'Heat soak' in Chevy starters.

[King Herald]

Surprised me a bit too. If the battery could sit there for five weeks when I was offshore, then spin the motor over with no problem first time I started the car, why would it then choose to fall over when the car had been charging it for a good half hour or more. [S[S[S

Checked out all other alternatives, checked every wire involved, etc etc, and eventually took the battery to a battery store, where the guy connected his big tester device to it. It had good voltage, but dropped into the red real quick.

New battery fitted, had no problems since then.

Not with the starter, no, but I have had no end of crap with a clicking lifter, a low-rpm misfire and a couple of other things.....

 

[Old Iron]

Glad to hear the new battery fixed the starting issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bamamav]

You can have proper voltage, but if you don't have the proper amperage to back it up, you ain't going nowhere. I've had several truck batteries check out with 12-14 volts, but the amperage would be almost zero, result, no cranking power. You might run a low amperage light bulb or radio for hours on one of them, but the high amperage draw of a starter motor would kill them almost instantly.

3 years out of a battery is pretty common. I know some last much longer, but I'd say 3 years is about average for most of them.

 

[King Herald]

I've had the battery three years, but when we took it to get tested, and buy a new one, the guy told me it is a five year old battery, something to do with the design or the pattern on the label, so it may well have sat in a store for several years before I got hold of it.

Where I live they say two years is average, new batteries are built so feebly and cheaply. Once a battery shows any signs of distress, I usually replace them, there's no way to resurrect modern batteries.