Battery ciao or not?

[omodos]

Ok have been possibly wasting alot of peoples time on the forum,re my lazy start issue, I decided to take a look at my battery (first time in a couple of years) and noticed as per pic the discoloration of the plastic at the top and what looks like a leak and formation of a crystalline layer. Either way I took it out, put it on a ctek 5.0 Recon option and then on charge.... but would you say definitely swap out?.

I reconnected everything , nipped up the earth cable etc and so far so good...touch wood seems to be ok , reason I took it out was to put in a temp battery see if my lazy start was any better but seem to have been barking up the wrong tree as still had issue (and either way my amp draw test when done a while back showed 400a draw when starting so that could well be an issue too) ps the bosch is closing in on 5 years old . my driving style is max 10miles a day with 3 stops/starts during this total mileage done....and progressively during the week my starting gets slower and battery seems to get weaker so have to charge up again..then back to 'normal' lazy start.

[Crowz]

Normal batteries 5 years max performance and completely iffy after that.

XS power batteries 10 years and completely iffy after that.

I use xs power in my diesel vehicles because of the lifespan issues.

Gassers I use deka batteries.

[wpoll]

If I use my 3.0d as you describe (short runs, many starts per day) I don't get a week out of it before the battery begins to show signs of depletion. It just isn't being run enough to restore the charge lost from starting...

First indication of battery depletion is the DSC lamp flashes up as I crank the car. I notice this because I always wait for the ABS and DSC lamps to cycle off before cranking. If the DSC flashes back up on cranking, the battery is getting critically low.

I overnight charge it that night, with my trailer connector charge cable. Job done.

[omodos]

Originally Posted by wpoll

If I use my 3.0d as you describe (short runs, many starts per day) I don't get a week out of it before the battery begins to show signs of depletion. It just isn't being run enough to restore the charge lost from starting...

First indication of battery depletion is the DSC lamp flashes up as I crank the car. I notice this because I always wait for the ABS and DSC lamps to cycle off before cranking. If the DSC flashes back up on cranking, the battery is getting critically low.

I overnight charge it that night, with my trailer connector charge cable. Job done.

Thanks will keep an eye out too whilst waiting too for the ABS n DSC lamp to cycle off (although on previous posts have read that no need on a modern diesel to wait before cranking) very very interesting that you have same issue as me i.e depleted battery due to driving style/starts...I will see how it pans out before replacing cos it did look a bit crusty

[omodos]

Originally Posted by Crowz

Normal batteries 5 years max performance and completely iffy after that.

XS power batteries 10 years and completely iffy after that.

I use xs power in my diesel vehicles because of the lifespan issues.

Gassers I use deka batteries.

Fair point, alas the xs power batteries whilst looking decently priced on the web will cost me the same in shipping to get it here...I will check the DEKA too

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by omodos

Thanks will keep an eye out too whilst waiting too for the ABS n DSC lamp to cycle off (although on previous posts have read that no need on a modern diesel to wait before cranking)

I don't wait (pause) for the reasons you would on an older diesel - to wait for the glow-plugs to warm the cylinders - I know this isn't required. I wait (pause) to allow the various computer modules to initialise fully before cranking as cranking may interrupt their initialisation and they will begin the cycle again. It also allows me to spot when the battery is becoming depleted, as if the lights (FTM and DSC - not ABS as I stated earlier) return, I know the voltage dropped enough during the crank to trigger the re-initialisation again. Time for a charger..

[omodos]

Originally Posted by wpoll

I don't wait (pause) for the reasons you would on an older diesel - to wait for the glow-plugs to warm the cylinders - I know this isn't required. I wait (pause) to allow the various computer modules to initialise fully before cranking as cranking may interrupt their initialisation and they will begin the cycle again. It also allows me to spot when the battery is becoming depleted, as if the lights (FTM and DSC - not ABS as I stated earlier) return, I know the voltage dropped enough during the crank to trigger the re-initialisation again. Time for a charger..

Thanks fella I was in the habit of doing this from the outset, have noticed that the amber 4x4 does light up briefly on dash during crank then off again, i will make a point of noting if this happens when batt seems to struggle