Signs that battery needs a replacement

[babhishek]

Originally Posted by V-16

Switch on the ignition,
switch on lights, full beam,
switch on flasher,
put on the ice,
put your car in reverse so that the reverse lights (and/or reverse horn if u have one of the things) come on,
push the brakes for brake lights,
crank the engine,
if it protests, uve got a problem
on a serious note, if theres a slight hesitation from your engine whilst starting even without undergoing any of the the above steps, check battery for acid levels.

and yes please ensure your left foot stays on the clutch and the right on the brake.

[quicksilver]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

All these are fine, but how long a battery lasts with normal use?

Typically about 3 to 4 yrs for OE batteries, though it depends on a lot of factors like usage, condition of the alternator/electricals etc. The OE battery on my City lasted almost 4 years (the last 4 months with heavy ICE usage) and I changed it as a precautionary measure.

The only tell tale sign was with the cold start when I had to crank a little bit longer (say, like 1-1.5 secs earlier, compared to an instantaneous start with the new battery).

[mithun]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

easiest check, switch on headlights and crank, if the lights go completely dim, all is not well

But is that a dangerous check since short circuiting can easily occur esp. in the case of older vehicles ?

Originally Posted by vigsom

no problem in cranking if car is left idle for a day but problem seen if car is left idle for say 2 or 3 days or more

Your advice may work on the newer breed of MPFI vehicles, BUT that may not be the case with carb vehicles since they are known to have problem with respect to starting other than w.r.t battery !!!

[vasudeva]

The battery on my Maruti cars lasted lower. Perhaps the cheaper the car and the more green the buyer, the lower they cost. For me:

Maruti 800: first car, bought in Sep 95, battery conked out in Mar 07 after 30K on odo.
Zen: bought in Apr 99, battery conked out in Feb 02 after 31 K on the odo.
Corsa 1.4: bought in Oct 03, battery replaced in Jan 07 as a precaution (`experts' indicated terminal disease and warned of passing away within the next 1-2 mths)
Corolla AT: bought in Mar 07, no signs of conking out as of now.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

The battery on my Maruti cars lasted lower. Perhaps the cheaper the car and the more green the buyer, the lower they cost. For me:

Maruti 800: first car, bought in Sep 95, battery conked out in Mar 07 after 30K on odo.
Zen: bought in Apr 99, battery conked out in Feb 02 after 31 K on the odo.
Corsa 1.4: bought in Oct 03, battery replaced in Jan 07 as a precaution (`experts' indicated terminal disease and warned of passing away within the next 1-2 mths)
Corolla AT: bought in Mar 07, no signs of conking out as of now.

To add to your list:

Wagon-R July2002 - still going strong
VersaDX Dec2003 - still going strong
Alto Lxi - Sep 2003 - still going strong

I believe the MPFI car batteries last longer as they start easier.Also as a rule,new car batteries last longer as the wiring,alternator are all new.With time,the conductivity in wires drops,leading to alternator working harder.Also accessories' wired irresponsibly can also cause significant reduction in battery life.

[Jaggu]

@mithun: See i believe old or new, electrical should be pukka, coz of the simple reason that you can loose the car and is a danger to life due to fire, so first and foremost check electricals are fine then go for a battery check

[chanapli]

Wondering ifs it is so difficult for car manufactures to implement battery health meter on dash ( like one seen on cameras)

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by vivek

here in US they give out a graphical result (on paper) of motor test (test was free), and mine was pretty bad.

Vivek,Can u elaborate on this??

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Vivek,Can u elaborate on this??

Not much, because all I got was a piece of graph paper, and I don't have it with me anymore. They told me that AMP reading on the motor while on load was not looking healthy. probably some burnt coils.

from my electrical knowledege, it could also be a failure in roating parts causing back emf and irregular AMP output. anyway,I changed the starter and all problems went away. (fixing it any other way would have costed much more )

here is a link that discusses similar test results.
Eastman Chemical Company Motor Analysis