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I asked the dealership how long the battery should last. Mine is 5 years old. I was told if it lasts 3 years I would be doing good. Does this sound right?
Mine:
A battery that matches or exceeds power requirements specified by the vehicle's manufacturer, vehicle's charging/starting system has been and is in good condition, battery trickle charged (battery tender) if stored, installed in a vehicle used/stored in a moderate climate (batteries will not last as long in HOT <especially> or cold climate) should last 5-6 years.
Good idea to start looking to replace at 5 years old.
I base this opinion on my owning/operating a chain of auto parts stores over 16 years and buying/selling/warranting thousands of batteries over the years.
Mine:
A battery that matches or exceeds power requirements specified by the vehicle's manufacturer, vehicle's charging/starting system has been and is in good condition, battery trickle charged (battery tender) if stored, installed in a vehicle used/stored in a moderate climate (batteries will not last as long in HOT <especially> or cold climate) should last 5-6 years.
Good idea to start looking to replace at 5 years old.
I base this opinion on my owning/operating a chain of auto parts stores over 16 years and buying/selling/warranting thousands of batteries over the years.
Last edited by Kevin A Jones; 05-26-2018 at 01:19 PM.
My 2014 Delco battery was only a 36 month battery, so I replaced it a few months ago with a ACDelco Professional grade GOLD series battery with a 42 month free replacement warranty.. Cost around $138.
I agree that even though some batteries last longer than the warranty, you are on borrowed time going past 3 to 4 years.
A lot easier to do a planned change out in the garage than in a parking lot somewhere.
I asked the dealership how long the battery should last. Mine is 5 years old. I was told if it lasts 3 years I would be doing good. Does this sound right?
A Lot depends on how it's used. My 2014 C7 battery would have lasted over 3 years but I replaced it then because it had a low voltage since it was new! Probably a weak cell. Bought an AGM replacement and it was 0.3 to 0.4 higher voltage. I never used a charger, although I had the Chevy logo equivalent I bought when I first got the C7 to see if that would increase the voltage when the surface charge was depleted (12 to 24 hrs.) No help!
I just replaced a 10 year old Yellow Optima AGM battery with it's unique spiral cell design. It was operating fine BUT was in my Street Rod that has electric doors and the battery is in the sedan and NOT accessible without a door open. For the last few years when it went to a car show, always left a window open just in case so I could get to it to jumper. I hag rigged a way I could apply 12 volts to open the door when it was in the garage!
Now that battery was connected to a relatively inexpensive 12 year old Schumacher charger when it wasn't at a show- most of it's life. Replaced it with another Yellow Top Optima.
My C6 battery lasted 3 years then it leaked! Recall my '88 Vette battery lasting only 2 years as I left the interior lights on several times!
PS: Toured the Johnson Controls battery plant in town a few years ago and recall they had ~100 batteries in each of several water filled charging trays. When charged, they went down a line and one of over 20 labels were being put on! I asked the plant manager why some of this same type battery had different warranty values. He said it's like buying insurance, some charge more and give a longer warranty. Their warranty to their customer remained the same! They supply to AutoZone, Advanced Auto, Sears, etc, etc. Because of the weight supply varies by geography.
A few weeks ago our local ASME Section toured the very large Johnson Controls battery reclamation facility recently built in town. They process ~1600 car batteries/hour and get 99% recover of lead, acid and plastic. It mostly gets sent to their battery plants to be make into new batteries! Impressive operation.
My car's a daily driver (most of the time) and it's going on four years old. Starts fine. I suspect it's because it is a DD and gets fully charged regularly as I do few short trips....
OEM batteries will tell you when they're going bad if you'll pay attention - hard starting is the clue. As soon as you get that first "tell-tale" difficult start replace the battery.
Been driving Corvettes 30 years and 700K miles.....
My battery will be 3 years old next month and I was seriously planning to replace it but since it is always on a CTEK when parked and I am not noting any difference in starting I think I will keep it for a while longer even though I know the warranty will expire when it hits 36 months. If I do decide to go on a long road trip I will replace it, probably with a 42 month Delco Gold. Considered an AGM but most I have found are more expensive and have a shorter warranty.
