4 year old battery

Other than in an EMERGENCY, a failed battery is just an inconvenience. I carry jumper cables, I have another car, and I can count on one hand, the number of times my vehicles didn't start. There is no correct answer here, ranks right up there with how often do you change your oil LOL

 

I have a battery that is 6 yo in a Chevy Trailblazer. I suspect this will be its last winter. Trying (hoping) it will make the Spring. Budget is tight. I did a thorough tune up last fall. The TB cranks, although a bit slower than I like, but it starts easy. Currently, its February winter. Walked the dog in -10F this morning. Don't want to fool around with cars today, but groceries are getting low.

The Tacoma has a 5 yo battery. No signs of degradation. This truck got a thorough tune-up last fall also.

I have had batteries suddenly die without any warning. They always fail at the worst time. I had one die during a date.......needless to say that night did not finish as I had anticipated. Tried to push (by hand) start a manual tranny with the lady (not familiar with clutch or manual transmission) in the driver's seat........major trouble.......this was before the common place of cell phones.

Only way to know is to have the battery load tested.

 

I now carry a mini jumper box with me in all my vehicles. My work van gave my trouble so now I come prepared. But it’s always good to also charge the battery, the alternator is not design to fully charge a battery

 

thanks for all the insight - i lean more towards the it's been 4-5 years, i'll change it as a preventative measure type. i do carry portable battery packs in case of an emergency.

 

If you have a battery charger or maintainer to hook up, that should help get you by til you can get it replaced.

 

Yes, I know. Unfortunately, don't have either of those. So, not spending the $$ to purchase because no need to reallocate $$ off an impending battery replacement.

Currently, looking at finding the maximum CCA for the TB.....I've found some at 880 CCA rating. Just need to hold for a bit.

 

My opinion is different. If the alternator is working correctly and it’s belt isn’t loose, it should keep the battery charged if driven enough. Repeated short trips of 5 minutes or less, probably not. But if you drive to work an hour there and an hour back 5 times a week, that should be sufficient to keep it charged.

My Tacoma gets driven on weekends only and occasionally during the week. So Saturday morning When I first start it, I’ll leave it on for long as possible. Any hint of slow cranking, I’ll hook up the charger. I have a multi step ctek charger, sometimes it takes hours to finish.

 

Another option would be to get a jumper pack but those can cost as much as a replacement battery. The cheap ones, well they’re cheap

I think a battery tender is about 20-30 bucks. But I try to not buy things made in China.

 

I replaced my battery at 6 years old (had no problems). Better safe than sorry (don't want to be stuck someplace where I can't get a boost).

 

Dang Mrcheap(op), What exactly are you calling a portable battery pack? If you are talking about a jump box, the reason for having them is so you won't need to replace the batt. before you need to. Just keep going until the day your batt. dies. Get out the jump box, start your car, then go get a batt. it now needs to be replaced.

 

4 to 5 years is a reasonable life expectancy for an automotive battery (fine print - your results may vary). Anything more and you're doing well. With a lot of the newer vehicles we're seeing in the shop, it's 4 and done. Just replaced the 4.5 year old battery in my wife's '16 Corolla. Measured 12.5 volts but when I put it on the tester, only 190 CCA. Barely passable for 70 degrees, not so much at -10. To the OP, if you have any concerns about the battery, you can always stop by an AutoZone etc. parts store and they may be able to test the battery for you, then you know where you stand. Don't be fooled by the voltage, it's the energy behind that voltage that you need.

Cheers

 

I should’ve said AGM batteries which most of us buy, and as for most of us having other electronics installed in our vehicles, maybe I need to upgrade my alternator down the road but it’s been doing fine. But yes charging batteries is a good way the prolong the life of the battery. I bought one charger for my 3 cars.

I have a yellow top optima 5 years going strong and I charged it sometimes not cause it was dead but to top it off since my truck was just sitting. Mind you We would tail gate at the beach and I would play my sound system at full blast, but now I do it with the truck running rather than killing the battery lol.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-northstar-agm-battery-voltage-booster-upgrade.604478/

 

Here is the answer but it's pricey..
Not available in tacoma trucks yet

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/0...for-your-car-but-not-the-one-youre-expecting/

 

I can buy Four Lead Acid Batteries for $829.00.

Bump that.

 

I know. Don't be surprised in a few years because of environmental concerns there won't be any lead acid batties. or gasoline trucks

 

My OEM battery lasted just under 9 years. It died because of bad cell. Although the local Walmart & Battery + stores had cheaper replacements I got a Toyota brand replacement. It was only about $ 20 more and has a much longer warranty. I went 27F to 27F

 

My 17 Tacoma still has the original battery and I feel confident it will be fine this winter but plan to replace it before next winter. Starting to get old and don't need to get stranded somewhere taking chances any longer than that. I question the life span on cheapo batteries but on a good battery 4 years seems to be the norm but if you want to chance it then I say go for 5 years.

 

Be sure to read the warranty, "84" mo. warranty looks good. But it's only a "24" mo. free replacement, Walmart Ever Start Maxx has a 36 mo. free replacement. The Toyota True Start other 60 mo. is "prorated", not sure how the prorated pays, but far from free replacement. Hopefully you will be good for another 9 yrs. & warranty won't be involved. Good luck

 

I actually just replaced a Toyota battery using their 84month pro-rated warranty. Piece of cake. Battery lasted 4.5 years, brought it to the parts counter and they gave me 50% off a new one. 60 bucks out the door was much better than going to autozone for 150 and a 2yr warranty.

 

I just paid $172 for a NAPA battery with 800 CCA and 84 month warranty. This is for my daughter's Trailblazer, previous battery lasted 6.5 year.....not bad. Haven't installed it yet, managed to get the dead battery out. Nearly got frostbite on my fingers doing the removal in sub -10F, windchill below -20F with the TB sitting in the driveway. The install of the new battery is waiting for warmer weather. Currently, it sits in the kitchen by the garage door.

The TB is a reasonably complex. Need to remove radiator top shroud, body strut, cables, battery box plus a vent hose. Then access to the battery is possible.