My wifes car is comming up on 6 yrs old with the original battery. 2 weeks ago she told me that the car seem to turn over more slowly first thing in the morning than she had ever noticed,( 13 deg F at 6am). Since then everything has been fine with no noticable issues but, temps have been above 30 deg F lately. I checked the battery with my volt meter while the engine was not running and it read 11 volts. I compared this with my other 3 cars and they were all 12 volts(not running). Is this my warning sign that the battery is on its way out and that I should replace it before the temps really drop? Also, is 11 volts still a good reading from a battery?
6 year old car battery
- Thread starter CharBaby
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At 6 years old and a woman notices the difference in the way the cars starting......I wouldnt have even bothered with the volt meter, I would have just replaced it.
A good battery should be over 12 volts with the engine off. Have you checked the electrolyte level? If low, that would give the symptoms you described, also.
But at 6 years old, I'd just replace the battery. It's pretty much gotten to the end of its useful life. And you wouldn't want your wife to get stranded somewhere. It will only get progressively worse with time, especially with the colder weather.
Yeah, it's an automatic battery change anytime the wife comments the car is cranking slower. I don't even question her about it or look at it myself....
Dave
But at 6 years old, I'd just replace the battery. It's pretty much gotten to the end of its useful life. And you wouldn't want your wife to get stranded somewhere. It will only get progressively worse with time, especially with the colder weather.
Yeah, it's an automatic battery change anytime the wife comments the car is cranking slower. I don't even question her about it or look at it myself....
Dave
Batteries, for me,have without exception been items that failed WITHOUT warning. At 6 years and your climate zone, replacement is in order. This will fail some cold night and that is always ugly. Absent a "load tester" you really cannot determine battery condition. Time is the enemy of all batteries. Just last month I was reading on here of 9 or 10 year old batteries but the posters either were from "sunnier climes" or had perhaps forgotten that they did indeed change their battery?
Replace it now or you (she) will very soon get stranded.
Kestas
Staff member
My original Motorcraft battery served 8 years before cranking slowed down and needed replacement.
Most of my batteries failed in their 6-7th year with highway driving. I now replace the batteries at the beginning of their 6th year.
It's far easier to replace them on MY schedule instead of the coldest day of the year in some parking lot far from home.
It's far easier to replace them on MY schedule instead of the coldest day of the year in some parking lot far from home.
H2Guru, I think that might have been me, with my '97 MB. The battery still has the MB sticker on it, and I can't find any date-in-service stamp or punch anywhere on it. Now the previous owner might have bought a new battery at the dealer at some point, and it doesn't show on the printout I got when I bought it, because that would not have been a warranty repair. But there were some repairs on the list that occurred after the warranty expired. . . .
It's still cranking fine, but I'll have it tested after Christmas and replace it if need be. 'Twould be interesting if it were the original battery (car was first sold in October of 1996!).
Get a battery made by Johnson control not Exide.
It doesn't really matter if it's made by jon or joe or your battery is 10+yrs old, if you want to know how well your battery is holding up, get a shop that has a carbon pile battery tester to load test it!
Only by load testing it would you be able to tell if your battery can take the beating under some serious load: e.g. if your battery voltage drops down to below 9.6VDC during load and it keeps falling, time for a new battery.
No guessing, no ifs and buts, just load test it and then recharge it afterwards.
casually testing any heavy duty cells such as AGM, flooded, NiCd, NiMh, Li-ion, Gel, regular Lead-acid battery w/o imposing a load is sheer bunk for many a time they exhibit a "dummy" reading when no load.
Only by load testing it would you be able to tell if your battery can take the beating under some serious load: e.g. if your battery voltage drops down to below 9.6VDC during load and it keeps falling, time for a new battery.
No guessing, no ifs and buts, just load test it and then recharge it afterwards.
casually testing any heavy duty cells such as AGM, flooded, NiCd, NiMh, Li-ion, Gel, regular Lead-acid battery w/o imposing a load is sheer bunk for many a time they exhibit a "dummy" reading when no load.
Just get a battery. I constantly check the condition of my wife's car, because I'm not prepared to have to deal with her getting stuck. In 5 years we're together, she got stuck once. She ran out of gas. HA!! not my job.
It's amazing what you see out there. I just changed out a headlamp bulb on my FIL's 1998 Maxima with ~65Kmi. It's still got the original nissan OEM battery! I tiny one at that.
Joel
Joel
It doesn't matter if you just installed a new battery yesterday. If wife says it needs replacing, you replace it. Otherwise she might have a "headache" for the next few months.
11 volts for a battery that has just sat over night : it's finished ! Change it now while you're still in charge of the schedule. Otherwise, it will decide for you when it gets changed. And it won't be more convenient or cheaper when it happens that way.
6 years is decent life for a car battery.
6 years is decent life for a car battery.
The original battery in my 97 F-150 started cranking slow about a year ago so I changed it out the first chance I got.
Like posted above, batteries will go south when you least expect it.
Like posted above, batteries will go south when you least expect it.
You are all correct. What was I thinking? Change it I will! Only more cold temps are coming.
Thanks,
CB
Thanks,
CB
On the plus side, she's letting you know before it goes "belly up".
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