Preemptively Replace Battery...OR not?

[f355spider]

The original battery in my 2017 Titan still tests good but in February I bought a $179 Walmart AGM prior to a fishing trip to Florida. I didn’t install it, just put it in the passenger floor along with some tools and took it with me. Of course, since I had a spare the original EFB worked fine. I still haven’t replaced it but the truck has only been driven once since that trip.

I hate removing a battery that’s still functional but after eight years I figure it’s probably living on borrowed time.

Buy a battery tester and know for certain its state of health.
https://www.amazon.com/ANCEL-BA101-...pd_bap_d_grid_rp_0_1_ec_cp_pd_hp_d_atf_rp_1_t
Use the coupon and it nets to $26 or so. Wait for a sale and they are like $22.

 

[D1dad]

I used to replace them every 4 yrs, never really charged them proactively. Since replacing batteries on 3 cars this last December I’ve gotten into charging when the cars are parked. I do have the ancel tester as well as a load tester. 4 months later and every battery still tests well above their advertised CCA, as well as they should. I had boat batteries and my zero turn battery on the northern tool battery minders for the last few months and they’re both testing better than new. The boat batteries are exides that I bought from a farm store in 23. Prior to hooking them to the battery minder they tested good but not great.

 

[John105]

As many have pointed out, I'd use a tester--the aversion to them is not money, people here have $20, they spend that all the time. My BMW battery is from 2011, it's not on "borrowed time." It's on saved time.

It's truly fascinating how a topic like this will never be solved. I got reprimanded last time, because I posted a video of William Shatner instructing Robert DeNiro how "TJ Hooker" would determine if something were drugs or not--he'd taste it. And Robert DeNiro said doing that? TJ Hooker would be dead. My thought is to go with science--send those drugs to a lab to see what that white powder is, one doesn't "taste it." Same with a battery, test it. But that's not the answer, because if it were, these threads would not go on forever (not just here). It's similar to the "I get more mpgs when I use 93 even though my car was designed for 87!" Or, "the range on my dashboard is always not accurate!" Among many others.