Do you guys add water to your batteries?

I had intermittent starter problems and decided my 10 yr. old AC Delco maintenance-free battery might be the culprit. I just replaced it with Walmart's EverStart Maxx 24F ($98.89). So far so good, but I'm waiting for hot weather or hours driving to see if the starter problem is gone for good. My question is...don't most non maintenance-free batteries usually go bad before they need water added? How often do you check the water level in yours? Side note: I really don't see a lot of "maintenance free" batteries on the shelves these days. I didn't see one at Walmart, nor did any exactly jump out at me when shopping car batteries online.

 

Rare, I used to add water to batteries during services when I started in 2005, but now its just safer to replace the battery. Usually if they need topping up, they've already sulfated and are failing.

Plus it's hard to find distilled water in most shops now, I think deionized is ideal but I can't even remember anymore.

Search up starter contacts on here, you may have a simple contact issue.

 

[QUOTE="Bishop84, post: 22899059, member: 172494"
Search up starter contacts on here, you may have a simple contact issue.[/QUOTE]

Thanks. I will if it happens again with this new battery in place. I'm not set to do it myself tho. Also, if it turns out I have to have it tested and corrected professionally, the labor charge just to get at it and test it might warrant the same price (labor wise) to just have them replace the starter motor which I could buy myself. 2003, 96,000 miles. Here's hoping that 10 yr. old battery wasn't putting out at times. It seems heat had a contributing factor. Normally, on cool morning start ups it would do fine, but recently we had a heat wave and it acted up again upon overnight start up when it was 80F outside and I went to start it up at 1:00 PM as heat can affect any battery's power, especially mine which was 10 yrs. old. I suppose that heat might effect the contacts too, or have some contributing factor.

I made a few stops at stores tonight (cool evening), no problems. However, these were short trips and maybe the heat factor wasn't enough to come into play yet. If it happens again, lol, I'll pay to replace the starter motor! Being not a DIY'er these days.

P.S. In earlier days I actually was a DIY'er with my import trucks. That was way back decades ago. I'm a young 67 years old now. I owned a used '72 Courier and a new '85 Tacoma standard bed. That was then, this is now. I did a lot of my own repairs back then. Damn! I can't even get to the oil filter on this 2003 without it being raised up.

 

A new battery might band aid solenoid issues for some time .

Then you will be working on the starter

quite a few things might cause intermittent starting problems.

 

A ten year old battery doesn’t owe you anything, so it’s not a waste to replace it.

As noted, it’s rare to add water to batteries these days. I’ll check mine every year or two and maybe add a shot glass-full after five years. Were you asking for future reference or did you find your old battery was low in some cells?

I would not expect a battery itself to be the root cause of intermittent probelms, especially with the timing and temperatures you describe. Batteries usually head one direction and don’t bounce around between working and not working. Battery terminal cleanliness is easy to check and is a common root cause. Were your terminals dirty/corroded before you replaced the battery? Are they bright metal now?

 

OK. I kept the battery in perfect condition, contact wise. I'm actually awaiting another no crank. Thanks for the battery probably not being the problem, but, hell...that 10 year old DC Delco was bound to fail, so I started from there. I'll update if I turn the key and nothing. Then jiggle with the stick shift and clutch and nothing...then I do it again and the starter motor comes to life. WTH?

 

Every battery I've ever added water to didn't last a whole lot longer, cheaper and more reliable to just replace it.

 

Can't remember if the 1st Gen had Clutch start cancel or not but maybe your switch is going bad on the clutch pedal?

 

This

 

I add very small amounts of distilled water as needed on my still perfect 7 year old , 12.6 v battery.
I also have a 1.5 amp solar trickle charger bolted to my truck bed tool box wired directly to the battery.

 

If the starter solenoid contacts are worn, and yours could very well be, then when you turn the key to start no current will flow through them and it will sound like... nothing. No click, no nothing unless you put your ear right down there where the starter is. At first the problem will be intermittent, but as time wears on the problem appears more and more frequently.

This is a common problem with 1st Gen Tacomas. I had it at around 70K miles. To fix it, I had to pull the starter all the way out and replace the two fixed contacts and the plunger inside the solenoid housing. It did take awhile to get the starter out (V6 engine) and to put it back in again, but since then (30K miles ago) I have not had that problem.

This video from Timmy the Toolman will help you along with starter removal, reinstallation, and repair.

 

Thanks for hanging in there about all this. Mine doesn't have a designated switch, but thanks anyways. I still find it weird that my monkeying with the clutch and shifting it into gear with the clutch depressed or shifting back to neutral got the starter motor to turn over the engine.

Also, I'm gonna try turning the key while in gear. If my 2003 truck doesn't lurch forward, then my 2003 has a safety clutch feature built in to prevent this. My '85 Taco didn't have this safety feature. It would lurch forward while in gear if I turned the key. IF...my 2003 doesn't lurch forward (and thus has a safety clutch feature), could this have something to do with all this? That would be interesting. It would be cool to find out that the clutch start cancel was faulty. Would that be costly to replace by a tech?

If this problem persists with a new battery, and since I'm too old to do it myself, then the labor price for a paid tech to get at the starter motor to do this or that could be better spent (labor charge) putting that cost towards replacing the starter motor. At 96000 miles (2003) there's no use throwing good money after bad (factory starter motor with so many miles on it). Don't some factory starter motors last for as much as 115,000 miles?

 

IF...I were 20 years younger and had a place and lift capability, I'd do it myself. Times have changed for me. I stopped working on my Tacomas when I bought my 2000 (got totaled and I got a 2003) and found out you can't change the oil filter without lifting the truck up! You may be able to by crawling underneath it, forget that.

 

There should be a "switch" which is actually a momentary button on the clutch pedal (when pressed in). Pretty sure from the 95.5 onward it had one. The "Clutch Start Cancel" is a button to override having the clutch in and may not have been available on every model (or was a feature??).

That's why I bought a jack and jack-stands, but if it's easier to have someone else work on it then do what's best for yourself, regardless of what we do

 

here