for anything in particular when buyin' a car battery? size, wattage, power, I'm just guessin' here.....

 

i might get my alternator respooled, i have a 240 watt system in my car.

 

Pardon my ignorance, respooled?

 

Amrit-
You don't list your audio system in your sig.

If you are a low power system <200W RMS* - do nothing or just improve the grounding to help it sound better and ease the load on the alternator (a teeeny tiny bit). Grounding is replacing thin stock ground wires to the battery (from the body and the engine) with thicker ones. The theory is that the alternator won't have to 'push' so hard to get power to the systems (stereo, etc.) which wastes energy heating the cables. This is to match up the thicker power cables with new thicker negative cables. Just match.

>200 watts RMS*? Re-spooling the alternator is adding more wire coiled inside to increase the volume of electricity (not voltage - or 'push') output.. If you need more electrical theory - PM me. This will help the alternator 'run' the sound system instead of relying on the battery to fill-in (augment when needed) for the big bass draws. This helps the battery cycle less (see my original reply).

*RMS = 'the real power draw of the system'. It is NOT the hugenourmous/laughable '1000W Peak Power' statement on the box. snort! Describe your system and i can guestimate its real load on the battery/charging system.

"Is a 100W lightbulb louder than 40W lightbulb?"

 

Oh yeah - i always get the 'best battery' that fits my car - the '5 year' one. This one has the most plate for highest output for longer life in a stock application. (I ain't 'stock' ).



More = better!

 

My system is stock and I don't know much about audio and electrical.
I'm tryin' to assess the problem really, but most likely I have to change the battery.
I was told that yuasa is a good one to get.

The battery is about 6 years old, so change it right?
Even though I need to clean my throttle body because I think that's what caused the problem of not starting this morning and not the battery.
But I'm not sure at this time.

 

I use to sell them a few yrs back. If you got more than 3 yrs out of it then your doing good. You say it's 6yrs old. Yes change it. It wont be long and it will loose a cell. You can tell that by the fact it cant hold a charge for more that a few hours with the light on. I do have a system and I can bump mine for an hour just off of the battery and still start it.

But the question I have is respooling the alternator. I have two amps, one is 250 rms x 2 ch @ 2ohm (sub amp) and a 4ch 50w @ 4 ohm. The deck is a 45w by 4. So what should I get the alternator respooled for?

 

^Nah. If you have no problems - YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM

Use the ching fa' dah BLING.

 

About the battery, is there anything I should know like size, wattage, anything like that for instance before I buy the battery?

 

Yep, any place that sells them will have a book or computer that you can look up the right size with.

 

Ok so I bought a battery and changed the old one. This is the first day, but the car started better. I'm waitin' till tomorrow morning to really see and hear results!

Just thought I'd let you guys know!