Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Down here in FL about 3 years or so. The heat beats the crap out of them down here.
OK. Full disclosure. The long-lasting battery I mentioned was one of the older type with removable caps for each "cell", which caps were removed occasionally allowing distilled water to be added as necessary. And in hot weather it was necessary. Today's sealed cells are safer, but dry out too easily in hot weather. Ergo premature failure. That part is true. Running A/C's all the time these days doesn't help. either. In olden times we opted to sweat more.
OK. Full disclosure. The long-lasting battery I mentioned was one of the older type with removable caps for each "cell", which caps were removed occasionally allowing distilled water to be added as necessary. And in hot weather it was necessary. Today's sealed cells are safer, but dry out too easily in hot weather. Ergo premature failure. That part is true. Running A/C's all the time these days doesn't help. either. In olden times we opted to sweat more.
Just as I thought - another old school guy who uses old school batteries, and adds *distilled* water, on a regular basis...
My own experience - I keep the cars that are not in use in the garage, I try to park out of the sun (in Summer, Eastern WA gets hotter than you may think if you have never lived here) and all the cars are on Battery Tenders if parked in the garage. I don't *always* check the water level on every vehicle often enough but I do make some effort.
I generally get something like 7-10 years from bike batteries and 10 or more for car batteries. Battery failures are so infrequent I don't clearly remember when the last one happened.
The 12 volt battery in my 2004 Toyota Prius is 7 years, 10 months old. I left the dome light on over night in December, but a jump start got it working again. My car sits outside winter, spring, summer, fall in northeast Ohio. After the jump, the battery still pulls 14.1 volts with the car running and 11.9 with the car off, but accessories on. A new Toyota brand 12 volts costs $166.63.
My '99 Civic ran on its original 12V battery until 2009 (10 years later.) However, my coworker had his battery die on him after 2 years on a new car (Honda Accord).
If 2 years is the norm with batteries made nowadays, it looks like replacement time is coming up again..
It's an Optima red top, 910 CA and 720 CCA. It was purchased new in May 2004. It was not used often, but used more in the last year and a half than the previous years.
I go out tonight to the Buick and find the lights are all dim. I did a voltage check, 5 volts. So I throw on my charger.
Well first thing I found was the charger's ammeter pegs out until the built in circuit breaker pops.
So to further isolate the issue I disconnected the negative cable from the car. Then went to put the charger on again. Same thing. The c/b in the charger pops after a few minutes. Which leads me to believe the battery itself is toast.
Now if I may ask....
1. How long do car batteries typically last for? Is 4 years a reasonable time frame? I would think they'd last longer than 4 years...???
2. For a battery what do you recommend? I now hear Optimas are crap. Plus the one I had never fit inside the hold down. I plan to get a bigger battery that fits
Thanks.
What I do is replace them at 60 months regardless. Then you don't have to worry about it.
Really think heat kills them faster than cold weather. Out in Phoenix my mechanic used to tell me not to expect more than 2 years out of any battery. Not more than 3 years in Dallas either.
The 12 volt battery in my 2004 Toyota Prius is 7 years, 10 months old. I left the dome light on over night in December, but a jump start got it working again. My car sits outside winter, spring, summer, fall in northeast Ohio. After the jump, the battery still pulls 14.1 volts with the car running and 11.9 with the car off, but accessories on. A new Toyota brand 12 volts costs $166.63.
11.9 is not good, and the 14.1 is irrelevant, as that's a measure of the charging voltage (which is fine, BTW), not the battery.
Replace the 12 volt battery soon. Fully charged, it should be around 12.5 with accessories on, and about 13.2 with no load.
Car batteries almost never last 8 years. If the hybrid computer decides one day to use the 12 volt starter instead of the high-voltage starter, you're probably going to be stranded.
A new car battery at less than $100 is cheap insurance.
What I do is replace them at 60 months regardless. Then you don't have to worry about it.
Good advice. If you can schedule it on your time frame rather than its time frame, youll be better off.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