Ive had terrible luck with any gel cell battery. I've had great luck with Delco and Interstate lead/acid batteries.
Gel cell batteries are not the same as AGM batteries. The Absobed Glass Mat batteries use very pure acid that is held in a fiberglass mat. You can google the difference. I only use standard battery charging settings NOT gel cell that have a tickening agent in the acid.
I installed an Optima AGM battery in my C6 and it performed fine, as the one 10 years old in my Street Rod. There was a short time after Johnson Controls bought Optima about 8 years ago and moved production to Mexico there were some QA issues. When I bought this last one called JEGS and Summitt tech folks who are great. One was aware of the quality issue but said that was years ago and he has had no reported problems in recent years. Unfortunately their configuration will not fit a C7 but there are several the will. As I recall I paid about $125 on sale end summer. I have seen the same one at Autozone on sale for about that price.
Johnson Controls has 120,000 employees world wide and is a first class manucturer. Expected they would do whatever to solve their problems. However a reputation can live on!
Gel cell batteries are not the same as AGM batteries. The Absobed Glass Mat batteries use very pure acid that is held in a fiberglass mat. You can google the difference.
I installed an Optima AGM battery in my C6 and it performed fine, as the one 10 years old in my Street Rod. There was a short time after Johnson Controls bought Optima about 8 years ago and moved production to Mexico there were some QA issues. When I bought this last one called JEGS and Summitt tech folks who are great. One was aware of the quality issue but said that was years ago and he has had no reported problems in recent years.
Johnson Controls has 120,000 employees world wide and is a first class manucturer. Expected they would do whatever to solve their problems. However a reputation can live on!
Heat is a huge killer of automotive batteries, and since our summers up here aren't super hot (typical summer day is 75-85) we get long life on our batteries. I am not expecting to replace the battery in my C7 after just 3 years, that's for sure. I'm not even sure how old the battery was in my C6, but I had that car 4.5 years without needing a battery. In the 9 years I had my C5 I only replaced one battery. In my DD Honda, the battery is now 6 years old and at the beginning of the year the car sat outside the Niagara Falls airport for 10 days while we were in Florida and when we arrived home it was below 0F and the Honda started up as if it had only been sitting a few hours. YMMV of course, but I think that if you live in a climate that isn't super hot, don't change your battery earlier than necessary (I know I've heard of a few people that change theirs every 3 years just to be safe but that could be overkill)
My original Battery on my Dodge Challenger was 8 years old when I sold it. It was still like brand new. Always had it on a tender when not in use. I now have a 2017 Vette and I'm doing the same thing with the tender they gave me. Hope I get good results.
A bit off topic but I'm a firm believer in using a quality battery maintainer like my CTEK 4.3. The battery in my lawn tractor would not hold a charge for more than a few days. Last winter I hooked it up to the CTEK and put it in the recondition cycle and then the maintain cycle. It now holds a charge much longer. I was ready to buy a new battery but now I think I can get another season out of it. This is why I use a CTEK on my C7 battery whenever it's parked.
However the world is changing. Our BMW with start/stop has an electric water pump in addition to electric steering. Both needed to have run/stop - IMO, coming in all cars.
The BMW has two batteries. One very large AGM battery and another smaller battery. They use them is series to power the electric steering with 24 volts.
I know they only charge the battery when coasting or braking, a form of energy recovery.
Comparing the AGM I bought for my 2014 with the OEM AC battery:
A Lot depends on how it's used. My 2014 C7 battery would have lasted over 3 years but I replaced it then because it had a low voltage since it was new! Probably a weak cell. Bought an AGM replacement and it was 0.3 to 0.4 higher voltage. I never used a charger, although I had the Chevy logo equivalent I bought when I first got the C7 to see if that would increase the voltage when the surface charge was depleted (12 to 24 hrs.) No help!
I just replaced a 10 year old Yellow Optima AGM battery with it's unique spiral cell design. It was operating fine BUT was in my Street Rod that has electric doors and the battery is in the sedan and NOT accessible without a door open. For the last few years when it went to a car show, always left a window open just in case so I could get to it to jumper. I hag rigged a way I could apply 12 volts to open the door when it was in the garage!
