Weak Battery Issue

**St Pete Viper ACR E** · 01-10-2020

Hey there,

Have a 2016 Viper with the original Battery and I recently started noticing some hesitation when starting, keep in mind its always on a trickle charger.

Well yesterday I was working on her and started her a few times and then she gave up, took the battery to NAPA and they tested it saying it perfect and fully charged.

Today I'm going to replace the battery anyway but has anybody experienced this before?

Thanks for the help.

**Rare Snake** · 01-10-2020

These cars tend to sit a lot, and the Gen V seems to get a bit fussy about batteries. I had some trouble last year, but I went to NAPA and threw in a new one, problem solved. As many in here have said before, they aren't really expected to last more than 4 or 5 years anymore, no matter how they're taken care of. I'm trying a new trick this winter to see if I can get some more life out of it, this year I took the battery right out.

**Policy Limits** · 01-10-2020

Is it the smaller 16 battery or the 12 volt?

**Jack B** · 01-10-2020

I would politely suggest that those intrested in this thread, lookup another recent thread
that goes into why the battery is not always the problem.

**jimuaya** · 01-10-2020

Yes, i have 2016 viper had the same experience, on that original battery says; 36 months free replacement, if ur viper is still under the 3 years 36 months warranty, take the car to the dealership and they will check it and should be free replacement.

**ViperGeorge** · 01-10-2020

Arrrgggghhhhh. If the battery tested ok and is fully charged, IT IS NOT THE BATTERY! For some reason Viper people have bought into this idea that the battery is usually the culprit for anything that plagues your Viper. BS. There has been more money wasted by Viper owners replacing perfectly good batteries that I care to think about.

Your problem is far more likely to be caused by a loose cable, bad ground, bad gas, dirty injectors, dirty sparkplugs, weak spark wires, etc.

**Martin** · 01-10-2020

When my car was in the shop, I mentioned that during the recent CA power shut-offs, my car wasn't on a tender for a few days, and I noticed it struggling to turn over. They replaced it, no questions asked. The only ironic hassle with that was when they removed the battery, one of the bolts got damaged - and that bolt just happened to be on back order and that caused my car to sit at the dealer for a few extra weeks. Not a big deal since it was raining out, but I thought that was kind of ridiculous - I would have just gone down to Home Depot and gotten a nice new set of stainless bolts. These things aren't totally unique to the Viper - but if the part number comes up as back ordered, you have to sit and wait.

**ViperNC** · 01-10-2020

If you drive them at least once a week, the battery stays charged... and everything tends to run better. Just sayin'.

**Martin** · 01-10-2020

Originally Posted by ViperNC

If you drive them at least once a week, the battery stays charged... and everything tends to run better. Just sayin'.

I wish I could during the winter... Sometimes driving on my road in my Jeep during the winter is a white knuckle experience with all the landslides and trees coming down - not to mention the patches of frost on the road. The ACR definitely doesn't like road conditions like that. One day recently, I barely missed hitting a 5" really jagged rock that rolled into the middle of the road right in front of me - that would have taken out the splitter and probably done some undercarriage damage for sure. This is definitely Jeep country in the winter.

**ViperNC** · 01-11-2020

Originally Posted by Martin

I wish I could during the winter... Sometimes driving on my road in my Jeep during the winter is a white knuckle experience with all the landslides and trees coming down - not to mention the patches of frost on the road. The ACR definitely doesn't like road conditions like that. One day recently, I barely missed hitting a 5" really jagged rock that rolled into the middle of the road right in front of me - that would have taken out the splitter and probably done some undercarriage damage for sure. This is definitely Jeep country in the winter.

Understood. I was commenting more for the OP who apparently is in St. Petersburg, FL. based upon his screen name.

**St Pete Viper ACR E** · 01-11-2020

Love the replies and the information.

I replaced the battery and the problem appears to have gone away.

**St Pete Viper ACR E** · 01-11-2020

Originally Posted by ViperNC

If you drive them at least once a week, the battery stays charged... and everything tends to run better. Just sayin'.

I definitely take short drives once every two weeks or so and it's on a trickle charger 100% of the time which in theory means that the batter is always topped up. I think it was just an old battery.

**Steve M** · 01-11-2020

Originally Posted by ViperGeorge

Arrrgggghhhhh. If the battery tested ok and is fully charged, IT IS NOT THE BATTERY! For some reason Viper people have bought into this idea that the battery is usually the culprit for anything that plagues your Viper. BS. There has been more money wasted by Viper owners replacing perfectly good batteries that I care to think about.

Your problem is far more likely to be caused by a loose cable, bad ground, bad gas, dirty injectors, dirty sparkplugs, weak spark wires, etc.

That assumes that the battery tester works as it is supposed to. In this case, it appears that replacing the battery did help.

These cars are notorious for large key off battery drain, and that is never good for a battery. It also seems that battery quality has gone down over recent years...I'm now replacing batteries in my daily drivers once every three years or so, and neither of them see hard use.

**Jack B** · 01-11-2020

A battery discharge test is simple, cheap and cannot be disputed, just remove the car's negative battery lead first.

**ViperGeorge** · 01-11-2020

Originally Posted by Steve M

That assumes that the battery tester works as it is supposed to. In this case, it appears that replacing the battery did help.

These cars are notorious for large key off battery drain, and that is never good for a battery. It also seems that battery quality has gone down over recent years...I'm now replacing batteries in my daily drivers once every three years or so, and neither of them see hard use.

He probably tightened a loose cable when he installed a new battery. If the battery was tested good, it was good. As Jack points out battery tests are fairly simple.

**uvbnbit** · 01-12-2020

Does the ACR-E have hibernation mode?

**white ACR** · 01-12-2020

YES--Dave

**ForTehNguyen** · 01-12-2020

whenever a battery is 4+ years old always be suspicious of it

**ViperGeorge** · 01-12-2020

Originally Posted by ForTehNguyen

whenever a battery is 4+ years old always be suspicious of it

I've had batteries in a Viper for about 8 years. Always kept on a tender though. I eventually did change it before a long road trip.

**SSGNRDZ_28** · 01-12-2020

Originally Posted by Steve M

That assumes that the battery tester works as it is supposed to. In this case, it appears that replacing the battery did help.

I would agree, battery tender could have been in some sort of sleep mode even if it is working properly. I try to make a habit of cycling power on my battery tenders every week or two when they will be sitting for weeks on end. This forces them to reset and charge the battery if they are not already doing so.

Originally Posted by Steve M

These cars are notorious for large key off battery drain, and that is never good for a battery. It also seems that battery quality has gone down over recent years...I'm now replacing batteries in my daily drivers once every three years or so, and neither of them see hard use.

I have noticed this as well on daily drivers.

**Jack B** · 01-13-2020

Another issue is a deep discharge, if you take a lead acid battery below 85% of the rated string voltage, the storage capacity is reduced. Do that several times and the battery is junk. That is the reason for the discharge test.