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-   -   Car battery life - How long did your battery last? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/38613-car-battery-life-how-long-did-your-battery-last-69.html)

HI Folks
Need review inputs for Amaron FRESH car battery. It is cheapest of all Amaron battery models, after Black, GO and Pro models.

In just one year the FRESH Battery cranking power is continuously going down, even as I drive it mostly in day hours with minimum battery drain.
I have to wait few seconds after first cranking starting Motor torque fails to start the Engine. On second or third cranking attempt the car starts.

I took the battery to Dealer, the voltage was 12.2 volts meaning the battery is Not charging properly.
He checked the specific gravity in all 6 Cells and said its Ok ( I do not know where to read in his glass tube )

He has taken the battery for Bench charging and told me that after charging he will check battey health again, and if required he will replace the battery under warranty.

Anyone else using this FRESH model, please share experience. Thanks

HI Ithaca
TATA also outsources automotive parts and components more or less from same Suppliers as MSIL, Hyundai, but still niggles keep coming in their vehicles most.
IMO there was no need of going for their Battery when Amaron and Exide are most trustworthy and affordable brands readily available at most battery shops across India. Thanks

Yes Sir.
When I went in for the Tata green battery, I was trying to be a pioneer because I was very happy with their home inverter battery which did not require frequent distillate water top up. Now I have learnt my lesson. Will stick to the tried and tested

Yeah I had the same problem. The car alarm would sound in the middle of the night randomly. Got the battery replaced , after less than one year of use, and the problem is gone. The battery guy said this happens 1/1000 batteries.

hi Coolkurt
even my Amaron FRESH battery is not even 1 year old and because of may be Lower quality Amalgamations the battery does not charges properly.
My car Electricals are getting strained. lets see if the dealers replaces that.



I discussed FRESH model here to warn fellow buyers against Buying that.
Thanks

Hi All

Yesterday I purchased a new amaron black battery for my fatherin law's indica which is the amaron black one. costed me 3999/- t the store near my house cheaper than the online website which quoted 4700/- INR.

The old battery which came with the car was a local Gowell make which lasted a little over 3 years.

The crank is awesome with Amaron battery and the vehicle though a 11 year old diesel starts like a petrol engine.

I just wanted to know if there would be any issues if the battery is 5AH less than the required specification of 65 AH. The battery that I got is 60AH .The shop keeper told me that there would not be any difference.

Request help on the same please.

Regards
Sushil Narayanan.

The Amaron battery that came with my Ertiga 2012 from factory lasted for a long 7 years before finally giving up midway through my journey back to Bangalore from Mysore.

I noticed that the car cranked a little slower than usual for a few weeks before this. There was a protest which left us stranded on Mysore Road near Mandya for 2 hours, and during this time I had not started the car at all but continued to use the fan, which seemed to completely kill the dying battery. Road was on a downward slope so the car was safely rolled over to the side of the road. I contacted Maruti Roadside assistance and asked them to bring a brand new battery and not just try to jump start the car, as I opened the bonnet and some battery acid had crystallized and leaked out of the terminals and I knew it was due for replacement anyway.

A team in a Maruti Omni from Mandovi Motors Mandya arrived after about 45 minutes(delayed due to the traffic jam) with a brand new Exide battery suited for this particular model(new Ertiga uses different battery with varying Ah rating). They replaced the battery and the car started again with no issues. New battery was offered at a price of ₹7400 and they gave back ₹400 in return for the old battery. They also conveniently charged a service fee of ₹400 so I ended up paying ₹7400 anyway:Frustrati. A service of the car was done only 4 months back and there was no reminder whatsoever to change the battery. Service centers should check battery voltage and consider its age and recommend changes periodically to avoid such issues.

While I was stranded on the road, the people of Mandya seemed to be very helpful, as a Volvo bus driver offered to jump start the car but on seeing that the acid had leaked he recommended a change, as well as many other people offering to send a person they know to buy and battery and change it etc.. but I chose to get it changed from Maruti itself for peace of mind.

You are responsible for asking them to check what they need to do. I have seen similar bad thing in Hyundai, Maruti and Tata as well. When you visit them for service they will ask about any issues you are seeing, makes sense. But since we are not automobile experts, it should be their duty to take a test drive to see if there are any other issues including battery density. I ask them to test a laundry list of things I am aware of and sometimes get a strange looks from them. But it is OK to get such looks rather than getting stranded on roads. :D

7 years is good. Though you can expect new cars to have a good battery life since their electricals are in good order.

