My previous car had a battery on top of which there was a green indicator, which would have turned black to signal battery change required.
My current car's battery has no such feature! So, how do I know when to change the battery?
If I wait till car refuses to start, that may be too inconvenient.
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you will get indications first. It will start to get slow and sluggish on startup
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 16 Jun 10 at 09:45
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>>It will start to get slow and sluggish on startup
Not always. The last time I had a battery fail was at this time of year, on a diesel. It just refused to even attempt to turn it over one morning. It had been fine up until then.
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I doubt the "black spot" would have been any help in that situation either.
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When it stops working;my Escort diesel started to crank more slowly-it always started tho'-after nine years.
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I have a collection of older batteries taken from previous cars or replaced because their efficiency was declining. They are useful as spares, jump starting, portable or emergency power, etc.
If a battery on one of my cars ever suddenly failed (it never has) I'd just swap one over, and then buy a new one. It's certainly not worth replacing a battery as long as it still works.
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>> My current car's battery has no such (indicator)! So, how do I know when to
>> change the battery?
The battery will slowly get worse, and you are likely to notice. It could fail fairly abruptly (this is often due to the build-up of sludge in the bottoms of the cells, or casing failure allowing leakage), in which case a "magic eye" indicator won't help.
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In my limited experience, batteries these days tend to fail suddenly, rather than gradually.
The battery in the Prelude has now been there 12 years, the indicator is still green and I am resigned to a certain amount of inconvenience but goodness knows when.
OP, if it bothers you, change it now, that way at least you'll be able to exercise some inconvenience management!
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Recent failures have given some warning (slower cranking, low glow from charge light). Ignoring it inevtiably leads to a sudden and final failure when sub zero temperatures kick in.
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>> The battery in the Prelude has now been there 12 years
That's not bad, is it. Remember how long they used to go for! 5 years used to be exceptional.
Last edited by: FotheringtonTomas on Wed 16 Jun 10 at 10:59
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I'm with Bathtub on this.
SWMBO uses the Note daily in the course of her search for ever better shoe and frock shops.
Used it one day, parked at home overnight and not even enough to open the car in the morning. That was the day I had to remove a fence panel to get at the n/s emergency entry point !
A useful tip is to mark the date of purchase on top of the battery.....felt tip on a white one, Tippex on a black one.
Ted
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I agree with Mike Hannon. Batteries are very good these days, and have many more ancillaries to power, but they sometimes give no warning, in which case you may be stuck away from home. I always wonder when it will happen to me, but usually they have failed at home, and I've taken the portable starter with me to keep me going for a while until I can get a new battery. It's all very well ringing the RAC (or whoever), but then you're stuck with their own brand of battery as a replacement, and I wanted a Varta when my battery finally gave up the ghost.
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>> A useful tip is to mark the date of purchase on top of the battery.....felt
>> tip on a white one, Tippex on a black one.
Dates are quite often marked on the battery, although possibly on one side.
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The two batteries I've had go on me have gone in the winter; first proper frost of the winter.
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>>in the course of her search for ever better shoe and frock shops.
Perhaps we could set up a support group, there's two of us at least. ;>)
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Nowadays I tend to replace mine after five years, although I've had much longer out of batteries in the past.
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BT...I think some sort of care in the community beckons.
Ted
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"If I wait till car refuses to start, that may be too inconvenient."
You could always buy one and wait...
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why not have a spare engine standing by?
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Were talking £45.00 average price here is it worth moaning about if unsure of the age replace otherwise replace every 3 years thats the gurantee by many garages give to the better batteries.
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>>Were talking £45.00 average price here
>>
Many cars now need Silver Calcium batteries. These tend to be more expensive than the old standard batteries
A Varta batery for my 98 2.0l Auto Mondeo cost me £100 a few months ago.
I was offered a battery from a country wide tyre co ( Not one the biggest ones) for £45 but I did not accept their offer as I expected it to be a normal battery.
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>> why not have a spare engine standing by?
Er, I have, in the garage...two, in fact.
For the Classic, though.
Ted
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Zero>> why not have a spare engine standing by?
Why stop there? A spare car would be more useful. Realistically there's going to be a fair chance that something else on the car fails before the battery, isn't there? Starter motor, alternator, clutch. All essentially "service items" if you are sufficiently paranoid...
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I tend to change batteries when they're between 5 and 6 years old. I don't wait for any signs of slowing down or imminent failure - as battery failure can be very rapid, the early signs might not be so helpful.
I'm happier knowing that the cars will start in the morning, and SWMBO's car will start wherever she is than gaining the rather hollow satisfaction of wringing every last Coulomb out of the battery, and then shivering waiting for the breakdown truck to arrive.
