12v battery at 10v

Be sure to check for tight connections on and around the 12v, and the negative strap attached at the body, where rust can form.

What kind of amperage, and is it an AGM compatible charger?

 

If you can start the car with a jump, do you have a safe location to keep the car in READY for 15 hours or so? It takes about that long from a full discharge, and a Gen 2 will not recharge the battery at a rate that is particularly hard on it (which is why it takes so long).

In other cars that would recharge a dead battery at a battery-clobbering rate as soon as the engine started, I used to prefer taking the battery out to a slow charger and putting it back the next day. But with a Gen 2 that's kind of what happens in the car anyway.

 

Get a smart* charger, around 3.5 amp max (max amp's spec'd in second gen Owner's Manual), hook it up (can be done without removing the battery or disconnecting it) and let it run a full charging session. Might get you out-of-the-woods. But yeah, better start reading, and window-shopping for a battery: it may be too far gone.

1. How frequently is the car driven, and how long are the trips?
2. Have you had any battery draining events, says leaving a door ajar overnight, or headlights on?

* A smart charger is one that assesses the battery when you hook it up, then runs through a series of stages when charging, and finishes up in a maintenance mode, that could be left on near-indefinitely if need be.

Disconnecting, cleaning and reconnecting both battery terminals is something else you can do. But for starters I'd just ensure connections are tight: gently snug both the positive and negative cable clamp bolts, just a slight turn, and make sure the connections don't budge when you pull on them. Use a small 10 mm wrench, and be careful not to make a "bridge" between neg and pos terminals with anything metal.

Kinda overkill, maybe not: at least wear safety glasses while working on the battery, face shield even better. I break that rule frequently, but still a good idea.

 

Yeah the battery could be a dud. Hate to say, but best bet can be dealership, as far as getting "fresh" batteries, and getting 100% compatible.

If you can pick up something like a Solar BA9 (around $70~80, an electronic load tester), you can assess the prospective purchase battery at the store. That said, many battery retailers now have a pro-version of such a tester on hand, and are willing to test/demonstrate the battery's health, before you take it out the door (or have it installed).

Phone to verify, about something like that. It's good for both parties, to know upfront the battery's in good shape.

 

There are many reports that Optima batteries aren't what they used to be. But it's possible that the old battery died because the charging circuit was not up to scratch and that is why the new battery is now dead. I think you should go back to Autozone and have them check both the battery and the charging circuit -- if they did not in fact check the latter when you went there for the new battery.

 

If the battery has lasted for 3'ish months, then it could be that you have some bad connection(s).

If they want to swap it for a newer battery then great, but usually they will want to test and charge before a warranty exchange.

 

You're current charger does NOT look like a smart charger, and I think way too high amperage.

I looked up CTEK's current offering: they used to have a 3.3 amp version (CTEK 3300), but in short supply now maybe. My current charger is their 4.3 amp, available on Amazon, and a 0.8 amp as well. A little frustrating: I'd like get the 4.3, even though it's amps are a little over the limit, just keep my fingers crossed.

CTEK is definitely not the only option, just my pref, but it's worked out well for me. In these COVID times our car is pretty much always on the charger: I hook it up any day the car is idle, and leave it on till next time the car is used.

 

The Genuine OEM AGM battery in my car has a label that says to charge at 4 Amp maximum. I don't think 4.3 A is anything to worry about, and it is the maximum that it can charge but as it goes through the stages it will charge at a lower rate, particularly when it reaches the maintenance cycle.

The 3.5/4 Amp warning is more about "Don't thump this battery with 10 or 15 Amp or more", kind of a thing.

No need to get all OCD fixating on the amperage rating, as long as it near enough, and to me that 4.3A CTEK would be perfectly near enough.

A couple of comments on this OP statement,

• 5 minutes would not be near enough time to make any appreciable difference;
• any reading of 10/10.5 volts is severely discharged. You should be aiming to keep the battery at between 12.6 V and 13.2 V.

If your battery is constantly dropping to sub-11 V territory then the battery is faulty or you have a parasitic drain going on. If the latter, you need to investigate and fix or you will be replacing batteries every two to three weeks.

 

1. Have you tried to clear codes by simply disconnecting one lead of the 12v battery for a few minutes then reconnect and test?

2. If you jumpstart it does the car go into Ready? If it goes to Ready the inverter should supply the 12v at a higher voltage, probably around 14.4v in your case.

3. If jumped and in Ready does it the run and drive?

4. Have you found your scan gauge yet to read codes?

 

you probably need tech stream.

how many volts is q1?

 

13.4 would not be with the car off.

 

He was asking about your typo above where you said the battery was reading "q1v". I assumed you meant 11v since q and 1 are on the same key, at least on ios.

If it were me, I would get a flashlight and install the battery now. My best guess is your issues started on Oct 1st as a severely discharged battery. Sometimes a badly discharged battery will drag down a jumper cable voltage. But with a fresh battery you should be ok from a voltage standpoint but you can't just put it off.

I would put it in. If necessary, use the charger on it IN the car overnight if there still is any concern about its charge state. I would do those things now. If it does not go to Ready, try several times.

Reading codes is the next essential move.

If still no go and you read no codes (unlikely) then its possible that an inadvertent swap of the jumper cables happened. Could have been on the donor car side. Happens. But if your screen is coming up its not as likely. Sometimes swapped jumpers just blows some fuses.