batteries can last up to two decades if they’re stored in the trunk or some place similar
Battery Replacement - Time Interval
- Thread starter RamFan
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Heat kills a battery, cold buries it.
Batteries last longer if kept cool.
Batteries in hot climates are more likely to die suddenly, as well as sooner.
My last battery replacement was at 9 y.o. Still working okay, but I didn't trust it for a 10th winter.
Batteries last longer if kept cool.
Batteries in hot climates are more likely to die suddenly, as well as sooner.
My last battery replacement was at 9 y.o. Still working okay, but I didn't trust it for a 10th winter.
I can understand replacing on time if you have wife/kids that you don't want to be stranded somewhere that could cause them harm due to weather or maybe a bad section of town.
When my battery went bad in my Lucerne I had no warning because this car fires up so fast I don't really hear any cranking like I have in other vehicles, it just wouldn't start one day. Mech told me it was because once the battery reached a certain voltage it just won't start but if you took that same battery and put it in an older vehicle it would probably start it. If I remember correctly he said it was to protect the electronics from the voltage being to low, I'm not sure of that since it was a couple years ago but pretty sure it was something along them lines.
When my battery went bad in my Lucerne I had no warning because this car fires up so fast I don't really hear any cranking like I have in other vehicles, it just wouldn't start one day. Mech told me it was because once the battery reached a certain voltage it just won't start but if you took that same battery and put it in an older vehicle it would probably start it. If I remember correctly he said it was to protect the electronics from the voltage being to low, I'm not sure of that since it was a couple years ago but pretty sure it was something along them lines.
I would never replace a perfectly good, working battery...
I can load test mine, as well as I also have a charger that analyzes batteries and give a % readout while charging. I find that if I properly maintain the battery it just keeps in working with no degredation. Haven't done this long enough to know the long term effects, but of the 5 vehicles I maintain, the youngest battery is 4 years old.
The solar powered battery maintainer kept in a truck that is rarley used has been money well spent!!! I haven't had to manually charge that battery up and even when below freezing it start right up.
I can load test mine, as well as I also have a charger that analyzes batteries and give a % readout while charging. I find that if I properly maintain the battery it just keeps in working with no degredation. Haven't done this long enough to know the long term effects, but of the 5 vehicles I maintain, the youngest battery is 4 years old.
The solar powered battery maintainer kept in a truck that is rarley used has been money well spent!!! I haven't had to manually charge that battery up and even when below freezing it start right up.
Until I started buying AGM batteries, I figured a replacement battery was only good for about three winters here.
I've never bought a new car, but when I've owned vehicles new enough to still have their original batteries, those factory batteries have done very well, lasting 7 - 9 years. I replaced the original battery in a friend's Honda Civic in the last couple of years. It was ridiculously old, somewhere in the range of 12 - 15 years.
Therefore, I would generally consider a 4-year-old factory battery to have as much life left as a new replacement conventional (flooded) battery.
However, since going over to AGM batteries starting about 12 years ago, I've never had to replace one.
Once my batteries hit about 3 or 4 years old, I load-test them before winter, using an old-style resistive element and analog gauge load tester. If they're marginal, they get replaced.
I've never bought a new car, but when I've owned vehicles new enough to still have their original batteries, those factory batteries have done very well, lasting 7 - 9 years. I replaced the original battery in a friend's Honda Civic in the last couple of years. It was ridiculously old, somewhere in the range of 12 - 15 years.
Therefore, I would generally consider a 4-year-old factory battery to have as much life left as a new replacement conventional (flooded) battery.
However, since going over to AGM batteries starting about 12 years ago, I've never had to replace one.
Once my batteries hit about 3 or 4 years old, I load-test them before winter, using an old-style resistive element and analog gauge load tester. If they're marginal, they get replaced.
Replaced a factory battery on my Camry at 11 years, even though load tests showed good. Just felt I couldn't push it further. Central PA weather.
This is the first I have heard of car batteries in the trunk enhancing it's lifetime. I mean, it can get pretty hot inside a car a car all day, probably hotter than it would be under the hood parked all day in the sun with the windows closed... I could make a case for it being a worse location to put a battery... I have no personal experience with this type of setup and would be eager to learn more about any thoughts on as to if this is better or not. I would assume that only AGM batteries go in the trunk so maybe that's why???
My 08 Lucerne battery is under the back seat and is/was not an AGM and doesn't call for one. When they replaced it a couple years ago it had the original battery in it which would of made it 10ish years old. I've never had a battery last that long and all my prior vehicles where located in the engine bay. I've often wondered how hot it gets in the engine bay especially on a 90+ degree day right after you shut it off.
I checked my battery yesterday. The truck had been sitting outside with no use for about a week. It’s a 770 CCA AC Delco entering its 7th year. I’m totally ready to replace it. After sitting outside I ran a check on it at the ambient temp of 20 F and the test registered just over 510 CCA. I took it inside and let it heat up in the garage. It registered 12.19 V and 551 CCA. The tester indicated it needed to be charged. I put my smart charger on it at 5:30 PM. It went to 2.9 amps , then the charge rate declined slowly. By 7:00 PM it was at 0.7 amps, by 10:00 PM is was 0.4 amps and by 10:00 AM the next morning, it indicated a full charge in total of 16-1/2 hrs. The battery test at that point indicated 12.88 volts and 705 CCA which is less than the rating of 770 CCA. This battery is probably on its way out but it still starts the 6.0 V-8 easily. It’s stored in a heated garage so, spot I’ll spot check it again and if I see another 500 CCA after regular daily use I plan to replace it. Here’s a few pics.
