Should I be worried about battery?

[Vikas]

I am really surprised that MB does NOT have the system to tell you when the battery is on its last leg. As posted in the other area, the 2012 Acura did tell me.

The logic behind proactively replacing battery vs alternator or starter makes perfect sense. Battery life is rather short compared to those other items and the part+labor cost to replace it with OEM quality is ridiculously low. I give a pass to anybody who puts new battery every 4 years whether it needs it or not. I have not done it myself but that is only because I am too lazy to bother and it is NOT because I am a cheap person (which I am one

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted by MasterSolenoid
I was worried about my Battery (4 years old).

Went out this morning and bought an EverStart Maxx at Wal-Mart.
Size 59 for $120.00 with 3 year full replacement, 2 year pro-rated.

Although my old Battery started fine, it was 4 years old and showing non-stellar results while testing.

I will sleep better tonight.



I've never understood this. It's going to kick the bucket at the worst time, so why not just replace it at your convenience like the poster above stated. Besides I've had them give me money back at autozone even though they weren't bad.


You could say that of any used car. Or for that matter, any one of the thousands of parts in the a car. Like key ones might be the starter, alternator, belts, engines, transmission, etc.

The question is, once you embrace this logic, where do you stop?

You stop based upon realistic assessment of the probabilities involved, and a rational cost vs benefit analysis. Batteries are fairly superficial (easy to replace, no major assemblies broken open, etc.) and relatively inexpensive. Transmissions, by contrast are hard to replace, require very major surgery and are very expensive.

 

[ejes]

Well, first, I've never had trouble with Exide batteries, so I guess I'm in the minority. Usually when you see excessive corrosion around the battery posts, it is because the installer has compromised the posts by trying to torque down the terminals too much. They only need to be clean and snug. My current Exide is an AGM. 3 yrs old; no signs of problems. I'll change my opinion when I'm given a reason to I guess.

The way I handle my wife's car is like this. She doesn't notice warning signs of a failing battery on her daily driver like I do; no matter how much I tell her what to watch for. So I tell her to just let me know if she notices anything out of the ordinary, anything at all, to tell me about it and not to just ignore it and "see if it does it again". I also test her battery at each oil change. HF has testers for $20 bucks and are money well spent IMO. She does know how to use the jump pack in the car. Good packs that are very small and have indicators to show proper hook up (as well as preventative circuits to prevent operation if hooked up wrong) are readily available these days. JM2C

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
You could say that of any used car. Or for that matter, any one of the thousands of parts in the a car. Like key ones might be the starter, alternator, belts, engines, transmission, etc.

The question is, once you embrace this logic, where do you stop?


There is a big difference between:
1. battery, belts, (and I will add, light bulbs, brake pads and rotors)
2. alternator
3. engines, transmission.

The first set are wear items. They are made to be easily replaceable (in the vast majority of cases, anyway), and replacements are available everywhere, often with warranties that closely correspond to their minimum expected life.

The second is an engine accessory that is commonly upgraded, and usually replaced at least once during the life of a vehicle.

The third set pretty much define the lifetime of most vehicles.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Vikas
I am really surprised that MB does NOT have the system to tell you when the battery is on its last leg. As posted in the other area, the 2012 Acura did tell me.

The logic behind proactively replacing battery vs alternator or starter makes perfect sense. Battery life is rather short compared to those other items and the part+labor cost to replace it with OEM quality is ridiculously low. I give a pass to anybody who puts new battery every 4 years whether it needs it or not. I have not done it myself but that is only because I am too lazy to bother and it is NOT because I am a cheap person (which I am one


I've already replaced the alternator, it's still on the original battery. You replace the battery when you know it's bad. You can get it load tested to figure out how much more life it might have. Batteries in cold states can last a lot longer than in a hot state. If you followed the 4 year metric, it would have been replaced twice already and almost ready for another one and while they're inexpensive relative to other things, they're still a bit over $100 each so you're talking close to blowing $300 when it wasn't needed. Basically you're throwing parts at a problem you may not know if it exists or not.

Not sure how the Acura system works, MB gives you a warning message when the voltage drops below 11 volts. At that point, you can get your charging system tested to figure out if it's your battery or alternator/voltage regulator.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Vikas
I am really surprised that MB does NOT have the system to tell you when the battery is on its last leg. As posted in the other area, the 2012 Acura did tell me.

The logic behind proactively replacing battery vs alternator or starter makes perfect sense. Battery life is rather short compared to those other items and the part+labor cost to replace it with OEM quality is ridiculously low. I give a pass to anybody who puts new battery every 4 years whether it needs it or not. I have not done it myself but that is only because I am too lazy to bother and it is NOT because I am a cheap person (which I am one


I've already replaced the alternator, it's still on the original battery. You replace the battery when you know it's bad. You can get it load tested to figure out how much more life it might have. Batteries in cold states can last a lot longer than in a hot state. If you followed the 4 year metric, it would have been replaced twice already and almost ready for another one and while they're inexpensive relative to other things, they're still a bit over $100 each so you're talking close to blowing $300 when it wasn't needed. Basically you're throwing parts at a problem you may not know if it exists or not.

Not sure how the Acura system works, MB gives you a warning message when the voltage drops below 11 volts. At that point, you can get your charging system tested to figure out if it's your battery or alternator/voltage regulator.


For some people it may be worth it. In many cases the battery starts to act weak when winter sets in. But not always.

Your math is not quite correct. Say the avg life of a battery is 6 yr. You decide to replace every 4 yr rather than every 6 yr. At the end if 12, doing it every 4 yr cost $300 vs $200 for every 6 yr.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Donald
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Originally Posted by Vikas
I am really surprised that MB does NOT have the system to tell you when the battery is on its last leg. As posted in the other area, the 2012 Acura did tell me.

The logic behind proactively replacing battery vs alternator or starter makes perfect sense. Battery life is rather short compared to those other items and the part+labor cost to replace it with OEM quality is ridiculously low. I give a pass to anybody who puts new battery every 4 years whether it needs it or not. I have not done it myself but that is only because I am too lazy to bother and it is NOT because I am a cheap person (which I am one


I've already replaced the alternator, it's still on the original battery. You replace the battery when you know it's bad. You can get it load tested to figure out how much more life it might have. Batteries in cold states can last a lot longer than in a hot state. If you followed the 4 year metric, it would have been replaced twice already and almost ready for another one and while they're inexpensive relative to other things, they're still a bit over $100 each so you're talking close to blowing $300 when it wasn't needed. Basically you're throwing parts at a problem you may not know if it exists or not.

Not sure how the Acura system works, MB gives you a warning message when the voltage drops below 11 volts. At that point, you can get your charging system tested to figure out if it's your battery or alternator/voltage regulator.


For some people it may be worth it. In many cases the battery starts to act weak when winter sets in. But not always.

Your math is not quite correct. Say the avg life of a battery is 6 yr. You decide to replace every 4 yr rather than every 6 yr. At the end if 12, doing it every 4 yr cost $300 vs $200 for every 6 yr.


You have a different set of assumptions. Remember my batter is 11 years old and it's the original one. It's AGM so in theory they last longer. Only reason I haven't changed it out is that lots of people report getting 10-12 years or more out of their AGM battery. So at 4 years, I've skipped two replacements already and maybe I'll replace at 12 years or maybe I'll get rid of the car in the next year or two with the OEM battery and not spend anything on it.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Got 12 years out of my OEM BMW battery in a 328i. Replaced last year with a Bosch. Morning cranks slowed noticeably for 2 days. Replaced that day after work. I would have wasted $400+ replacing it more often than necessary.