BlackScreaminMachine

Agree on the battery check, also that when you start it, often it takes 20 minutes of driving for the battery to sufficently recover. IF you can have it parked in a garage and it stays inactive for periods of time, get a battery tender. Never hurts.

Also if the car is auto, make sure you run the car every so many hours of towing if the front wheels are driven on pavement.

68chappy

Hello, just want o make you aware of an issue I just had....battery dead...harness had a wire shorting to chassis draining the battery dead...could jump it and would charge back up run fine for maybe a day or so as soon as it got cold and the wire tightened up....dead battery again,,,just saying before you spend dollars on a battery do what some others have suggested and let your local auto parts do a check on the battery and charging system(usually free) hope you dont have the wireing issues!!! let us know what you find.

Laco

I read somewhere, perhaps in the owners manual, that these cars can only sit for 28 days or so, then the battery will be discharged enough, because of parisitic electrical drains, to cause starting problems. That is probably true for most newer cars.

BlackScreaminMachine

I would check with Battery Manufactures first about that info. IMO Cars can certainly sit, depending on the temps (Heated Garage, Vs. Cold Storage, Vs. Outside) the colder it is, the harder it is on the battery.

mrarff

Auto Zone, Advance Auto,ect will check the condition of your battery at no charge. The only rub is getting to it. You do know it's next to the spare? Not really difficult to get to , but just a pain. The Techs might could get a reading from the "jump start" terminals under the hood, but I doubt it. Before you go to get it checked, you might want to remove the carpet pad, the hard plastic cover, and the tray over the spare. That would make it a little easier and you wouldn't have to worry about them getting dirty or scratched by the guy behind the counter. A while back , mine kept dying and it turned out to be the starter of all things. Go figure.

Laco

I think that 28 days was meant to be a guidline, not necessarly cast in steel. My guess is that 28 days would be the worst case scenaro, and yes ambient conditions certainly would move that 28 day guidline up or possibly down. Regardless, if I know mine will sit for a month or more, I always connect a smart charger, one that will float the battery once its charged.

whopper

You probably already checked, but make sure you don't leave your phone or mp3 charger or adapter for your GPS plugged in overnight as they do draw power with the ignition on, as the Cig. lighter is constantly powered. They will definitely suck that battery dry in a few days or less.

emstess

Glad to find out the exact battery location. The manual is extreemly vague on this bit if information. I to have been having battery problems. Being a volunteer EMT, I NEED my car to start to respond to calls. Mine is an '09. I know they don't last for ever, but it seems like you should get more than 1-1/2 years out of a battery. I think I will go the Auto Parts store route to check out the charging system, then dealer if necessary.

Lucky

I had to replace my battery after 6 mon. It wasn't so much the batterys fault because my lights,siren and radios was too much for the battery to handle. the battery in the hhrs are not sized for extra loads that I have added.

87silver

A load test is in order. Sometimes a defective battery will not present a problem right away. Here's some good information on maintaining and testing batteries:

http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery.html#5