Battery bad after 3 years...

[HwyChile]

I don't think the article is thaaat worthless, I mean everything said is pretty much true, lol. Your problem with batteries might just be your climate.

I see you are from TX...one thing that kills batteries in a hurry is heat, and I would imagine you've got plenty of that down there

The article is worthless. It is not about battery life at all. It is an article about new car owners bringing their cars back to dealers during the first few weeks or months of ownership complaining of a defective battery, when the problem is just a lack of recharge due mainly to short driving distances (it cites drivers in foreign countries where they drive short distances).

We are talking about battery LIFE--which has nothing to do with that article. Here in the U.S, batteries are fully recharged with our longer driving distances and they still do not last more than 3 years. Climate and other factors may be a cause, but as you may notice from the article, that is not mentioned because the article has nothing to do with battery life. Its an article for new car owners who do not drive far enough to recharge their batteries, which will occur within weeks of ownership.

I have lived in 3 states with different climates and all my batteries only lasted about 3 years and everyone I know has the same result. The bottom line is batteries only last about 3 years from my experience and most of the mechanics I have asked have told me the same thing.

 

[eddiebx]

The article is worthless. It is not about battery life at all. It is an article about new car owners bringing their cars back to dealers during the first few weeks or months of ownership complaining of a defective battery, when the problem is just a lack of recharge due mainly to short driving distances.

We are talking about battery LIFE--which has nothing to do with that article. Here in the U.S, batteries are fully recharged with our longer driving distances and they still do not last more than 3 years. Climate and other factors may be a cause, but as you may notice from the article, that is not mentioned because the article has nothing to do with battery life. Its an article for new car owners who do not drive far enough to recharge their batteries, which will occur within weeks of ownership.

I have lived in 3 states with different climates and all my batteries only lasted about 3 years and everyone I know has the same result. The bottom line is batteries only last about 3 years. Any mechanic will tell you that no matter where you live.

Well that's a pretty arrogant statement, but if you say so! I guess the rest of us who have had higher quality batteries last 6-7+ years are delusional or maybe just liars, or both.

 

[HwyChile]

Well that's a pretty arrogant statement, but if you say so! I guess the rest of us who have had higher quality batteries last 6-7+ years are delusional or maybe just liars, or both.

I actually edited my statement before you replied so my statement is less "arrogant" than what you copied. If you would have copied a little later you would have seen the one above that says it is based on my experience. Maybe you live in a very mild climate or you got real lucky with a great battery, but all the places I have lived and all the people I know have had the same experience as I have when I asked them.

By the way, how old are you and how many cars have you owned? If you owned a lot of cars and all your batteries are lasting that long, then maybe you have a great climate. If you are basing this on one car then maybe you got real lucky with a battery. I am basing my statement on 35 years of car ownership and lots of cars and lots of batteries.

By the way, I noticed that you did not disagree again about the article being worthless.

 

[pacho]

so whats the rule of thumb on how many miles or minutes per day (one way trip) to run your vehicle so the battery gets a decent charge ?? what I see from other forums is 20 to 30 minutes driving(I assume including sitting in traffic)

 

[HwyChile]

so whats the rule of thumb on how many miles per day to run your vehicle so the battery gets a decent charge ??

You will know very quickly if you are not driving it long enough, which rarely happens if you live in the U.S. Your car will not start is the first clue. I lived within a couple of miles of where I went to college and drove to and from college every day and my battery never stopped working. That is another reason I say the article is worthless. Plus, heaters in all the cars I have owned are not "electric"--they work off the engine coolant and the blower motor does not draw that much electric current.

 

[limamike]

so whats the rule of thumb on how many miles per day to run your vehicle so the battery gets a decent charge ??

That would be nearly impossible to calculate. The energy output of your alternator is not constant, and the rate of recharge to your battery is dependent upon the load, health of the battery, and temperature at a minimum.

Your best bet to extend the life of your battery is to buy a trickle charger for $35 and hook it up as often as you can.

 

[pacho]

so it doesnt hurt to hook up the trickle charger every day or every few days ?? maybe time to look into these chargers at walmart. thanks,,, my own rule of thumb is I usually just bring in my battery to the auto store right on the 3 year mark to have it tested if its still good...

That would be nearly impossible to calculate. The energy output of your alternator is not constant, and the rate of recharge to your battery is dependent upon the load, health of the battery, and temperature at a minimum.

Your best bet to extend the life of your battery is to buy a trickle charger for $35 and hook it up as often as you can.

 

[HwyChile]

That would be nearly impossible to calculate. The energy output of your alternator is not constant, and the rate of recharge to your battery is dependent upon the load, health of the battery, and temperature at a minimum.

Your best bet to extend the life of your battery is to buy a trickle charger for $35 and hook it up as often as you can.

My bet is that is a waste of time because we don't have a lack of recharge problem. You could hook it up, but it is already fully charged unless you drain it down from leaving something on or you have a very hard to start car that drained it down. Alternators do an excellent job of charging batteries, and it does not take one long to do it.