Now that battery was connected to a relatively inexpensive 12 year old Schumacher charger when it wasn't at a show- most of it's life. Replaced it with another Yellow Top Optima.
My C6 battery lasted 3 years then it leaked! Recall my '88 Vette battery lasting only 2 years as I left the interior lights on several times!
PS: Toured the Johnson Controls battery plant in town a few years ago and recall they had ~100 batteries in each of several water filled charging trays. When charged, they went down a line and one of over 20 labels were being put on! I asked the plant manager why some of this same type battery had different warranty values. He said it's like buying insurance, some charge more and give a longer warranty. Their warranty to their customer remained the same! They supply to AutoZone, Advanced Auto, Sears, etc, etc. Because of the weight supply varies by geography.
A few weeks ago our local ASME Section toured the very large Johnson Controls battery reclamation facility recently built in town. They process ~1600 car batteries/hour and get 99% recover of lead, acid and plastic. It mostly gets sent to their battery plants to be make into new batteries! Impressive operation.
Jerry,
I also had a shaved Street Rod....... our '31 Model A Vicky had no door handles either. I connected a coat hanger wire attached to the mechanism within the door and had it hang straight down an through a 1/4" diameter hole in the bottom of the door where I bent it into a tight "U". It only hung down about a quarter inch and there was a gap at the bottom of the Model A doors that allowed about an inch of room. No one would ever know it's there unless they bent down and knew to look for it. It was painted red also. Never needed it, but if I did, I could grab ahold of it with a pair of needle nose pliers, or what ever I had handy and pop the door open .
Don't recall if your '34 has a gap at the bottom of the door like the Model A's do....
However the world is changing. Our BMW with start/stop has an electric water pump in addition to electric steering. Both needed to have run/stop - IMO, coming in all cars.
The BMW has two batteries. One very large AGM battery and another smaller battery. They use them is series to power the electric steering with 24 volts.
I know they only charge the battery when coasting or braking, a form of energy recovery.
Comparing the AGM I bought for my 2014 with the OEM AC battery:
Not trying to convince you or anyone to use one, your car/your choice, but there are advantages.
I understand.
I would add that I was under the impression the slow drift away from lead/acid batteries is because of the slow drift towards locating the battery inside the vehicles passenger compartment. No one wants to breath hydrogen sulfide. This change isn't better in my view, its just different, but what the hell do I know. I tend to think the only technical advancement (in the last 40 or so years) that has actually made life easier for the typical man, is television remote control.
I also had a shaved Street Rod....... our '31 Model A Vicky had no door handles either. I connected a coat hanger wire attached to the mechanism within the door and had it hang straight down an through a 1/4" diameter hole in the bottom of the door where I bent it into a tight "U". It only hung down about a quarter inch and there was a gap at the bottom of the Model A doors that allowed about an inch of room. No one would ever know it's there unless they bent down and knew to look for it. It was painted red also. Never needed it, but if I did, I could grab ahold of it with a pair of needle nose pliers, or what ever I had handy and pop the door open .
Don't recall if your '34 has a gap at the bottom of the door like the Model A's do....
Cleaver idea! Neat Rod! Went out and looked! Don't have that gap. Have suicide doors (last year Ford used) and cropped the pic to show below.
My "secret method" is a spliced wire I have taped under the running board that comes directly from the door opening solenoid. Can put a jumper cable on it and a chassis ground (bolt on running board support near the wire) and it will operate.
The original battery in my 2012 GS has been turning over a little slower for the past six months. Two days ago I pulled it out of the garage and into the driveway. When I went to put it back in the garage an hour later, the battery died. I had to jump it to get back in the garage. I had been driving it in the past two weeks. I looked at many other replacement batteries, but decided to go to the dealer and get another AC Delco. Cost me $134.
I have never used the CTEK before until that day, so I used it to recharge the battery. It was six years old so it served its purpose with distinction. Time for it to go to its final reward.
I only have 5800 miles in 3 yrs and keep it on a CTEK when not in use for more than 2 weeks. I have no problems so far and will probably replace in 2 yrs to avoid worry.
05-26-2018, 12:00 PM
Original battery life
