Time to replace battery?

[970mtnrunner]

I have a 6 yr old optima red top. I’m reading 11.5v on my scanguage with engine off, acc on. It drops to 11v when I turn on the headlights. With engine running, I see 14.3v, so the alternator is still putting out the juice. It has no problem starting, even in below freezing temps.

 

[riceandpho]

put it on a charger, see if that can charge it up back to full, if the voltage stays at 11.5, you are really making the battery work hard to supply voltage,dropping to almost 10 means its about dead, also you dont want to over work the alternator too.

 

[RonJR]

14.3 volts is plenty to charge a good battery completely. Don't bother messing around with a charger. Your battery is telling you it's nearing the end of its life - likely one cell is going bad. The next message you're likely to get from it is a "click" when you try to start your vehicle. You've gotten 6 years of life out of it; unless you like being stranded unexpectedly, replace it and move on.

 

[harojs]

Put a voltmeter on bat, disconnect coil, and have someone watch while you crank for 10sec. If meter goes below 9vdc during cranking, time for new DieHard.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[radlynx]

I have a 6 yr old optima red top. I’m reading 11.5v on my scanguage with engine off, acc on. It drops to 11v when I turn on the headlights. With engine running, I see 14.3v, so the alternator is still putting out the juice. It has no problem starting, even in below freezing temps.

i would change the battery while you have the time. its already giving you the sign.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[970mtnrunner]

I've seen the voltage go as low as 10.0 when cranking. Ordered an Odyssey today.

 

[Coveman]

I still have the OEM battery in my 08, i like the hydrometer eye on those. Do yourselves a favor and remember to fill the cells with distilled water every few months / at every oil change. Even “maintenance free” batteries need some tlc

 

[DEF4Runner]

I still have the OEM battery in my 08, i like the hydrometer eye on those. Do yourselves a favor and remember to fill the cells with distilled water every few months / at every oil change. Even “maintenance free” batteries need some tlc

Wow! You still have the OEM Panasonic battery! Those things are nearly indestructible. Unfortunately, I had to replace mine a couple of years ago...did so with one of Toyota's True Start batteries. So far so good....

Those Panasonic batteries last forever. Wish they were available for aftermarket...

 

[DanielMaat89]

I miss the Panasonic battery. Heat killed it from a trip in the dessert, but it held on until the fall of this year where it was kind enough to die at a convenient time, A wal mart parking lot, and I wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere. One of the cells shorted out and my High output alternator boiled the remaining cells.

 

[Coveman]

Wow! You still have the OEM Panasonic battery! Those things are nearly indestructible. Unfortunately, I had to replace mine a couple of years ago...did so with one of Toyota's True Start batteries. So far so good....

Those Panasonic batteries last forever. Wish they were available for aftermarket...

lol..probably the reason they’re not available

 

[970mtnrunner]

My '03 still had the original battery when I got it in 2012, but was ready to be replaced. I was happy to get 6 years out of the optima because I have heard their quality has gone downhill. Its been in temps from -30 to 100 during its life.
Putting the odyssey in today when it warms up a bit. Yesterday I saw 9.2v when cranking, temp was 18 degrees. It was a little slow but still started.

 

[BackOff]

My Optima just died also, 6.5 years.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/general-discussions/247958-optmia-yellow-top-leak.html