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Battery Light Need Help

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Old May 23, 2011 | 03:00 PM
  #1  
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Default Battery Light Need Help

I have a Jeep about 2 years old, and lately the battery light comes on after 5-15 minutes of it being on, it will come one without the A/C or stereo coming on. I had my battery checked yesterday and the guy said it was at 95% and that the battery was fine. Today it kinda had a problem starting up I had to try three times for it to turn on, it makes click noises which means I guess the starter is okay. What could it be? Here are the symptoms

Battery light turns on after 5-15 minutes without any lights, A/C on
Sometimes it struggles to start
Battery is at 95%
It's been doing this for the last month but it was on and off now its turning into an everyday thing.

Thanks

Matt
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Old May 23, 2011 | 03:02 PM
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Same happened to me, I just used it as an excuse to replace it with a yellow top and the light has stopped comeing on.
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Old May 23, 2011 | 03:09 PM
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You may have a weak or dying cell. You probably have a sealed battery so I suggest you just replace it. My stock JK battery lasted about 3 years before I started having problems with it. I replaced mine with a Sears Die Hard Platinum, awesome battery but it cost about $180. I have not had any issues since and probably won't for another 10 years.
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Old May 23, 2011 | 03:24 PM
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If your charging system is working, I would replace the battery. I do not know how yours was tested, but I always thought taking the time to load test it was the only reliable way to know for sure.

Mine lasted about 3.5 years. Never got a light, but I noticed a slight drag cranking last winter, and it was history. Lots of things out of your control in a modern vehicle can leave you stranded. Battery problem is one of the few things you can usually see coming.

I too bought a platinum diehard. Seems to do its thing just fine.
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Old May 23, 2011 | 07:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Yankee
If your charging system is working, I would replace the battery. I do not know how yours was tested, but I always thought taking the time to load test it was the only reliable way to know for sure.

Mine lasted about 3.5 years. Never got a light, but I noticed a slight drag cranking last winter, and it was history. Lots of things out of your control in a modern vehicle can leave you stranded. Battery problem is one of the few things you can usually see coming.

I too bought a platinum diehard. Seems to do its thing just fine.
It was done with this little machine at OReilly, I guess it had these clamps like starter cables and told him stuff lol. But he said the battery looked fine.
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Old May 23, 2011 | 07:40 PM
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There are several tests they could have done and there are really only three things they will check. Obviously voltage before/after charging. Second is battery health, which was mentioned if you have a plate on the inside starting to fail then it will degrade more over time. Third is the state of charge, which is likely the 95% he gave you. If you have clean battery cables and your alternator is putting out 13.5-14.3 volts then just change the battery. OEM batteries are only expected to last 3-5 years anyways. You don't need a red or yellow top Optima unless you have a large amount of strain on your electrical ie: winch, lights or huge stereo
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Old May 23, 2011 | 09:51 PM
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Originally Posted by PhantomRescue
There are several tests they could have done and there are really only three things they will check. Obviously voltage before/after charging. Second is battery health, which was mentioned if you have a plate on the inside starting to fail then it will degrade more over time. Third is the state of charge, which is likely the 95% he gave you. If you have clean battery cables and your alternator is putting out 13.5-14.3 volts then just change the battery. OEM batteries are only expected to last 3-5 years anyways. You don't need a red or yellow top Optima unless you have a large amount of strain on your electrical ie: winch, lights or huge stereo
Thanks, I'm thinking maybe my lights I just installed might give me an excuse to use the optima, I just installed the 85 watt PIAA lamps with some 55 watt Fog lights below, maybe that might have caused my battery to weaken all of a sudden? I run them all the time when I'm out in the desert.
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