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My track record with batteries in Texas has consistently been sudden failure at the 5-year mark. I've been stranded 4 times while away from home. Two of them died while I was in a grocery store, once at a car wash, and the fourth died the day after an 80-mile trip to my in-laws'. The 2nd grocery store incident I saw coming, with a weak sounding startup that morning. I replaced the original battery in my 2015 Canyon summer of 2019, as there was a vacation trip to Galveston planned, where I would be about 20 miles from civilization. I saw no sense in risking having to be rescued. Texas heat kills. Batteries lasted me much longer in Wyoming.
Yes, I have an AGM battery in the trunk. Probably a good design consideration, more balanced if you have some extra weight back there. It also has the vent tube to connect to the battery. Battery terminals are pristine after 13 years. I think regular lead acid batteries vent more gas and tend to corrode the terminals so it only makes sense to put an AGM back there. I think some people don't care though and put in a regular battery instead of an AGM battery at replacement time.
12.19V is only ~60% charged. Not a good way to be.
I suggest you check it on a regular basis, maybe once a month, and give it a long charge whenever it gets below 12.5V.
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JHZR2
Staff member
Every time I’ve had a battery issue, it has snuck up on me. Once I was driving to Chicago, and I stopped to fuel up, dead as a doornail. No signs of concern for the hundreds of miles before. Another more recent time, wife drove the vehicle, it was fine. I took it out on an errand immediately after, and it was dead.
I’ve found that keeping a small cheap 12v battery (or even an older used one) on a float charge is convenient and cheaper than a jump pack. When it happened to me in the second story, a quick call to the wife, and she was there 20 minutes later with the spare battery and cables.
If I see a lot of corrosion, or notice poor cranking, or a conductance meter indicates high impedance, or I see consistently low battery voltages, it’s a signal that I should start shopping batteries.
I’ve found that keeping a small cheap 12v battery (or even an older used one) on a float charge is convenient and cheaper than a jump pack. When it happened to me in the second story, a quick call to the wife, and she was there 20 minutes later with the spare battery and cables.
If I see a lot of corrosion, or notice poor cranking, or a conductance meter indicates high impedance, or I see consistently low battery voltages, it’s a signal that I should start shopping batteries.
JHZR2
Staff member
Definitely hotter underhood, especially depending upon where it’s located. Was just visiting someone and we were messing with a new meter they got.
In just a few minutes of being clamped as shown, the meter was physically hot to the touch. And the vehicle (a Ford) had only been operated maybe 10 minutes before this. So the battery gets hot.
Batteries are damaged by a few things. One of those things is degrading side reactions. The rate of these reactions roughly doubles for every 8 degrees C. So a battery that routinely heat soaks is going to have accelerated degradation.
Sure, the cabin of a car gets hot. It’s the greenhouse effect. A trunk is far less hot as there’s no greenhouse. It’s fully dark and shaded.
JhZR2...
That Full Throttle battery is a extremely well built and heavy and I mean heavy battery.
Their group 35 battery weighs near... 49 pounds.... That a massive difference vs typical regular flooded group 35 batteries that weigh 37 pounds down to 33 pounds.
That Full Throttle battery is a extremely well built and heavy and I mean heavy battery.
Their group 35 battery weighs near... 49 pounds.... That a massive difference vs typical regular flooded group 35 batteries that weigh 37 pounds down to 33 pounds.
Close to 10 years on the OE battery of my 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe which is only summer driven and it still seems to crank strong so I figure I'll just push it until it no longer functions.
Not sure what the failure mode is of batteries for vehicles only used in the summer though, can you gradually feel the crank getting weaker and weaker, or do they just fail to start one day? I usually get caught off guard in the winter because our temperatures can swing quite a bit day to day and you never really get a chance to "feel" the battery getting weak until you get hit by the surprise -40C day where it doesn't crank.
Not sure what the failure mode is of batteries for vehicles only used in the summer though, can you gradually feel the crank getting weaker and weaker, or do they just fail to start one day? I usually get caught off guard in the winter because our temperatures can swing quite a bit day to day and you never really get a chance to "feel" the battery getting weak until you get hit by the surprise -40C day where it doesn't crank.
I tend to replace the battery in my wifes vehicle every 5 years, however this time around its been taken better care of and even though its almost 4 years old the internal resistance reading is still almost as low as when it was new.
I ran the last battery in my car until it died, 6 years and it quit suddenly this last summer. That particular battery had been run completely dead at least 6 times that I know of.
I ran the last battery in my car until it died, 6 years and it quit suddenly this last summer. That particular battery had been run completely dead at least 6 times that I know of.
250-300 CCA is all that thing needs to start unless you're well below freezing.
I agree. My 7 year old AC Delco which is settling down to 500 CCA from 770 CCA when new, is giving me a strong start at 30 degrees F.
However, in my case I have some -25F weather coming this winter.
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