Anyone re-fill battery water?

kjh1127 said:
My battery has been very weak if it sits overnight in the cold after a few short trips (<2 miles), and in the morning the car wouldn't start.

Come to find out, the water in the battery was practically bone dry. I filled up the six cavities with new distilled water, and so far, so good, but haven't taken many small trips with it yet.

My car is only 3 years old. Anyone have to do similar maintenance? My Mazda3 I owned before this for 8 years, with a similar type battery, I NEVER had to refill the water. Is this normal for these CX-5 to need to re-filled periodically?
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"Maintenance free" or not, you should always check the electrolyte levels if you live in a hot climate, annually
heat will cause the electrolyte to "boil off"

since you just topped it off (I hope you didn't overfill it), you really need to hook up a battery charger to it in order to desulfate the cells and also to remove acid stratification from the electrolyte... not doing so will cause high alternator load, premature alternator wear, and premature battery failure due to high current recharging

to get the most out of your battery, you should be doing this at least once a year, regardless of which climate you are in... a simple level check then a recharge from a charger will keep a battery lasting long... alternators NEVER fully recharge a battery unless you are doing a road trip

I got 7 years out of my stock Panasonic battery in my old SP23 doing this... I ran it till the cells died
 
Unobtanium said:
Wow. I literally did not even know you COULD add water to a modern car battery. I sure never have. Usually, I end up replacing the battery once on a used car, and never on a new car. Just my experience thus far with it.
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Many batteries can be topped up.

You just need to have a look at your battery. Forget about any labels that say "low maintenance" or even "maintenance free" - if there are caps that can be undone by hand or with a coin or screwdriver, then they can be topped up.

For the uninitiated, the correct way to top them up is to add demineralised water very slowly until the water surface forms a cats eye in the cell, this means it has touched the plastic level indicator, that's the correct level, no higher. You might need to shine a light down there to make it easier to see.

Only batteries that are fully sealed where you can't open up the cells can't be topped up. These are usually labelled, here in Aus, as "sealed, maintenance free".
 
Moonlighter said:
Many batteries can be topped up.

You just need to have a look at your battery. Forget about any labels that say "low maintenance" or even "maintenance free" - if there are caps that can be undone by hand or with a coin or screwdriver, then they can be topped up.

For the uninitiated, the correct way to top them up is to add demineralised water very slowly until the water surface forms a cats eye in the cell, this means it has touched the plastic level indicator, that's the correct level, no higher. You might need to shine a light down there to make it easier to see.

Only batteries that are fully sealed where you can't open up the cells can't be topped up. These are usually labelled, here in Aus, as "sealed, maintenance free".
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Interesting. I thought all modern vehicles had maintenance free batteries. Learned something new! TY
 
Unobtanium said:
Interesting. I thought all modern vehicles had maintenance free batteries. Learned something new! TY
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Have a friend living in Connecticut. His 2003 Lexus LX 470 still has original battery from factory. His 2008 Porsche Boxster also has original battery from factory. He's never checked the electrolyte levels on these batteries, not to mention adding distilled water!

Mazda doesn't list checking electrolyte levels in the maintenance schedule, why is that? (uhm)
 
TheMAN said:
mazda doesn't mention changing the transmission fluid, why is that? (rolleyes)
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So we should blame on Mazda who is intentionally trying to shorten the life cycle of centain components of its vehicles. Hence people think Mazda products are not reliable? In fact, the Connecticut friend I mentioned had owned a couple of Mazda's before. He's planning to get a compact CUV or sort for a daily driver. I suggested him 2016.5 CX-5 or wait longer for a 2nd-gen 2017 CX-5. His first response was the concern of reliability! His second Mazda Millenia gave him nothing but problems! That's why he got a Lexus LX 470 and dumped Mazda.
 
yrwei52 said:
His second Mazda Millenia gave him nothing but problems! That's why he got a Lexus LX 470 and dumped Mazda.
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These cars were not reliable. However, every model should be judged separately. Not only that, but the last model year for the Millenia was 2002. Even for the slow auto industry, this is long enough. A Lexus, however, is a safe bet.
 
