What happens if a car battery has a dead cell?

A car battery is a crucial component of your vehicle, acting as the power source that enables the starter motor, ignition system, and various electronic devices to function. Typically, a car battery is a lead-acid battery, which consists of multiple cells—usually six in a 12-volt battery. Each cell produces approximately 2.1 volts, contributing to the overall voltage required to start your vehicle and power its electrical systems.

So, If a car battery has a dead cell, it loses its ability to hold a full charge, leading to reduced performance. You’ll likely experience difficulty starting the engine, dim lights, and other electrical issues. Over time, the battery will degrade further, eventually becoming unusable. To maintain vehicle reliability, it’s crucial to replace the battery promptly when a dead cell is detected.

Today, we will discuss What happens if a car battery has a dead cell and how to fix this problem. So, try to keep up with us and do not go anywhere!

What is a Dead Cell in a Car Battery?

A “dead cell” in a car battery refers to a situation where one of the battery’s cells no longer contributes to the overall voltage or capacity of the battery. This dead cell fails to hold a charge, significantly reducing the battery’s efficiency and reliability.

Deciphering the Dead Cell

Before we get started on what happens if a car battery has a dead cell, we need to dive into the anatomy of a car battery and dissect it so that we can examine and learn the components of a battery properly with better understanding. A car’s battery consists of the following items:

• Positive Battery Plate
• Negative Battery Plate
• Battery Case
• Battery Terminals
• Battery Separator
• Battery Paste
• Battery Acid
• Battery Plates
• Cast on strap for batteries
• Lid on Battery

As mentioned above, Battery Plates are composed of alternating +ve and -ve plates. These plates fit into separate cells of the car batteries individually.

What Causes of a Dead Cell:

Now, the question that arises is, what causes a car battery to die? A car battery cell can die due to several factors. These factors could be both internal and external factors. The factors that can lead to the death of a car battery cell are listed as follows:

• Heat: When a car engine starts producing huge heat it can hamper battery life.
• Overcharging: Especially electric vehicle faces overcharging issues. Traditional cars sometimes face overcharging issues due to internal technical issues, which shortens the battery life span.
• Fast charging: Today, we see electric cars powered by fast charging, which is another reason for the shortening of battery life .
• Sulfation: Over time, the chemical reaction within the battery can lead to the formation of lead sulfate crystals on the battery plates. This process, known as sulfation, can occur when the battery is undercharged or left discharged for extended periods, leading to a dead cell.
• Physical Damage: External damage to the battery, such as cracks or leaks in the battery casing, can expose the internal components, leading to a dead cell. Such damage may be caused by impact, extreme temperatures, or improper handling.
• Aging: Like any other component, car batteries have a limited lifespan. As they age, the materials within the cells degrade, leading to decreased performance and, eventually, a dead cell.

Now that we have seen what leads to the death of car battery cells, it might be too late for us to save the car battery cell at this point. Therefore, the only thing we can do is to take precautions and be aware of the signs and symptoms displayed by the car battery cell so we can be prepared if the car battery cell dies and take the necessary steps needed to fix that car battery cell or revive it back to life if need be.

Let us take a look at the symptoms that need to be taken into account when we are suspicious of whether our car’s battery cell is dying or not.

Symptoms of a Dead Cell in a Car Battery

Diminished Performance:

When your car is overcharged or undercharged, it affects the car battery cell by a big margin as the car battery cell will either be overpowered or won’t have enough power needed to power the car properly, and this will be a major problem for the car battery cell as the car battery cell will try to work at 100% efficiency but won’t be able to, so it will still try to reach the minimum power which will put a strain on the car battery cell and lead to its death faster.

Given that your car’s battery cell isn’t at its proper power level, it will lead to a diminished performance from the car, which might be a dangerous move while driving on the highway as this could lead to car crashes and fatal accidents.

Difficulty Starting

When you are trying to start your car but cannot even after several tries, then you need to realize by now that there is something wrong with your car. At first glance, you need to take a look at your car’s fuel gauge and see if there is enough fuel in your car for a proper start-up. If you have enough fuel, then that means the problem is either in the engine or your car battery cells.

Usually, it is the car battery cells that are not charged enough; they do not have the proper power needed to start up the car, which will lead to difficulties in starting up the car, which is very bad for the engine. If you keep trying to start up the car, this will strain your car’s engine and battery cell, and soon enough, they will both start smoking as they both are completely damaged and need to be taken a look by a mechanic.

Electrical Malfunctions

When the term battery cell is used in any case, we need to remember that electricity is definitely being used in this case, as a battery won’t function without electricity. Sometimes, due to electrical malfunctions, a car battery cell might not respond properly, and thus, this may lead to the car not being able to start up properly. The battery cell might be overpowered, underpowered, or even damaged, which might lead to it not being able to function properly and cause electrical malfunctions.

Now that we have taken a look at the signs and symptoms of a car battery cell that is heading toward its death let us take a look at the science behind the demise of a car battery cell. So basically, an electrolyte manages to connect the positive electrode and the negative electrode chemically.

