My 04 XUV with 204K on it has went through about a battery a year for the past 4 years. I thought it was just bad batteries / luck. Some were replaced under warranty. I got to find out warranties only seem to cover one replacement per purchase. Well I had to replace one yesterday, so now I am trying to figure out what is causing it. When they die I take it Advance, AutoZone, etc. and they have always tested bad, ie bad cell. I had them test the alternator and look for leaks about a year ago when I had to have one replaced and they couldn't find anything wrong.
This time we noticed some corrosion on the ground terminal. The tech said that corrosion on the terminal could kill a battery cell. Is that true? I haven't noticed corrosion on it before on the other batteries, but maybe I didn't look close enough. I also would have thought previous techs would have noticed it also. I do need to change it or clean it till it shines. The tech sprayed something on it and brushed it a little. But, I am sure it needs more cleaning.
Another thing that happened this time was when they tested the battery the headlight washer squirted the tech. They said it should not do that unless some wires were crossed. It didn't do that when I jumped it off earlier in the day, but when I tried to start it with the dead battery it squirt then. I could also hear it reset the radio / CD player.
Every time the battery has died it would not sound/act weak, but then be completely dead the next time you try to start it. I had it die one time when I drove it to Sonic's to get some food and then when I tried to start it, nothing. It wouldn't even try to start. Sometimes it wouldn't even have enough power to unlock the doors or roll down the windows.
Now that I have a new battery it is running really rough. I know in that past that the computer has to figure out that the engine isn't new and perfectly clean and adjust some things. Then it normally goes away after you drive it awhile. Although this time it is bad enough to flash the check engine light (misfire) when going up a hill. No codes though. I cleaned the throttle body about a year ago. And the AC Delco iridium plugs have less than 100k on them I know. So, given that and that it ran fine before the dead battery could the reset be causing it to run this rough?
This time we noticed some corrosion on the ground terminal. The tech said that corrosion on the terminal could kill a battery cell. Is that true? I haven't noticed corrosion on it before on the other batteries, but maybe I didn't look close enough. I also would have thought previous techs would have noticed it also. I do need to change it or clean it till it shines. The tech sprayed something on it and brushed it a little. But, I am sure it needs more cleaning.
Another thing that happened this time was when they tested the battery the headlight washer squirted the tech. They said it should not do that unless some wires were crossed. It didn't do that when I jumped it off earlier in the day, but when I tried to start it with the dead battery it squirt then. I could also hear it reset the radio / CD player.
Every time the battery has died it would not sound/act weak, but then be completely dead the next time you try to start it. I had it die one time when I drove it to Sonic's to get some food and then when I tried to start it, nothing. It wouldn't even try to start. Sometimes it wouldn't even have enough power to unlock the doors or roll down the windows.
Now that I have a new battery it is running really rough. I know in that past that the computer has to figure out that the engine isn't new and perfectly clean and adjust some things. Then it normally goes away after you drive it awhile. Although this time it is bad enough to flash the check engine light (misfire) when going up a hill. No codes though. I cleaned the throttle body about a year ago. And the AC Delco iridium plugs have less than 100k on them I know. So, given that and that it ran fine before the dead battery could the reset be causing it to run this rough?