2 hours of blower with engine turned off? I am sorry but it would have killed even a new battery. Though your battery was old and giving out symptoms of change, but I think you could have avoided the entire ordeal on the highway and got it replaced at your convenience later only if blower was not running. :)

Regards,
Saket

The Amaron Battery that came with my Honda City Vx CVT lasted 3 years 8 months and 12 days :-) Bought on Mar 3 2016 and last cranked on Nov15 2019. Funny part is being a CVT i could not push and start the car like the old ivtec i had. Also the battery didn't die fully and was good enough to keep the meters running so it refused to die and refused to start. When i push the start stop button it tries to crank but when i try to shut it down it keeps coming back to life. Finally had to remove the battery terminal to put that guy to sleep. Got a new Amaron for Rs3600 from a local amazon shop (dealer quoted 4900 for same). Overall not a bad batter life considering i mostly do start stop drives as the office was nearby for the first 2 years and then i moved right into the next apartment so car was not used much other than weekend drives.

Dev

Had I known we would be stranded there for 2 hours, the necessary precaution would be taken, however it was a sudden protest where they stormed the road and stopped all traffic. Thinking that the road would clear quickly I just waited there without realizing the time go by. However as it is a 65AH battery, I doubt that a healthy one would die if the blowers are run for 2 hours(Fan speed was at 1, and rear blowers were off). It is unlikely that the power draw is more than 10A which even then would take more than 6 hours to kill the battery completely.

Note that even after the car refused to start(did not crank even in the slightest, seemed to be dead completely), the fan was still running and all power windows were working perfectly fine even with the spilled battery acidlol:.
Even without the blower I would’ve also occasionally been using the power windows which would’ve done the job for it anyway. Lesson learned:).

I too have experienced this. My Car's battery and Parking brake lights used to stay on after starting the car for past few months and would go away once I raise rpm. I was just ignoring it and then noticed that the engine would not crank as smoothly or effortlessly as earlier. Then one find day the car just refused to start. My battery is just 6 months old. Still went to the battery shop and got it checked and he immediately said after testing voltages that battery is fine but there seems to be problem with either wiring or alternator as the alternator is not charging the battery enough.

Got alternator checked from my FNG and found that it was indeed a problem. got one cutout and carbon replaced. Now the battery and parking brake light does not stay on

I think it would have been a rare case. Also in the past, the batteries were not as robust as that of today. When makers like Amaron entered the market, the quality of the batteries went up a notch further. 20 years back, even I had a Maruti 800 in my family. I remember running up to the battery shop to recharge the battery. But off late, I don't think this that's the case. I have used 3 cars (Esteem, i10, Tata nano) since then and in each of these cars the battery has lasted 4-5 years.

As the owner of a vehicle there are some maintenance tasks that you are expected to do. All are detailed in the owners manual. Most important ones are checking engine oil (every 2-3 weeks), brake fluid level (every 3-6 months) and coolant (every 2 weeks). Brake and coolant are visual checks at the brake reservoir and coolant expansion/overflow bottle respectively.

Service centres will perform most checks for you but please remember the a car visits the SC once or twice a year and in that intervening period you are expected to take care of your car.

For the battery:

a) Inspect distilled water levels every 6 months. Top off till bottom of vent tube. Never overfill or it will result in acid leakage. The Magic Eye should give you a hint about the health of the battery but it measures the health of only 1 of 6 cells.
b) Check voltage using a decent multimeter. Voltage at rest (2 hours after engine stop) is approx 12.66 V. IMHO every car owner needs to buy a basic multimeter for troubleshooting.
c) A battery over 3 years old require regular checks including load tests.
d) NEVER run the blower or the entertainment system for extended periods of time with the engine off. You are asking for trouble.

I change the battery every 3 years on an average (or when the engine turns over slowly) without waiting for it to fail on me. I hate being stranded. I also carry a set of jumper cables to either give or receive help to/from other motorists when required.

Hey guys, couple quick questions!

I recently had an unpleasant experience with DriveU where the driver drained the battery of our automatic Celerio while waiting at the parking lot for about 1.5hrs! He said he was charging the phone and listening to the radio with the car switched off (novice and untrained DriveU professional). The battery was completely dead and even jump starting failed.

1) With the car being close to two years old, could it be that the battery may have been in it's end stages with the driver's stint being the final blow?
2) Does this battery related episode count as a damage to my vehicle from the driver's end and entitle me to claim replacement charges from their in-app insurance?

A little guidance here is much appreciated, thanks in advance!

My original exide Maruti Eeco 35AH car battery lasted for 9 years before giving up the ghost last month.