Quote:
Originally Posted by BostonRich
I was shocked this week when I took my relatively new 2019 car in for it's 15,000 mile maintenance checkup. The tests showed my battery was just about dead. It registered a "1" on the "1 to 10" scale. The technician told me that the constant short low-speed trips we all take in the Villages combined with the heat kills our car batteries.
I also found a bunch of information that said cars need to go over 40 mph to heat up enough to burn up contaminants and clean out our engine and keep all systems running optimally.
We are killing our cars and let's face it, 35 mph is artificially slow for the major through roads like Buena Vista. 40 mph makes much more sense and will save us money and aggravation. A car needs exercise too and now that the Villages are so big you can travel long distances under 40 mph every day of the week.
So $280 later I say tell the nice officer that you are "speeding" for the health of your car. He will understand.
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I do not know who your mechanic is but it sounds like a snow job in Florida. There is no such thing as a 1-10 scale. That 280 sounds like he/she sold you a battery. A battery should cost like half of that. As far as stand by losses, there are many things that can cause that. Devices in your car that are always on-using current. Often no realized is if the top of your battery is dirty, it can self drain. That 40 mph number would have been partly true for much older cars than 2019 like 1950's that had generators. A more modern car will have an alternator that charges the battery at much lower speeds than 40 mph.
You can check the state of charge in your battery with a simple INEXPENSIVE device called a hydrometer. An eyedropper kind of thing with 4 colored balls in it. You draw up the fluid in each cell one at a time and see how many of the balls float. You then put the sample back into the cell. The weight of the fluid changes with the state of charge.
Thus, you can tell how charged your battery is.
My OPINION you need to find an HONEST place to have your car serviced.