car won't start. help

[leehljp]

I purchased a couple of solar panel chargers back in 2004 to use on my lawn tractor and on my '95 Ranger. (I was overseas and the 11 months a year un-use killed the batteries quickly before that.)

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-watt...ger-62449.html

I replaced the Ranger's 12 volt battery in 2014 and the lawn tractor's 12 volt in April/May of this year. 10 years for one and 11 years for the other. I don't know how much actual usage counts, but I used both regularly between the summer of 2005 to summer of 2006 when I was home on furlough, and I began to use them regularly again when I came home permanently in December of 2010.

So the actual full time usage for both batteries were: 4 1/2 years for my Ranger and 5 1/2 years for the lawn tractor. Still, the life of the batteries were 10 and 11 years.

[Pappy]

This seems to have been a simple case of battery failure but getting the charging system checked out is still a good idea. A problem in the system could have contributed to the battery going bad. Unless it is a sealed system, the battery fluid level needs to be checked and kept properly topped off with distilled water.

Motorcycle batteries generally carry a warranty of 6 months to 1 year even though they can cost more that the average auto battery. Since a lot of bikes are recreational use and sit for extended periods, the batteries drain down a lot. The use of a float type charger like Hank talked about maintains the battery at or near full charge and extends its life. I normally get 5 or more years out of mine by using a 'Battery Tender Jr.' when it is going to be sitting for long. I keep a plug in connecter wired to the battery and accessible under the right side cover.

[capncarl]

I had a rash of,battery failures about 3 years ago. They cranked and worked fine and gave not symptoms of problems and for no apparent reason the were just dead. The were assorted brands, and I replaced them with Autozone batteries. The store that was a convenient to me sells a lot of batteries so they fresh ones available.

[JimD]

I've bought several Walmart batteries based upon price, availability, and warranty. Haven't had any real long yet. Since my first post on this thread, I've purchased a HF battery tester:

http://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp...9888-9193.html

The nice part is it tests under load. It will throw a 100A load against the battery - for a few seconds - and reads the voltage. It doesn't actually give you volts, however, it tells you cold cranking amps. It is just a voltage meter but with a scale on it that makes it easy to tell what is going on. It will tell you if the alternator is working and can be used to get a read on the starter. Pretty good for about $20.

But the simple "will it take a charge" is still a good first step.