Will a bad battery make your car do this?

cobra04972tx1

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I have to admit, I got my money out of the stock Ford battery. It is 6 years old and the car has a little over 50K on it. Today while driving, I noticed my V-1, Valentine one radar detector, powering on and off, the the car stumbled under acceleration, the radio would get softer, and at the stop lights was idling very rough. When I got home, I killed the car and tried to restart it, but it was dead. I jumped it, and it busted right off, but after I killed it it wouldn't restart. I'm sure its time for a new battery, but was just curious if these symptoms could be caused by a DOA battery. I have a new Odyssey I bought a while back to get some weight off the nose. Looks like I will finally be installing it..LOL.
 

lxhatch302

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Ya that's what it will do when the battery goes dead

might want to check the alt too

mine just went bad after 52k
 

SCMOKN

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Yup, mine did the same at 6 years. About a week later I had to replace the alternator.
 

Jomo1994z71

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Just get a voltmeter from walmart for like $15.
The battery should read around 12.5ish or even higher.
My stock alternator went out about a week ago...had 52,000 miles on it. So you might want to get that tested as well. If it's bad replace with a Ford one, not some crapozone one. If you do some research, you will agree
 

03mgtermi

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a voltmeter across the battery terminals will read 11.8 to 13 volts with the car off (if the battery is good). with it on it should read 14 to 15 volts, maybe more, if the alternator is working.

....easier than ripping them out and hauling to autozone to be tested.
 

magstang1

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A voltmeter will only read the surface charge. You need to put a load on it to truly test it's capacity. That's what a load tester is for. Charge it, and load test it. My guess is that if it's not dead, it soon will be. Same with the alternator.
 

cobra04972tx1

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Looks like the consensus on the alternator was correct. Never got around to checking it, but after charging the Odyssey and driving for approximately 35 mins the symptoms came back and when parked, the car failed to start, so it looks like it's time for an alternator.
 

cobra04972tx1

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What should I replace it with? I have been searching the forums, but can't find a clear answer. Also, all the problems with the alternators on these cars leads me to believe I need to use an under drive alt pulley, maybe a 3.5", even though I'm stock, maybe putting on a 2.8 blower pulley as well. I want to make sure I get at least another 6 years out of the replacement.
 

brian97cobra

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a voltmeter across the battery terminals will read 11.8 to 13 volts with the car off (if the battery is good). with it on it should read 14 to 15 volts, maybe more, if the alternator is working.

....easier than ripping them out and hauling to autozone to be tested.

incorrect....

a new battery is considered 12.6 after vehicle has sat for 15 mins to let the surface charge wear off from the alternator.

as for when the engine is running 13.2-14.4 is the operating range. usually you will see 13.2-13.7 anything above that and the car is drawing excessive voltage and its usually a sign that the battery is weak or bad.

also a battey can have 12.6 volts but the cca maybe almost nothing. i believe the factory cca is 540.

it sounds like a bad battery. replace it and recheck for alt output
 

cobra04972tx1

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incorrect....

a new battery is considered 12.6 after vehicle has sat for 15 mins to let the surface charge wear off from the alternator.

as for when the engine is running 13.2-14.4 is the operating range. usually you will see 13.2-13.7 anything above that and the car is drawing excessive voltage and its usually a sign that the battery is weak or bad.

also a battey can have 12.6 volts but the cca maybe almost nothing. i believe the factory cca is 540.

it sounds like a bad battery. replace it and recheck for alt output

I doubt the Odyssey is bad and the symptoms it is having are the same as when the stock battery died, it was the original 6yr old. I think it must be the alternator. I'm going to run to Autozone and have them check it and I'll report my findings.
 

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