 

[HwyChile]

so it doesnt hurt to hook up the trickle charger every day or every few days ?? thanks,,, my own rule of thumb is I usually just bring in my battery to the auto store right on the 3 year mark to have it tested if its still good...

From my experience, batteries go bad rather quickly and testing it at the 3 year mark probably won't be in the window of when it is going bad unless you get lucky with the timing. I just drive them until they go bad and then go get a new one (I do keep water in them).

 

[limamike]

You will know very quickly if you are not driving it long enough, which rarely happens if you live in the U.S. Your car will not start is the first clue. I lived within a couple of miles of where I went to college and drove to and from college every day and my battery never stopped working. That is another reason I say the article is worthless. Plus, heaters in all the cars I have owned are not "electric"--they work off the engine coolant and the blower motor does not draw that much electric current.

I would bet that our blower motors draw at least 5 amps at its very lowest settings. Couple that with a radio, all of the ECUs, pumps, etc and it adds-up quickly.

 

[Antman]

so it doesnt hurt to hook up the trickle charger every day or every few days ?? thanks,,, my own rule of thumb is I usually just bring in my battery to the auto store right on the 3 year mark to have it tested if its still good...

FWIW my boat has 2 batteries- one of which is the one I'm running in my 4Runner now- 27 group dual purpose. My boat sits in the garage, when not in the water, and the on-board charger is ALWAYS plugged in. My boat batteries last forever. Last boat I sold had the original starting battery which was 9 years old, and still going strong.

My opinion is that a good charger will make your battery last a long long time.

 

[limamike]

My bet is that is a waste of time because we don't have a lack of recharge problem. You could hook it up, but it is already fully charged unless you drain it down from leaving something on or you have a very hard to start car that drained it down. Alternators do an excellent job of charging batteries, and it does not take one long to do it.

I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Who is "we" and what is the "problem"? I can guarantee you that if you go test the voltage of your battery in your truck right now it is not fully charged. Go ahead and get a voltmeter; I'll wait.

 

[pacho]

9 years ? holy cow !, I will now look into these chargers at nearby stores. reason I try to bring my battery for testing at the 3 year mark is that this is the time my batteries usually fail because i normally take the train to work so my vehicle does not get a good workout until the weekend, that is, if I go for a long drive.

FWIW my boat has 2 batteries- one of which is the one I'm running in my 4Runner now- 27 group dual purpose. My boat sits in the garage, when not in the water, and the on-board charger is ALWAYS plugged in. My boat batteries last forever. Last boat I sold had the original starting battery which was 9 years old, and still going strong.

My opinion is that a good charger will make your battery last a long long time.

 

[eddiebx]

I actually edited my statement before you replied so my statement is less "arrogant" than what you copied. If you would have copied a little later you would have seen the one above that says it is based on my experience. Maybe you live in a very mild climate or you got real lucky with a great battery, but all the places I have lived and all the people I know have had the same experience as I have when I asked them.

By the way, how old are you and how many cars have you owned? If you owned a lot of cars and all your batteries are lasting that long, then maybe you have a great climate. If you are basing this on one car then maybe you got real lucky with a battery. I am basing my statement on 35 years of car ownership and lots of cars and lots of batteries.

By the way, I noticed that you did not disagree again about the article being worthless.

I've owned enough cars and lived in enough regions to know not to make a blanket statement about battery durability nationwide because I know there are too many factors that come into play, that's all I need to say.

What is your obsession with proving an informative article to be "worthless". Do you know the writer? Did he sleep with your wife? Geez man, why don't you just cool off a bit.

Lastly, what are you trying to suggest by having owned 35 years worth of car batteries? That battery technology has not changed in the last 35 years at all? Let me guess, you still change your oil @ 3,000 miles too right?

 

[HwyChile]

I would bet that our blower motors draw at least 5 amps at its very lowest settings. Couple that with a radio, all of the ECUs, pumps, etc and it adds-up quickly.

My bet is that the alternator is putting out more charge than you would be using with anything that you run while the motor is on. In other words, whatever drain you are causing is being replaced by the alternator. I have tested this in older cars by starting them and then taking the battery completely out of the car and then driving away and the car would not stop until I cut it off no matter what I had on.

I have never had a newer car not start from a lack of charge unless I left something on when the car was off or it had a bad battery. And this was true even when I drove only a couple of miles each day for years. Alternators do an excellent job of charging a battery.

 

[HwyChile]

I've owned enough cars and lived in enough regions to know not to make a blanket statement about battery durability nationwide because I know there are too many factors that come into play, that's all I need to say.

What is your obsession with proving an informative article to be "worthless". Do you know the writer? Did he sleep with your wife? Geez man, why don't you just cool off a bit.

Lastly, what are you trying to suggest by having owned 35 years worth of car batteries? That battery technology has not changed in the last 35 years at all? Let me guess, you still change your oil @ 3,000 miles too right?

