Couple days ago the car wouldn't start after lunch.
Again after work so had to have it jumped.
Drove it home, got gas etc for about 45 minutes.
Started right up again in the driveway.
Found my meter next afternoon, voltage at 12.0V and it started right up.
Tested idling at 14.9V so the alternator is charging. (also since I was able to drive it home was a big clue)
Took battery out, connections all looked good, battery is 4-1/2 years old.
Put it on a desulfating charger for a day and the surface charge was 13.2V
After about 6 hours the battery leveled down to 12.6V (100% charged)
So despite it's age, it looks like the battery is still decent, but going to leave it out for a couple of days and see if it drops any more.

The only confusing thing I noticed before I took the battery out was that when turning the key to the OFF position, the speedo and tach needles pointed below the "0" marks for a second and then jumped up to a hair above the "0" marks.
Never noticed this before, but I don't think this should be normal.

So my question... is it normal?
If not I guess I'm going to look for a reason for this.
Another thing is that the FOB seemed a little slow at unlocking the car the last day or so. Thought that before it died.

 

Have you 4 1/2 year old battery load tested, it might have a dead cell.
The gauge needles are normal in a low voltage situation, while the battery is out , clean the main ground connections. Check that all fuses and relays are tightly in place, both fuse panels.

 

Thanks for the response
I'll try Autozone tomorrow while I have it out. I think they can load test.

 

Dropping from 13.2V to 12.6V in 6 hours is a lot. Wonder were it would be in 48 hours?

Has the battery spent any time in the cold in a discharged state?

I don't know anything about desulfating chargers but I thought they took a lot longer than a day to work. If you get a new battery you could experiment with desulfating the old one.

If bad terminal connections were contributing to the problem, taking the battery out may have helped, or more precisely putting it back in and getting the terminal tight. Those factory terminal clamps are quirky.

 

Normal for the surface charge to disappear in 6 hours without an added load.
This morning it was still at 12.6 to 12.7, 100 % charge.

Update
Had it supposedly load tested at AutoZone. They had a cheesy little tester that was half the size of my Amprobe clamp multimeter.
Result was bad battery, he showed me the screen readout.
Because of that tester, I went 2 blocks away to an OReillys, they had the regular tester with the carbon pile and it tested good.
Then stopped at Advance Auto tested good with a good tester
Then stopped at a new battery store that sells Chinese batteries, got a new one for $50.00 with a 1 year replacement warranty. Got one since mine was 4.5 years old.
Friend of mine had one for over a year and happy with it. At that price it was worth trying. I'll keep jumper cables with me.

Otherwise the cheapest battery I found was $130 at Walmart with all the parts stores being at least $170
Hopefully I can try it and it is the cure.

 

Here is a gif of what's happening with the gauges.
The key is in the on position (with the DIC display showing, then it is turned off and left off.
The needles go below the zero markers and then jump back above them with the key still untouched in the off position.
Looks like they are getting power again.
Is this normal?

Maybe I just never noticed it before.

Here is the link to the gif
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f9u...ew?usp=sharing

 

Mine doesn't do that.

 

Thanks, I was afraid of that.

Anyone else notice thir gauge movement or speculate on this?