bluestreakrem
Member
- Car
- FX35
I tried to start the FX35 last night and it would not crank. Battery was toast. I got pissed. :at-wits-end:
I did get a hint it was getting ready to crap out when I started the car to leave work at 5:00. I noticed it cranked just a little slower than it normally does......but it did start up and it ran fine. The next time I tried to start it later that night, it didn't start. Didn't even make one full crankshaft rotation before it stopped cranking. Just "click-click-click" sound from the solinoid.
Batteries these days don't slowly tail off in power delivery (before they finally totally quit) like they did years ago. Materials of construction are different thanks to EPA restrictions, and as a result, so are the batteries power delivery profiles. Years ago their output would slowly begin to subside (once you noticed they started to fall off) and then finally totally crap out after about a week or so. Batteries today don't give you much warning once they begin to fall off. One minute they seem to be fine, the next time they are asked to preform, they can't produce enough amperage to crank the engine over. And with digital ignitions they way they require a voltage threshold to fire a spark, once the system voltage drops below the ignitions systems threshold voltage due to the drag from the starter, the ignition won't even fire.
Bottom line is todays batteries fail more dramatically and suddenly compared to the older style batteries. When they quite, it's all over. Nothing left in them. So be mindful of old batteries in your girlfreind or wives cars so as not to leave them stranded somewhere in the dark. My battery was the original unit that came in the car and lasted almost four years of typical use (60K miles). At $100-120 for a battery, it would be wise to change an old battery before it fails. I paid $120.00 for a battery and replaced it myself. I also had to buy a pair of jumper cables for 30 bucks just to get me home that night. The dealer only wanted $180.00 total. I would have gladly let the dealer do it for $180 bucks and avoided the hassel of doing myself if I could have.
If you do this yourself, be sure to remove all of the plastic covers and the two relay/fuse blocks from around the battery area before trying to remove the battery. Removing the plastic pieces and relay/fuse boxes gives you enough room to pull it out without killing yourself. You don't have to disconnect the fues boxes just unhook them from thier mounting locations and push them aside temporarily. And there is no need to disconnect the two smaller positive cables from the main juction block they are bolted to. I disconnected them to allow me more room but it wasn't really nessarry.
And don't worry about problems you may have heard about concerning disconnecting the power from the ECU. There is no problem. Nothing will happen other than the fact you'll need to reprogram all of the radio pre-sets and seat settings.
I did get a hint it was getting ready to crap out when I started the car to leave work at 5:00. I noticed it cranked just a little slower than it normally does......but it did start up and it ran fine. The next time I tried to start it later that night, it didn't start. Didn't even make one full crankshaft rotation before it stopped cranking. Just "click-click-click" sound from the solinoid.
Batteries these days don't slowly tail off in power delivery (before they finally totally quit) like they did years ago. Materials of construction are different thanks to EPA restrictions, and as a result, so are the batteries power delivery profiles. Years ago their output would slowly begin to subside (once you noticed they started to fall off) and then finally totally crap out after about a week or so. Batteries today don't give you much warning once they begin to fall off. One minute they seem to be fine, the next time they are asked to preform, they can't produce enough amperage to crank the engine over. And with digital ignitions they way they require a voltage threshold to fire a spark, once the system voltage drops below the ignitions systems threshold voltage due to the drag from the starter, the ignition won't even fire.
Bottom line is todays batteries fail more dramatically and suddenly compared to the older style batteries. When they quite, it's all over. Nothing left in them. So be mindful of old batteries in your girlfreind or wives cars so as not to leave them stranded somewhere in the dark. My battery was the original unit that came in the car and lasted almost four years of typical use (60K miles). At $100-120 for a battery, it would be wise to change an old battery before it fails. I paid $120.00 for a battery and replaced it myself. I also had to buy a pair of jumper cables for 30 bucks just to get me home that night. The dealer only wanted $180.00 total. I would have gladly let the dealer do it for $180 bucks and avoided the hassel of doing myself if I could have.
If you do this yourself, be sure to remove all of the plastic covers and the two relay/fuse blocks from around the battery area before trying to remove the battery. Removing the plastic pieces and relay/fuse boxes gives you enough room to pull it out without killing yourself. You don't have to disconnect the fues boxes just unhook them from thier mounting locations and push them aside temporarily. And there is no need to disconnect the two smaller positive cables from the main juction block they are bolted to. I disconnected them to allow me more room but it wasn't really nessarry.
And don't worry about problems you may have heard about concerning disconnecting the power from the ECU. There is no problem. Nothing will happen other than the fact you'll need to reprogram all of the radio pre-sets and seat settings.
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