Do car batteries just die all of a sudden??

[ricc]

Hi,

I've never had a problem with the battery in my 2 at all (not sure how old the battery is 5+ yrs ?? ). It has always started first time every time...until last night in Tesco's car park! filled up with petrol got back in, turned the key..nothing, busy petrol station had to push it to the side and ask someone for a jump start. It started and I drove home. The volt meter on the dash was jumping up and down and by time I got home the rev counter was having what I can only describe as spasms. I put a volt meter across it an it was showing 3.5 volts...

My question is do car batteries just die all of a sudden or could a fault in the car have lead to its death???? I guess trickle charging the batter is not going to work and even if it does it is only a short term fix??

Cheers

[gmtc]

Sadly, i'm sure the answer is yes.

It happened to me (in my 406 coupe) about 6 months ago. I called the AA and the guy that came out had a huge stock of batteries in his van. Apparently internal shorts are not uncommon.

Once thery are fooked no sort of recharging is going to help.

[nick_w]

i would also check youre alternator because they can die suddenly

[lodgeman]

had a honda prelude ( dirty word around here i know) and that started fine one minute and then stopped dead 2 mins later as i was driving along. battery just went to a dead short. nice aa man sold me an overly expensive battery and away i went!!!

[Dale_V]

yes they can just die! It happened to my dads BMW a few months back, it just kept clicking on ignition. one new battery later and it was fine . im sure the general lifespan of a battery is 4 years or so....

[aaronjb]

The volt meter on the dash was jumping up and down and by time I got home the rev counter was having what I can only describe as spasms.

It *could* be the battery dead and sucking the rest of the charging circuit down with it, but it sounds more like alternator to me - since your volt meter etc was all acting up with the car running (when the alt. should have been keeping everything charged)..

What reading do you get across the battery terminals with the engine running and off idle? Should be about 14.5v IIRC with a healthy alternator..