Thread: Car Battery Question

If your car battery is getting old and you can tell it probably needs to be replaced but it is still getting the job done. Can it cause any problems by not being 100% fresh...can it cause other electrical components to burn out or fail? Or is it ok to keep going and get everything out of it I can before I replace it?

It depends on the year of the car. In most cases let it die. It may be inconvenient if you are rushing your wife to the hospital to deliver a baby and the car won't start. Basically many newer cars built from the mid '90's can have transmission shifting problems and other computer related problems if you have a week battery. Unlikely to damage anything though if you replace it as a soon as the car starts to perform poorly or won't start.

That being said, do yourself a favor and buy an inexpensive model battery from a national brand like Sears or Interstate batteries so you have the nationwide warranty thing going. Why be inconvenienced? If you need a jump or tow, you just wasted a bunch of money needlessly

Danny

Actually, if it still works...then you can still use it. But given the situation during an emergency and it breaks down, that would be the time you will regret not changing it.

It is a choice of delaying it... but preparing for the consequences.

well for convenience it is wise to replace now. normally three years is good to replace a battery especially if it maintenance free. i'm not sure if it will cause any problems with the alternator??? what do you think guys?

i guess i will agree with the other guys... for convenience sake better change your battery now. I'm quite confuse with the maintenance free batt and ordinary batts?

Hello. Based on my own experience with car batteries, I'll say that the best thing to do is to buy a new one. It may still function but surely not 100% at all. Plus your engine will suddenly just stop sometimes. I experienced that.

so most of us do agree that you better change your battery now... hehehe anyway, millionnaireman was asking what the difference with a maintenance and non maintenance batt?... that a good question let me do a thread for that.

What I do when I notice that my battery nears the end of its lifetime is buy a spare one and leave it in my car's boot until the day the battery decides to die on me, then I just swap them. That way I'm not left stranded with a dead battery needing a jump.

Yeah that's one good thing to do. And be sure to quickly replace it so that you wont have a problem.

It's a good practice that if a vehicle has a weak battery, you should change it immediately.