Oliver Enterprises

I doubt it's resolved. It's just waiting until you get out somewhere inconvenient for it to happen again.

jmcraney

I think you are handling this very wisely. Getting the battery tested is a very good idea. You can't always be sure you are getting good advice when you have your battery tested but when a battery pro tells you it "tests good" then that should up your confidence about the battery as they have an incentive to tell you it is bad. Of course it could have some sort of subtle problem but those are rare - just testing the battery's fully-charged-state-of-charge and finding it greater than 75% is a strong indication that the battery is good. A more exact testing method is to use a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity of each cell when the battery is fully charged. The majority of batteries last 40-48 months even in the most extreme conditions as long as their state-of-charge is not allowed to drop below 50%. It is very unlikely for a battery to last more than 48 months and still be good in the conventional definition of a good battery - greater than 75% fully-charged SOC. A fully charged battery that has a SOC greater than 75% should be able to sustain the car in standby mode for several weeks and still have enough energy to start the car.

So what should you consider? I have followed this thread for nearly 10 years and although there have been lots of "battery problems" discussed here, there have been few to no electrical systems reports associated with battery problems, except for the doorjamb switches. The doorjamb switches have two possible failure modes. They can fail is such a way as to cause the door to never be sensed open which will cause the headlights auto-off to not work and completely deplete the battery charge - you know, dead battery. Or they can fail is such a way as to never sense that the door is closed which leaves the courtesy light in the door on all the time and will eventually cause the battery charge to be depleted - it may manifest as a weak battery over a day or so and over a couple of days a dead battery. The vast majority of doorjamb switch problems are the kind that never sense when the door is open. Both of these failures are indicated by abnormal operation of the courtesy light in the door - it either never comes or it never goes off as opposed to on when the door is open and off when the door is closed.

And there is the possibility that you left the door or the trunk open overnight.

superdenso

Oliver Ent.: "I doubt it's resolved. It's just waiting until you get out somewhere inconvenient for it to happen again. "

Agreed!

A 460 can stress-out a battery in no time and wild temp swings only complicate the matter.

@Roadfrog- I know you don't have any respect for Optimas, but I would get one (group 34/78) ASAP and ditch that useless plastic shroud that surrounds your factory battery. If I lived in the frozen tundra...I would get the Optima charger/maintainer and screw it to your garage wall. Be warm and safe.

For illustration only:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/o...optima+charger

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...hedFrom=header

DarKnight

iTrader: (3)

Did you check the water levels?

roadfrog

I didn't check the electrolyte levels, but I probably should. I'm leaning towards the possibility that I left a door ajar, except that if I had, it should have warned me when I locked the car via the FOB.