Battery or alternator problem...hopefully
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
From: nc
Battery or alternator problem...hopefully Right now my car is a weekend town car. Recently in the mornings when its still pretty cold out it takes it a few seconds to start up. And it gets increasingly longer. But today i tryed to start it up about 10 minutes ago in 50 degree weather and it didnt. I cranked it and it started making a fast clicking noise from the engine bay. Any ideas?
P.S. its an optima battery. If i have to replace it is that the best one to go with?
P.S. its an optima battery. If i have to replace it is that the best one to go with?
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
From: Wayne County NY
Clicking means the starter is trying but doesn't have enough juice.
Take the batter out and go to a Advance Auto Parts if you got one and get it load tested, bet it fails!!
The problem I see with Optima's is there deep cycle by design. And those won't last when there not discharged over 50% before recharging and when they are discharged that hard, still don't last! Great for parked Stereo users, suck for ones that don't do that!
Take the batter out and go to a Advance Auto Parts if you got one and get it load tested, bet it fails!!
The problem I see with Optima's is there deep cycle by design. And those won't last when there not discharged over 50% before recharging and when they are discharged that hard, still don't last! Great for parked Stereo users, suck for ones that don't do that!
Staging Lane
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 90
Likes: 1
From: Melbourne, Fl
Batt or alt... Clicking means the starter is trying but doesn't have enough juice.
Take the batter out and go to a Advance Auto Parts if you got one and get it load tested, bet it fails!!
The problem I see with Optima's is there deep cycle by design. And those won't last when there not discharged over 50% before recharging and when they are discharged that hard, still don't last! Great for parked Stereo users, suck for ones that don't do that!
Take the batter out and go to a Advance Auto Parts if you got one and get it load tested, bet it fails!!
The problem I see with Optima's is there deep cycle by design. And those won't last when there not discharged over 50% before recharging and when they are discharged that hard, still don't last! Great for parked Stereo users, suck for ones that don't do that!
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 734
Likes: 0
From: south jersey. again
the big problem with optima battery's is you have to charge them a particular way. i think someone posted a video here a while back try searching for that. if not try optimas website.
That's what I am running right now. Any of the batteries made by Johnson Controls and rebranded are good though. The AC Delco it had in it before lasted a very long time.
the optimas and any other AGM type battery do not need to be charged any particular way or any way different than typical wet cell lead acid batteries... for the most part.
to get really technical, the absorption charge for an AGM battery is 14.5-15 volts where as a VRLA battery is slightly lower at 14.2-14.5. In most cases battery charges go for 14.5 volts so they work. You might be thinking of gel-cell batteries which did require lower voltage charging to prevent overheating and failure, but those type batteries have gone obsolete because of that reason.
the click noise is indicative of a battery with insufficient capacity, first thing to try would be a jump or new battery. The other thing it can commonly be is the solenoid on the starter has gone bad, the solenoid is an electromagnet switch which requires a good amount of power and when they fail they cause the same thing to happen. And a third thing it could be is the slave solenoid to the starter solenoid, which might be a relay in the fuse box not sure, but if that slave is bad it can kill the solenoid on the starter. If you put in a new battery, then a new starter, and have the problem still then replace the slave solenoid/relay.
to get really technical, the absorption charge for an AGM battery is 14.5-15 volts where as a VRLA battery is slightly lower at 14.2-14.5. In most cases battery charges go for 14.5 volts so they work. You might be thinking of gel-cell batteries which did require lower voltage charging to prevent overheating and failure, but those type batteries have gone obsolete because of that reason.
the click noise is indicative of a battery with insufficient capacity, first thing to try would be a jump or new battery. The other thing it can commonly be is the solenoid on the starter has gone bad, the solenoid is an electromagnet switch which requires a good amount of power and when they fail they cause the same thing to happen. And a third thing it could be is the slave solenoid to the starter solenoid, which might be a relay in the fuse box not sure, but if that slave is bad it can kill the solenoid on the starter. If you put in a new battery, then a new starter, and have the problem still then replace the slave solenoid/relay.
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