markpenske

I haven't been driving my car much this year so I've been keeping it on a battery tender jr. I've been doing this for years, mostly in the winder. When I'm ready to drive I disconnect the tender and the car starts right up.
Today I disconnected the tender and the car was completely dead, would not turn over at all.
The Tender indicated a full charge.
Any thoughts?

noodels

re connect tender and read charge

markpenske

it read full charge before trying to start (solid green light)
I reconnected it and I now have solid red and flashing green which indicated 80%

Car Analogy

A charged battery just means its at charged voltage. It doesn't mean its actually got the capacity to start an engine.

Think of it like this. If you had a 12v battery from a lawn mower, tender would show fully charged, but it still wouldn't start a car.

Your battery has probably died, and simply doesn't have its original capacity.

You can buy a simple battery tester from Harbor Freight for like $10. It asks for batteries cca capacity, then tells you what % of capacity it still has, also how charged it is, etc.

Rule out battery first.

Note, the fact that battery went from near 100% charged to 80% after doing virtually no actual work already tells me battery is suspect.

windhund116

What is the battery voltage across the terminals with no tender and the engine off? If the battery is old, it may not have enough reserve.



If the battery voltage is okay, check for clean, tight cable connections and check the starter connections for tightness.

Are you hearing any noise when you try to start the car? Like the relay clicking? It could also be a bad starter.

blueosprey90

Have you checked the fluid in the battery?

I just replaced my Honda battery. Prior owner pretty much let it go dry. I topped it up and got the summer out of it, but it wasn’t strong. I left the door open for 10 minutes, and couldn’t start. Showed about 12.4 volts. After attempting to start again, showed 11.6 volts. Battery was only 11 years old.

windhund116

I'd say you got your money's worth from that battery.

B serious

Great post! And yeah OP, its a good idea to rule out the battery first

markpenske

I'm going to start with the battery.
What threw me was the tender indicated full charge but the car was completely dead....radio, dash lights....everything. The tender is connected directly to the battery.
Now, what's concerning - I reconnected the tender, let it charge for a while. I then tried to start it again. I got the dash lights and some clicking when trying to start it. Then I heard a pop noise. Can't be good.

noodels

Blown your tender up