Hello,
I got a question for the fellow mechanics here, or anybody else who may experienced the same or a similar siatuation.
I had my car battery checked today, and I was advised that it should be replaced, but I wasn’t told any timeframe as in, should I do it within the next few days, weeks or months.
In my car I have a conventional flooded lead-acid car battery -> 12 V, 60Ah, 540A.
And from the measurements I received the following values ->
Voltage: 12,79V
CCA: 365 A
So looking at it I got like aprox. 65-70% of my total CCA, and the battery is like aprox. 2-3 years old.
When should be the ideal time to replace the battery, considering the current status of my car battery?
Thanks in advance!
Recommendation from mechanic meant to replace it pretty soon - like in this month. As a driver myself, I would wait until first symptoms, like more difficult start after 2-3 days without driving
I did experience occasional, like maybe 1-2 times in the last 2 months that it took like 1-2sec longer to start, I guess I’ll keep an eye on that if it gets worse.
If it were my car, I would interpret that as “replace it before the weather gets really cold”. But I’m not sure what I would do, if I lived somewhere with warm Winters.
You never know with batteries, but if they tell you to replace I would assume they have a reason. However, you can test it on crank yourself and see how low voltage drops, anything under 10 volts is replace soon, close to 9 volts or lower is replace now. How to test battery.
Would you say the dropping voltage is a bigger factor then the fact that the CCA is below it’s set value?
I’ve had batteries test good and die next month and I’ve had batteries test bad and come back 5 years later. Batteries can be a a shot in the dark
Buy a battery tender for $100 ish with a de-sulfating cycle (I’m a fan of the Ctek MXS 5, but there are plenty of other good ones out there). Put it on the car and use the “recondition” mode. Then let it finish it’s charge cycle. Might take a couple days if the battery is discharged.
If it faults, replace the battery. If it doesn’t then go back to your normal life and stop worrying about it. Repeat the battery tender treatment every 3-6 months or whenever you do an oil change.