battery replacement?

I have an 02 Civic with the original battery. 85K miles. I'm not having any
problems but I'm wondering if there is a "service life" expectancy. I can't
seem to find anything on the battery. Should I have it replaced or wait for
symptoms?

Thank you

 

Anything over four or five years is borrowed time. Whether you wait till it
fails depends on how you feel about getting stranded with a dead battery.
Batteries seldom give indications before they fail.

 

Whew! I have '00 Accord with 85k miles & still on the original
battery.
BUT ------ one of these days, as the previous reply indicates, it
could fail without warning.
Battery life is dependent on many things, and mileage is probably the
least of them. Time and kind of use (or abuse) of a vehicle's
electrical systems are more the things that determine how long it'll
last.

As a side note, my Honda dealer tried "scaring" me about 4 years ago
when the Accord was in for some routine maintenance, and told me the
battery was "on its last legs"......I better get it replaced NOW, he
said.
I told them to forget it, and the original battery is now nearly 96
months in service.
In reality, I definitely expect it to fail one of these days but I
won't be disappointed in its performance after this kind of
lifetime!
And when it does come time, the replacement won't cost the huge sum
expected from the dealer 'cause I'll swap it out myself.

If you're concerned about your battery's condition, take your Civic to
an Auto Zone or Checker/Schuck's /Kragen Auto Supply store where
they'll give you a free battery check (without having to take it
out).

 

Thanks for the info. Sounds like it's time for preventive maintance and a
new battery.

 

One way to look at it is that you're probably going to have to replace
it some time before you're done with the car, so why not now?
Only reason not to is if you expect to get 200K miles, so stalling
might mean buying one replacement battery instead of two.

 

I've found that if a battery is warranteed for a certain period of time,
when that times comes they often die (a DieHard died almost to the day of
its 7th anniversary). So it might make sense to replace the battery near
the end of its expected life. Beats having it fail when you need it most or
when a family member is driving the vehicle.

 

Not arguing with your conclusion about a preemptive battery
replacement....just your basing it on an N of 1....

 

Yeah, it could be anedotal. But that is one I remember since it was within
days of the 7-year warranty. Have had others that may have been 6 months
on either side of the anniversary. Then there are the defective Exide
batteries that Sears sold knowing they were defective. All bets are off on
them.

 

The longer you wait ,the harder it is for the Alternator to charge it
to overcome>the internal resistance of the battery. Folks think there
getting a bargain by holding on to a old battery. Look up the price
of a good OEM Honda alternator, and you will be heading to the battery shop!

 

You can always "test" the battery, as long as you have jumper cables
and another car. A good battery ought to have enough reserve to keep
the headlights going (with the engine off) for 10 minutes, then still
start the car. If it doesn't, is when the jumper cables and other car
come in. How long it can keep the headlights on and still start the
car is a reasonable measure of how much reserve it has left.

 

I personally would not do this, because (1) it runs the
battery down unnecessarily, and the alternator is not
designed to re-charge the battery; and (2) re-charging the
battery using the alternator stresses the alternator and
reduces its life.

You can always "test" the battery, as long as you have
jumper cables
and another car. A good battery ought to have enough reserve
to keep
the headlights going (with the engine off) for 10 minutes,
then still
start the car. If it doesn't, is when the jumper cables and
other car
come in. How long it can keep the headlights on and still
start the
car is a reasonable measure of how much reserve it has left.