I think the batteries in my pickup are going on 8 years old?
That said some of the newer vehicles seem to need more juice at start up for the all the electronic chit. I've replaced the battery in my wife's car twice in the last 5-6 years. It won't even spin over when the battery 'dies'. Get some horsechit message on the screen....
Needless to say I've kept the 'bad' batteries and use them in old chit that can work on 12 volts or whatever they show on the tester.
Sam;
Good morning to you my cyber friend, I hope that the summer has been a good one for you folks - enough rain that the crops are growing and enough sun to make hay.
As always I'll state the proviso that I'm not a trained mechanic - but was in charge of maintaining a small fleet of vehicles for a construction firm for 5 years, ran a boat, RV, classic and exotic auto storage facility for 2 years and now am employed at a Big 3 auto dealership - so am not exactly unschooled on the subject either.
Not all replacement batteries are created equally by any stretch. If I'm keeping the vehicle for awhile and want to depend on it starting, I will personally buy/recommend an AC Delco branded battery.
Many parts retailers and suppliers have told me there's only a few battery manufacturers in North America now, but that doesn't mean that factory X batteries will be the same spec if they make them for "these guys" parts store as opposed to say AC Delco. Like a lot of manufactured items these days, they are made to the retailers spec and to a price point.
Some new cars have so much anti theft electronics going when the vehicle is off that the battery will only last a couple weeks without a tender on it. Ferrari, Corvette and some of the sportier BMW units come to mind here - they will kill a battery in short, short order.
Our 40th Anniversary Mustang which is an '04 is on it's 3rd battery in the 4 years we've owned it. Being only run 6 months a year combined with the anti theft system is just plain hard on batteries. I'll note I've been experimenting with solar trickle chargers and now that I'm running 2 of them it's a wee bit better, but not entirely cured with solar.
Edit to add - the Mustang also had a parasitic drain issue which killed one battery. It was a faulty alternator - but took a mechanic who knew what he was doing, as in not me - to find the problem!
On the tractor which is mainly used in winter, I use a battery tender which won't overcharge the battery and actually discharges it sometimes and then recharges it. Anyway they're not free - roughly $50 CDN for the one I'm using, but they do work in my experience.
Some folks have mentioned battery testers, but if they don't test the amps under load, it will only tell you if you've got a dead cell - not if we've got enough amps to run the system.
As well too, there's so many batteries now which are sealed, so testing the liquid level or quality isn't an option.
Then there is the fact that newer vehicles require more power to start them than many older ones. For instance as early as the '99 F150 we had, if there's not enough cranking amps available, the on board computers will not give the fuel system or the starting system the go ahead if enough amps aren't detected - so the auto door locks may work, as might the sound system, but it won't start.....
For sure and certain too - as an extension of the electronic power requirements - one has to keep the booster cables on much, much longer than we did when all the rigs had a mechanical fuel pump and carburetor.
Hopefully that was useful for you or someone else out there in the ether space this morning Sam - the experience of a guy who's likely boosted and/or tried to start 3-4 dozen different brands/types of rigs in the past half dozen years.
All the best to you all as we head into the fall Sam.
Dwayne
