I did see a long time ago , an additive for batteries that was suppossed
to restore them back to life after being suffatted ..
I think it's call..
the long term damge that naturally occurs.

I'd say that batter is shot.
I suggest invest under $ 3 in a battery electrolyte tester device.
little squease bulb thing.
what you likely will find is some of the cells are fine ..
one or two are not.
since the cells are in series..
one bad cell means the whole battery is done.
Doesn't sound like a very expensive battery anyway.

or get it load tested.
I bought my battery load tester from HF for $ 55 I think..
when it's put on a well charged but weak battery ..
it's immediately evident the battery can't put out any real current.

also ..if factory original battery ..
those are always suspect ..even if after only a year.
if it's the battery the manufacturer put in ..
I bet they paid $ 6 for it .
Factory installed batteries are always an automatic red flag in my world..
like on a small japanese car and the battery is 3 or 4 yrs old and not
performing well, for example.

scott

On 2/24/2012 11:13 AM, pat wrote:
> Or maybe better said, a question about a small battery.
>
> Not for a Vanagon, but I hope to garner some list wisdom and maybe help
> someone else with the knowledge in the future.
>
> I have an ATV/motorsport battery (9BS) that is acting strange.
>
> It shows 12.6V at rest, but drops to about 0.13V when any load is applied,
> even a 12V lightbulb.
>
> I popped the caps and the electrolyte was very low in all the cells.  The
> plates looked pretty clean so I bought some battery acid and filled it up.
>
> Gave it a 2amp charge until indicated fully charged, about 4-5 hours later.
> Now my test light burns bright- promising.
>
> However, when installed in my motorcycle, it cranks half a turn and dies.
>
> So, the battery is probably damaged even though the inside looks pretty
> good, from what I can see.
>
>
>
> Just thought maybe someone here has some experience with bringing batteries
> like this back to life.
>
> Any help or advice before I buy a new battery is appreciated.
>