Always interested in getting a used LX470/Land Cruiser/100 Series but didn't feel like dealing with the water pump/timing belt replacement. I like the size of the GX 470/Land Cruiser Prado better though.
 
yrwei52 said:
Have a friend living in Connecticut. His 2003 Lexus LX 470 still has original battery from factory. His 2008 Porsche Boxster also has original battery from factory. He's never checked the electrolyte levels on these batteries, not to mention adding distilled water!

Mazda doesn't list checking electrolyte levels in the maintenance schedule, why is that? (uhm)
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Pretty amazing lifespan, even for a mild weather (for batteries) region. I had a gf that had a battery in TX last 7 years before dying (was an early 2000's Accord), the longest I'd seen here. Lead acid batteries lose capacity over time, regardless of use, perhaps they spec'd them quite oversized? Today I doubt this happens, for any manufacturer, as they try to save a pound of weight here and there.
 
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yrwei52 said:
So we should blame on Mazda who is intentionally trying to shorten the life cycle of centain components of its vehicles. Hence people think Mazda products are not reliable? In fact, the Connecticut friend I mentioned had owned a couple of Mazda's before. He's planning to get a compact CUV or sort for a daily driver. I suggested him 2016.5 CX-5 or wait longer for a 2nd-gen 2017 CX-5. His first response was the concern of reliability! His second Mazda Millenia gave him nothing but problems! That's why he got a Lexus LX 470 and dumped Mazda.
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if he cares about reliability, recommending him to get a 1st year car (2nd gen CX-5) is a BAD IDEA... it is very common to see all sorts of issues from a 1st year car, and only things begin to improve for 2nd year or halfway through the 2nd year
 
ALafya said:
These cars were not reliable. However, every model should be judged separately. Not only that, but the last model year for the Millenia was 2002. Even for the slow auto industry, this is long enough. A Lexus, however, is a safe bet.
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exactly
the protege was super reliable back in those days... it definitely kept mazda on "life support"
mazdas have gotten far better and now comparable to Toyota and Honda in reliability... I still will NOT get a 1st year car from ANY brand though
 
The AGM batteries have sometimes DOUBLE the lifespan of the WET batteries...

Twice I saw 10 years+ out of the original Mazda Miata AGM Batteries. Most of the high end vehicles today use these better AGM Batteries. Benefits to the AGM are less outgassing, lighter weight, and a higher energy density than the wet batteries.

Other options for auto manufacturers to increase battery longevity, are to take it out of the hot engine bay, and have it under seat or trunk.
 
mazdadude said:
The AGM batteries have sometimes DOUBLE the lifespan of the WET batteries...

Twice I saw 10 years+ out of the original Mazda Miata AGM Batteries. Most of the high end vehicles today use these better AGM Batteries. Benefits to the AGM are less outgassing, lighter weight, and a higher energy density than the wet batteries.
Click to expand...


The AGMs on my powersports equipment never seem to die. I do use trickle chargers on them though as they aren't used all the time. One is now 10 years old.
 
AGMs do not like deep discharges though
American batteries are poorly designed and built... they outgas a lot and leak like a sieve... Japanese batteries are far better built and although they do outgas (can't beat physics), their vent cap designs prevent leakage usually
seems like planned obsolescence is a thing for American batteries
 
I use a cheap chinese AGM battery in my motorcycle and it is fantastic. Best chinese product I ever bought. It was $40 compared to a Yuasa or Walmart $100+.
 
The battery in my Protege ES was a factory Mazda Panasonic battery. I topped it up once, which extended its life another year, in total it lasted for 15 years.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk
 
Wife's car, 2005 Toyota Corolla, 47000k. Still on original battery. Checked it once so far. Wow!
 
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