Till she can't take no more...(cold cranking)

[Tonpow]

My battery finally took the preverbal crap today. During one of the warmest days yet(a balmy 26F).

I've never had a battery go this soon. 1.25 years and 35,000 miles. Never left the lights or radio on, all highway miles. Oh well.

[Jim Frye]

to see how full the cells are in your old battery. Some so called sealed batteries will vent the contents of the battery and eventually the level falls far enough to let a cell fail. Since my P5 is only 3 months old, I haven't checked the P5's battery to see if you can open it up to fill it. Don't forget to have the charging system checked before you put a new battry in the car. Jim

[Tonpow]

I'll test it as soon as I get it home.

[Tonpow]

I just read a tidbit on a consumer guide about the protege.

"Battery: The battery may go dead due to excessive current drains from memories in components (like the radio memory or engine control computer). "

So cheap stock battery + severe cold snap + factory current drains + a couple small amps installed = dead battery.

Supposedly the stock battery has around 520 cold cranking amps. I can get one in the same size case and same post configuration with 575 cold cranking amps. Hopefully that extra bit of beefiness will make it last more than a year.

Any stereophiles install a more powerful alternator?

[Tonpow]

The stock battery has a barn burning 310 cold cranking amps.