A car battery’s cell can only hold a specific number of reactants, no more or no less. When a car battery’s cell becomes discharged, both the positive and negative electrodes go through chemical reactions and changes, which lead to its death.

Consequences of a Dead Cell in a Car Battery

Operating a vehicle with a dead cell in the battery can lead to several issues:

• Reduced Battery Performance: A dead cell diminishes the battery’s ability to hold a charge, leading to frequent issues like slow cranking or requiring a jump-start. Over time, this can worsen, eventually resulting in total battery failure.
• Strain on the Alternator: The alternator is responsible for charging the battery while the engine runs. A dead cell forces the alternator to work harder to maintain the battery’s charge, which can lead to premature wear and potentially costly repairs.
• Potential for Being Stranded: If the battery completely fails due to a dead cell, you may find yourself stranded, especially if this happens in a remote location or during adverse weather conditions. This highlights the importance of addressing battery issues promptly.

The Domino Effect: Ramifications of a Dead Cell

Any kind of problem or mishap is definitely annoying and sets back all kinds of plans. When a car battery’s cell dies, it can impact the vehicle performance a lot as a car won’t be able to function properly, and if your car battery’s cell dies in the middle of driving, then you might experience fluctuations in the power level as your car’s battery will try to fix the situation by distributing the power sources and you will then need to make sure that the car is in total control and making sure that it doesn’t spiral or lose its speed in the middle of the highway as that makes you more prone to severe car accidents.

However, given that the car battery will try to distribute the power source, this might lead to other parts of the car being powerless or reduce their power consumption level, which might lead to other problems such as air conditioning not cooling, headlights not lighting up properly to see the road ahead and many more. This will mainly affect the parts of the car that rely mostly on electrical power.

Once a car battery’s cell dies, the other parts of the car are vulnerable. Once you are in the safe zone, you need to get your car checked specifically to fix your car battery cell and also check for other malfunctions to see if any other parts of the car have been damaged or not and if any components short-circuited due to electrical power level fluctuations. If you ignore this and carry on driving your car, these could have a very big impact on your car as in the long-term, there could be drastic consequences if not taken a look at and fixed as soon as possible.

Diagnostic and Remedial Measures of Dead Cell in a Car Battery

When we get sick, we go to the hospital, and doctors perform various tests on us to see what kind of illness has affected us. In the end, they will diagnose us with a disease for which we take medicines to get better. Similarly, when a car is underperforming, we need to take the car to a professional mechanic and let him test out the car on various ends to see what is actually wrong with the car.

A dead car battery cell is a serious issue because if it isn’t taken a look at earlier stages, then the problem could only end up getting worse over time. Later on, it might be too late to fix anything as a dead car battery cell’s effect has spread across the nearby car parts and affected them too.

Once a mechanic or a professional takes a look at your dead car battery cell, there might be 2 options when it comes to fixing them. They will either try to repair it or replace it completely with a new car battery cell. Now, if you are looking to save some costs, then you can try to get it repaired, but chances are that it won’t be repaired 100%, and there will be some problems down the road, but at least the repaired car battery cell won’t cause any nuisance for the time being.

However, another ideal choice is to replace the old dead car battery cell with a completely new one, as this will guarantee a hassle-free ride in the future since there will be no strings attached because it’s a completely new car battery cell. The only downside is that it might cost a bit more to get a completely new car battery cell than to repair your previous car battery cell.

Now that we have completed the repair and replacement of a part, let us get down to some maintenance tips that will help us prolong our car’s battery life.

• To prevent unnecessary electrical wastage, make sure to turn off your headlights when they are not being used.
• Always make sure to keep your car battery stored at a neutral temperature, as high and low temperatures can affect the car battery on a massive scale due to freezing and expanding.
• You need to test your car battery every once in a while so that you know its condition from time to time and can seek help before disaster arrives.
• When you take your car out for a drive, try to avoid small drives, which can damage the car battery. Instead, try to go on long trips to keep the car battery healthy.

Conclusion

To wrap things up, we have managed to discuss today what happens when a car battery has a dead cell. It is a serious issue that is generally overlooked due to the size of the car battery cell. You need to get your car checked up every once in a while, make sure that all your car components, including the car battery cell, are in good condition, and fix what needs to be fixed.

Apart from getting your car checked from time to time, car owners also needs to do their own research and gain as much knowledge as possible they car related to cars and their components so that they know when something is wrong and how to temporarily fix them before getting them checked out by a professional.

Once your car is in perfect condition, you will have smooth rides left and right without any worries or hassles. However, for that to happen, you need to make sure that your car is always in a top-notch and proper state, or else your car will break down in the middle of nowhere, and it will be one of the most hectic moments of your life trying to repair your car. We all want a car that works perfectly, now, don’t we?

We all face different kinds of problems every day, and we at Hacks for Cars try our best to help everyone with their problems and make sure that they leave our site with a smile on their face. I hope this article was able to educate you on What happens if a car battery has a dead cell. If you have any other questions about other problems, you can refer to our other articles, which might help you.