Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Battery going?

About 2.5 weeks ago, I left my headlights on and had to jumpstart the car. Ever since, the car has not sounded "convincing" while cranking/starting it. We had a frost the other evening (maybe 27 degrees out) and the car wouldn't crank at all, but jumped just fine. Voltmeter shows between 14.5-15V across battery terminals while car is running. I let it sit outside after a longish run, and after two hours battery read 12V (not running). About 3 hours later, 10V. I'm letting it sit outside tonite to see what voltage remains in the morning and if it will turn over for me. Battery terminals are clean and tight on the posts. Does this sound like the battery is going bad? I'm more used to the catastrophic failure where you go out to try to start the car one day and get nothing, with no prior warning. This is different than that.
Any input or opinion is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jay
99 Ag Frost SVT

Exact same symptoms as my "other" car.....cured by replacing battery (old battery approx 1 yr. old).

Perormance of individual cells within batteries can erode over even a short period of time causing the above symptoms.

Also (as I understand it), automotive batteries are not the same as deep cycle batteries & do not tolerate being fully (or close to) discharged very much (less as the battery ages). Result is that the battery may not fully recharge either.

Battery life seems to be more related to luck associated w/ a crap shoot.

I suspect that you need to replace the battery. If you are still under warranty, take it to the dealer and let Ford buy you a new one.

Any time a battery goes dead from leaving something on, it is best to have the battery charged. An overnight trickle charge will do wonders for helping the battery to live longer. If you don't, an otherwise good battery can be ruined.

Yep , the battery on my Tour just died one day about 90 miles from home! Everything was fine up to the time it died. Luckily I was near a mall and the Sears mechanic drove me back to the car and installed the battery or "bat-tree" as Richard Petty calls them! I think the mileage was a little over 62,000.

Thanks all for your input--seems to correspond to what I suspected. Big Jim-is the battery something which is covered under the Ford warranty? I'm at 34,XXX miles right now. It would be nice if I could have them foot the bill on this!

Cheers,
Jay

Yes, the battery is covered for the bumper to bumper warranty. If the car is under three years old and has less than 36,000 miles on it, Ford should buy you a battery.