Quote:
|
Originally Posted by mikebai1990 Thanks for replies again. I asked my dad, and he completely disregarded my suggestion, saying that I have no idea when a battery is really out of "oomph" and that the battery was fine, and all that... He kept telling me that a battery doesn't need to replaced until the engine doesn't start.... ?!?! That's a pretty dangerous choice to make, don't you guys think? Why wait until your battery's completely dead? Also, I think it will only get worse in the winter, right?
The engine does seem to take a somewhat abnormally long time to start, as I pointed out earlier, approximately 2-2.5 seconds. I'm comparing this to our new 2005 Mazda, which starts in .5-1 second. Does the cranking time depend on anything other than the battery? Maybe it's just because the car is old, and naturally takes longer to get started (it's a 1993 Acura)
Pardon my lack of knowledge, truzoom, what does it mean to have the battery load tested? Also, if I take it to somewhere like Autozone, is it free? |
Batteries are unpredictable. You can gauge one to see where it stands between "no voltage" and "great voltage", but cells can fail, electrolyte can evaporate out, straps can break. My OEM battery was lasting me nearly into 5 years in HOT OK summers, but I switched it out for a larger new one once I started to notice my engine not starting up as smooth.
A load test for a battery will essentially put an amperage load onto a battery. This will determine that it has the capacity to start up an engine and it will help determine if the battery has any serious issues. Typically you want to load a battery to a cranking amps rating double its listed CCA, at which point it should hold steady above 10 volts. I really don't know if Autozone has load testers, although I'd assume they do.