Can something wrong with the car cause a dead cell?

 

About the only thing I can think of is if the car is relying on the battery because the alternator isn't putting out enough. Continual discharging of the battery can harm it. But batteries fail on their own all the time. If it happens just once, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

If the voltage regulator in your alternator is malfunctioning, and making the alternator put put full all the time, you would be overcharging the battery. That can warp a plate in a cell, shorting one plate to another, and killing that cell. Put a volt meter on your alternator and check it.

 

If the alternator is full fielding "max voltage" it shoudl set a high voltage code? Most condition that would damage your battery would destroy your computer system long before the battery got hurt.

Possible exception is a over night draw and the battery not being bolted down. Drawing the battery down at night enough that it would still start in the morning but need charged would reduce life of the battery but it could still last a year.

Sitting a car over the winter without a tender will wipe a battery out in just a couple of years. Even a really good one.