When should I change the battery?

I have a 2004 Honda Accord with just over 26 thousand miles and the
original battery.

Is it time for me to replace the battery yet? On the one hand, I do
NOT believe in waiting for the battery to go bad. Some people say
that can tell by the fact that they need to crank a bit longer to
start the car, but I'm not sure I'd notice. Even if I knew I would
notice and avoided getting stranded, I'd rather get it done at my
leisure rather than have to drop everything I'm doing to take care of
it.

On the other hand, the fact that a Honda battery (assuming it isn't
the original one, which is warrantied for only 3 years, with the last
year prorated) is warrantied for 100 months (first 3 years fully
warrantied, remaining term prorated) makes me think I could wait at
least another year. The general rule I've heard is to replace a
battery a year before the warranty expires.

I live in Iowa, so I'm not subject to the battery-killing heat of
Phoenix, Las Vegas, or Tucson. Of course, I've heard that very cold
temperatures (like last winter) are also bad for car batteries.

 

I agree. My reading indicates an older battery puts strain
on the alternator.

I too say I can tell this with my 91 Civic (original owner).
In fact, in 2000 before I knew too much about the
alternator, charging, and battery systems, I noted that the
car had been starting with difficulty for several days prior
to it dying so much that it would not start the car.

My 91 Civic is on its fourth battery, though I will likely
replace it pre-emptively sometime late this year.

Do the five checks listed at
http://honda.lioness.googlepages.com/battery%26alternatortips
to get a handle on how your system is doing. If the battery
voltage is over 12.5 volts with the engine off and no
electrical loads (like lights), it's probably fine. If it
has been jumped a few times, consider replacing it
pre-emptively.

The heat's by far the worst.

 

Sam's Club, $50, done....

 

Why not?

It's really very simple.

However, you may take your car to any garage and have the battery and
charging system checked at any time. Just do it if you're that freaking
paranoid.

Sheesh. You don't have time in your life to deal with a dead battery
every 5-6 years?

 

snip

Do it now.
You obviously don't want to be inconvenienced by a dead battery. A
replacement will set you back $50 to $75. A small price to pay for
peace of mind.

 

jeepers - where do you people come from? why would TESTING the freakin'
battery be such a problem? people bleat and complain about gas prices,
yet they're prepared to blindly throw away money because they read of a
guy who read of a guy that had to call aaa? it's freakin' impossible to
convince people to change their timing belt, but prematurely change
their battery? "stand in line folks - we'll be taking your money as
soon as we can!"

 

the only one having a problem here is you.
as usual.

 

hmmm, so lack of common sense and lack of logic beats saving money and
saving resources. i think i've got it now. thanks for the heads up.

 

you seem very happy in your jim beam world.
how nice for you.

if the OP has the $$ to throw at a new battery so he's not bothered
with testing, what's it to you? most drivers just want a reliable
appliance, not an avocation.

and simple battery tests failed to predict my last two battery
failures. so there.

 

you seem very happy in your jim beam world.
how nice for you.

if the OP has the $$ to throw at a new battery so he's not bothered
with testing, what's it to you? most drivers just want a reliable
appliance, not an avocation.

and simple battery tests failed to predict my last two battery
failures. so there.

 

i advocate reliability! that's why i advocate testing!

"simple"? volt meters are not battery testers. proper battery testers
will load the battery at, say, 100A, and monitor not only voltage under
that load, but how the voltage holds during the duration of the test,
which should be several seconds.

afterall, it's not like you can't get new batteries that are dud or
damaged in transit.

 

right, so by the time the OP spends the time and money to properly
test his 4-year old battery, he'll have invested enough to have bought
a new one.

 

Plus, with an older battery, he risks accelerating the aging
of the alternator, translating to bucks as well.

 

most places, if you take it to the place where you get your car serviced
regularly, they'll test it, wait for it, for *free*!!! whoopee!

 

yet another reason to test!

 

for most of us, time is money and shop hours are our normal working
hours.
and some of us don't have access to free services.
but thanks for your concern about saving $15 bucks (an additional year
from the battery)

 

if you pay someone else to service your car, as most people do, none of
the above are a concern because the shop will usually do a test for free
when they do your other routine work. otherwise, you might pay, yes.
but again, a lot of places will do it free in the hope that if you're
asking, it's already giving trouble, and they'll get to sell you a new
battery. if that's not the case, you get a free test, and they lose out
on a sale. oh well.

 

Ummmm....why not?

Did you read what he said?

If you go to where you normally go for service, they'll test it for free.

Last week, I took my car in to my normal place (local garage) at 2pm and
asked if they had time for an oil change.

Voila. 10 minutes later, I was out of there, job done while I sat and
chatted with the guy.

If you go to where you normally go for service, they'll take care of you.

 

If the OP had access to a shop do you think he'd be asking in a
newsgroup for service advice?

 

Yes.

Just like those who have bought brand-new shiny $25,000 cars and have
access to the owner's manual still come to random strangers in a
newsgroup to ask questions that the manual answers.