Got a new car battery. It can barely start. It sputters and struggles and always feels for a few seconds that it’s going to flatline and quit before finally revving up.
I’m going to get it checked, but in the meantime is this (a sputtering battery constantly on the verge of fainting) dangerous to the car, to humans, to the wiring, to the engine?
I don’t know, because your question is a boatload of nonsense. all a battery does is supply voltage and current to whatever devices are connected to it. batteries don’t “sputter,” “struggle,” “flatline,” or “faint.”
please tell us what is actually happening when you try to start your car.
I turn the key in the ignition and the car seems like it will never get going and it has fitful, weak, gasps at starting and revving up. That’s what I mean. A battery issue? Can’t be a coincidence that this only happens after I got the battery replaced.
The “it” in the OP could easily be referring to the car itself. This reading is plausible, based on context.
OP, a bad battery is going to place a heavier load on the alternator. I don’t think it will do much of anything else. Go to a parts store and have the battery tested.
check your battery cables. look for excessive corrosion at the terminal clamps on the battery posts. look at both ends of the positive cable (battery and starter, and at the power distribution box if your car has one) and make sure the ground strap(s) from the engine to the body are in good shape.
I agree with jz: I would immediately look at the cables, the connection of the cables to the battery and the connection of the ground to the frame. Look for corrosion and take a wire brush to clean contacts. Look to see if the wires are discolored from overheating and strain.
If these are clean then the starter itself is suspect.
First thing I would do is make sure the battery is fully charged. It should have been fully charged when you bought it, but IME they rarely are.
It is best to use a battery charger for this. Just running the engine and letting the alternator charge the battery is hard on the alternator and associated electronics. You can get a 1-2 amp charger with a maintainer circuit for less than $20. Low-amp chargers are best as a slow charge is best for the battery. With the maintainer circuit, you can just leave it plugged in and not worry about overcharging.
The last new battery I bought took about 4 or 5 hours to reach a full charge, and it’s best to let them “cook” for a while after that. Like bread, car batteries are best when purchased fresh. Always charge them thoroughly before installation regardless of what the cluck behind the counter tells you. It pays to clean both ends of cables - block, frame, firewall, not just at the battery.