This way, the battery does become part of the planned maintenance of the car, yes, a service item - albeit on rather a long interval. The marginal, near negligible, loss I suffer in changing out the batteries a bit early is more than made up for by the lack of hassle and time wasted when one does suddenly fail.
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>>>Why stop there? A spare car would be more useful. <<<<
Why stop even there? A spare heart, kidney, corneas.......... all sorts of transplants are available now ;)
the car is not much use without a driver!
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If you want to see what happens if you dont maintain your batteries, have a look at
tinyurl.com/33j9dw5
(It's the AAIB report of a crash involving a BA Strikemaster)
I particularly like the instructions on page 7 for restarting the engine..... especially the bit about 'wait one minute'
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>> My previous car had a battery on top of which there was a green indicator,
>> which would have turned black to signal battery change required.
As I understand it, the green indicator is a hydrometer indicating the state of charge in one of the 6 cells. It may be restored to green by charging the battery. Other cells in the battery may fail and the indicator still show green.
I've just done NC's battery replacement thing. Mrs H (who is very musical) reported that the C3 seemed to be starting slower than usual. No further comment necessary; new battery fitted the same week. Starting sounds are now restored to normal.
The C8 battery recently failed completely after a family visit to Halifax. I was travelling separately (on the motorcycle) and unintentionally left Mrs H with a completely dead car so a new battery was needed for that car.
So, there were 2 batteries on the garage floor, both "sealed". Some light work with a hammer and screwdriver and I could peep in the cells. Both batteries were as dry as the proverbial. The smaller battery took and estimated egg-cup of water in each cell to cover the plates but the C8 battery took nearly a pint overall to cover the plates. I've dosed them with Bat-Aid and left them in parallel on my Aldi smart charger. So sealed batteries dry themselves out and then self-destruct. Why can't you top the blessed things up any more ?
Finally, on batteries, you might have a giggle at this story;
tinyurl.com/37p4lbd
Last edited by: hawkeye on Thu 17 Jun 10 at 09:58
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>> Finally, on batteries, you might have a giggle at this story;
Thanks for that hawkeye, I also liked the estate agent with his own dictionary :-)
I noticed that you live near Richmond, N.Yorkshire. Lucky sod! Nice area.
Last edited by: corax on Thu 17 Jun 10 at 11:44
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My 1999 Focus is still on its original battery, some here would have replaced it twice, but I struggle to spend money before it is really necessary.
Last year I checked the voltage and it was only 12.20V so expected it to pack up last winter. However, despite often being left for a few days, it never once failed to start or ever turned over slowly.
Now this thread got me outside with the voltmeter and it's now down to 12.00V. :-(
So I am going to get a new battery this week. Also I have just realised that the radio Keycode written on the car's handbook refers to the original radio-cassette and not the CD player I got the dealer to fit when I got the car five years ago. So I will borrow a jump pack and hope I don't lose the code.
I've looked at Halfords for a price and a Bosch, with a five year guarantee, is around £100. Halfords own, with a four year guarantee, is only £10 cheaper so not very attractive to me.
On the internet I can find organisations selling Bosch/Varta batteries for about £65 delivered but some look a bit dodgy and lacking substance (eg no address given).
Does anyone have any experience of buying batteries online?
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I bought a pair of "mobility scooter" batteries from somewhere on-line, they are fine. Bung in your battery specification, look, check physical size, buy.
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Battery on my Mercedes failed the winter before last after standing outside in the snow and freezing cold for about a week. It just about started the car but the following day was so flat that not even the ignition light on the dashboard would illuminate properly. It turned out to be almost 10 years old, but had previously given no indication of its impending death. I got a 100Ah OEM replacement from the local Merc dealer for 80 Euros and fitted it myself.
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>>Does anyone have any experience of buying batteries online?
Look no further than Tayna.co.uk. Excellent price, very quick delivery. Theres usually a choice between Exide, Numax or Varta. I was very impressed when I bought my battery from them.
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>>>>Does anyone have any experience of buying batteries online?
Make sure you get the correct type. Fords changed to a calcium/summat with their 'smart charging systems'. Lead/acid are not suitable in these models.
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crocks, at the moment genuine Ford batteries are £50 (give or take a penny!) from participating Ford dealers. tinyurl.com/2vfn79t
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Thanks for all your comments.
I know I need a silver calcium battery so am disappointed that all the internet sites I have looked at have offered me lead acid batteries when I tell them it is a Focus.
I'll check out Ford's prices tomorrow, from £49.99 gives them plenty of wriggle space but you never know.
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When to change battery? - Zero
