Battery dead in '00 Viper, HELP!!!

[SoCal Rebell]

Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

My '00 Viper is 2 years 4 months old and has 23,000 miles on it. A couple of weeks ago I went to start it and only got "clicks" ran a charge over night and she was fine, went out this morning after a week of non-operation, doors were locked battery completely dead. I have done NO mods in the last 6 months so I don't think it was a drain, can I check or this, is it possible the battery just died after 2 1/3 years? Is the battery still covered under warranty?

 

[Ulysses]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

Batteries, if covered under warranty, are prorated. I'm not sure what the guaranteed lifespan is on our cars. Most likely a dead cell. Use a specific gravity tester to each cell to determine if cell is dead.

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Vipermad:
Personally...I think the stock battery is crap. I am SURE you drive yours more than I do mine...but mine died after I first moved to RI. I ALWAYS keep the tender on it...but when we first moved here the storage place didn't have power. Replaced the battery after we moved into our house, it was doing exactly what you describe. LOTS AND LOTS of ideas out there...I went to NAPA and just got what they had...and I plug her in all the time.

You, though, might want to investigate smoething more suitable to your driving habits. I think the NAPA battery is OK for us POSERS.

Ohhh...do you leave the hood up? Do you leave the alram engaged? I'm grabbin at straws...

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Tony, hood always left closed, alarm NEVER engaged.

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

Belts are tight, alternator is charging, I guess it's time for a new battery, now which one????????

 

[Janni]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

Optima - Red Top - may have to do some discreet bending of tray to get it to fit - but we've done three installs and each one worked with MINOR tweaking of the tray.

You are also doing enough road racing that the stock battery is liable to be spilling electrolyte all over hte palce when you get the access panel off. The increased grip of those Hoosiers is letting WAY too much fluid slosh around. Optimas won't spill even if the case is cracked...

We got ours at a place called Batteries Plus- they will tell you retail is like $139, but you can usually buy for $109 or so. they'll take old one, too. Don't have part number handy, search will get it for you. Red top is better, IMO, as yellow top is deep cycle applications.

 

[Leonard Knight]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

I had the same type of problem after I changed the strut on the rear glass. I did not set up the sensor correctly and it would drain the battery. Check to see if your alarm arms correctly. If not this sensor or the one under the hood could need adjustment.

Leonard

 

[grayman]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

Battery should be covered in full under 3/36 standard warranty. Extended warranty will not cover it.

 

[Hot Rod]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

I just had the battery replaced yesterday in my '99 at 14,000 miles. Had the same experience you described, would just click, jumped it, ran it to build up some reserve juice only to find it wouldn't start after sitting awhile. Wouldn't hold the charge. Figured it's not worth the hassle if I stalled it and got stuck somewhere.

I call it my $300 battery. Had the dealer install it - $90 plus $65 labor. Fair enough. Only problem, dealer had to break a frozen wheel stud to remove the wheel. Stud is special order of course and with another trip to the garage and $145 to have it installed, I'm up to $300 bucks.

 

[Jim Hodel]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

It takes a long time to charge a battery, and if you drive relatively short trips, the battery will not be fully charged by the charging system, and the batery slowly but surely looses it's charge to the point where it won't start. A short duration with a charger only does a surface charge that dissapates rapidly.

Ge a volt meter and measure the voltage at the terminals under the hood. My 'dead' battery (99 GTS) was at 12.17.

Here are some numbers from the Viper manual about charging times.

from 12.00 volts to 12.24 is 10 hours at 5 amps charging rate
from 12.24 volts to 12.49 is another 6 hours at 5 amps.

It took a good 15 plus hours to charge my battery to 12.57 volts where it behaved like a full charge. I just went and checked it and it is 12.52 volts and working great after two months since charging it.

Jim

 

[MiamiJeff]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

My battery was replaced by my dealer at no cost about 6 months ago under the Dodge warranty. No proration...wondering though how long this one will last????

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

Re: Battery dead in \'00 Viper, HELP!!!

I just checked my battery for leakage last night. Good to go.
Mine is 2 yrs. and 2 months old. Mine went dead last yr. once due to the security system being left on for a week. Have had no trouble since. I put a tender on it for the winter.

Voltage is not always an indication of a good battery. You can read over 12 volts and still not be able to start the car. You must load test the battery to see if it's any good. A 'fully' charged battery would be 13.2 volts(2.2/cell). You will probably never see that much. I have 2 vehicles so far which read around 12.25---and the battery was no good.

Jim Hodel's commentary on battery charging/drain is right on the money.

Steve