The article is worthless because it is not about battery life. That is the main reason it is worthless. Someone posted an article about apples on a thread about oranges. That is what I pointed out and what is true. Your statements to the contrary do not change that fact.

You evaded the question about whether all your batteries are lasting that long and what your experience is with batteries over many years, probably because your answer does not support what you wrote or it is only about one battery that you had. Therefore, you just write you "don't want to make blanket statements." My statements are not blanket. I backed it up with my experience with 3 different climates over 35 years.

Auto battery technology has not really changed over the years. Other types of batteries have changed, but not auto batteries.

 

[HwyChile]

I don't understand the point you're trying to make. Who is "we" and what is the "problem"? I can guarantee you that if you go test the voltage of your battery in your truck right now it is not fully charged. Go ahead and get a voltmeter; I'll wait.

The point I am making is that there is not a recharge problem with auto batteries (this is the "problem" that the article tries to set forth). They are usually fully charged within the parameters of what a full charge should be. The article was about foreign drivers (at least it cited an example of Japan drivers). Therefore, the "we" are people who live in the U.S. who drive longer distances than in Japan. If I went and tested my battery, I guarantee you it will show a full charge within the parameters of what is an acceptable full charge. A battery will not stay completely constant when not being used. Admittedly I have never tried to keep a trickle charger on a battery and I would not want to go to the trouble if I am driving it daily. Now maybe for a boat, an old car, or a riding mower this would make sense. Batteries are not that expensive and if you added up the electricity to run a charger on it full time over the years of the battery you would probably be better off not running a trickle charger on it, money wise.

 

[eddiebx]

The article is worthless because it is not about battery life. That is the main reason it is worthless. Someone posted an article about apples on a thread about oranges. That is what I pointed out and what is true. Your statements to the contrary do not change that fact.

You evaded the question about whether all your batteries are lasting that long and what your experience is with batteries over many years, probably because your answer does not support what you wrote or it is only about one battery that you had. Therefore, you just write you "don't want to make blanket statements." My statements are not blanket. I backed it up with my experience with 3 different climates over 35 years.

Auto battery technology has not really changed over the years. Other types of batteries have changed, but not auto batteries.

lols, holy crap man you do not give up do you? OKAY here it is, I've have one older toyota truck, that battery went at ~7 year mark when we drained it down by accident leaving the radio on (mid-atlantic region). I had one older honda CRV with a tiny undersized battery from the factory which I had to change at the 3 year mark to a higher quality one since it had trouble starting in the winter time due to the tiny size. I've had a couple of other hondas one of which the battery died at ~ 3-4 years because I was too young to know not to drain it down constantly by using the radio. The ones I didn't drain down, the batteries went a good 5-6 years before needing a new one. All the hondas were in the new england region, hence the trouble with starting on colder days. If not for the cold winters I could've gone at least a couple more years w/o changing them. I also had a 16 year old camry that is only on it's 3rd battery since new. The most recent car I got rid of was an '06 lexus, which I traded in with the original battery in '12 for this new 4runner.

Kind of debunks your 3yr theory huh? Course, what I said is probably worthless in your eyes too, so just carry on

 

[HwyChile]

lols, holy crap man you do not give up do you? OKAY here it is, I've have one older toyota truck, that battery went at ~7 year mark when we drained it down by accident leaving the radio on (mid-atlantic region). I had one older honda CRV with a tiny undersized battery from the factory which I had to change at the 3 year mark to a higher quality one since it had trouble starting in the winter time due to the tiny size. I've had a couple of other hondas one of which the battery died at ~ 3-4 years because I was too young to know not to drain it down constantly by using the radio. The ones I didn't drain down, the batteries went a good 5-6 years before needing a new one. All the hondas were in the new england region, hence the trouble with starting on colder days. If not for the cold winters I could've gone at least a couple more years w/o changing them. I also had a 16 year old camry that is only on it's 3rd battery since new. The most recent car I got rid of was an '06 lexus, which I traded in with the original battery in '12 for this new 4runner.

Kind of debunks your 3yr theory huh? Course, what I said is probably worthless in your eyes too, so just carry on

Well your climate must be very kind to batteries. I have lived in TN, TX, and UT and that has not been the case for me or anyone I know. As far as draining the battery from using a radio, I assume you are using it with the motor off or you have some kind of amplifiers that really drain the battery because my stock radios won't drain a battery as long as the motor is on.

 

[eddiebx]

Well your climate must be very kind to batteries. I have lived in TN, TX, and UT and that has not been the case for me or anyone I know. As far as draining the battery from using a radio, I assume you are using it with the motor off or you have some kind of amplifiers that really drain the battery because my stock radios won't drain a battery as long as the motor is on.

Dude, if you scroll a few pages back, I think I could've sworn I told you, perhaps it's your harsh climates causing your ~3 year battery life. Kind of like going in a f-in circle here. What are you trying to prove? Anyways, I think I am done, :cheers: