How to Know if Your Car Battery is Low
- by Joe Weber - updated on 4/22/2024
A car or truck battery has a limited number of times it can start your vehicle before it needs to be replaced. Most car batteries will last between 500 and 1,000 charging cycles, which works out to a lifespan of between three and five years, depending on driving habits and weather conditions.
Sadly, there's no way to make your car battery last forever. Wouldn't that be something? You can prolong its life as long as possible by caring for it properly but eventually, it will need to be replaced. Today, we'll be discussing some basic vehicle battery maintenance and how to tell when your battery needs replacing.
What Happens When Your Battery's Charge Gets Too Low?
The most important thing to understand about your battery is that you must keep it charged. If you let the charge drop too low, your battery can become irreparably damaged. Not to mention you won't be able to start your car, especially when it's cold outside.
So, how low are we talking? A typical 12-volt auto battery will have around 12.6 volts when fully charged. It only needs to drop down to around 10.5 volts to be considered fully discharged. If it drops down below that, the battery will become damaged due to excessive sulfation.
What is sulfation?
Battery sulfation refers to the formation of lead sulfate crystals on the surface of the battery's lead plates. During a normal cycle, this crystal build-up is only temporary and is reversed when the battery is recharged. Excessively draining a battery, however, allows the soft lead sulfate to crystallize.
Once that happens, any crystallized lead sulfate will remain on the battery's plates, throwing off the chemical balance of the battery. This reduces its overall electrical output and shortens the battery's life. If enough sulfation is allowed to occur, the battery will no longer be able to provide the amperage necessary to start your engine and will need to be replaced.
How Do I Keep My Car Battery Charged?
Believe it or not, the best thing you can do for your vehicle's battery is to take a long drive. When you start your car, the battery will use up a lot of energy, but don't worry your alternator replaces this lost energy as you drive.
This recharging process generally takes around 30 minutes to complete when you're driving at highway speeds. Now, that doesn't mean you have to drive around for an extra half hour every time you start up your car, but you should try to get in a good 30-minute drive at least once a week. This is especially important if you tend to take lots of short trips in which you're constantly starting and stopping your vehicle.
What Are Some Additional Drains on Your Car Battery?
While your driving habits will have a major impact on your battery's lifespan, they're not the only factors at work. Extreme heat or cold, corrosion and even the amount of technology you have in your car all put additional stress on your battery. Read our article entitled "6 Things That Can Drain Your Car Battery" for additional battery drains and tips on how to prevent your battery from discharging too low.
What is a Battery Charger and Why Do I Need One?
If you don't do a lot of driving or you have a car that you end up storing for long periods like the winter season, you might want to consider picking up a battery charger. A charger is a device you can connect to your battery that provides your battery with current to help keep its charge from getting too low while it isn't being used. Read more about several different types of chargers.
Regardless of the type of charger you choose, you need to be sure that you don't overcharge your battery. Providing your battery with too much charge can be just as harmful as providing it with too little.
When you overcharge a battery, the excessive current heats the battery and cooks the components inside. This can cause corrosion to form on the battery's terminals, which makes your battery far less effective. Excessive overcharging can also damage the battery's plates, causing the chemicals inside to "gas" or causing melting, swelling or cracking of the battery's exterior. If any of those things happen, your battery is no longer safe to use and should be replaced immediately.
When selecting a charger, be sure that it's compatible with both the chemistry and voltage of your battery. Battery maintainers are a great choice because they will shut off automatically once your battery reaches its ideal charge, preventing it from overcharging.
Do Vehicles with Stop-Start Technology Require Special Batteries?
In vehicles with start-stop technology, the system shuts the engine off when it comes to a stop at a red light and starts it back up again when the driver takes their foot off the brake pedal. All this extra stopping and starting requires more energy than an ordinary starter battery can handle. If you have such a vehicle, you need to use an AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery in your car or truck.
AGM batteries are equipped to deal with the large number of cycles required in automatic start-stop systems while still providing a stable level of power needed to run things like lights, radios and air conditioning. Continue reading more about the differences between AGM and flooded batteries.
What is Battery Registration?
Something new that you may not be aware of is battery registration. Many new cars are filled with sensitive electronics with specific power requirements to function properly. Try to think of a newer car without electronics. You can't, can you?
Newer vehicles come equipped with a battery management system that allows the electrical system to adapt when the battery ages so the electronics in the vehicle work efficiently and correctly at all stages of the car battery's life cycle. The BMS also modifies the charging system to charge the battery properly as the battery degrades over time.
Battery registration resets these parameters to tell the car that a fresh, new battery is installed and ready to work. This will also tell the charging system to charge the battery correctly so you don't start the day with a dead battery every day.
Battery registration is not required on all cars but if you have a vehicle with start/stop or other high-tech features, it might be wise to check with the experts at Batteries Plus before installing a new battery yourself.
How Do You Know When a Car Battery Needs Replacing?
The question we all have when we install a new battery in our car is, how long is this going to last? As we said earlier, generally around 3 - 5 years with some caveats. The nice thing is that your battery will tell you when it's starting to fail.
If your battery frequently dies or it takes multiple attempts to start your engine every morning, there's a good chance it needs replacing. You may also notice that the "Check Engine" light or "Battery" light turns on. You can also pop the hood and take a look at the battery itself. If you notice a buildup of corrosion on the terminals, that's another sign that your battery may be past its prime.
These are just a few of the signs that your battery is going bad. There are many more, which is a great reason to regularly test your battery at home or drive over to your nearest Batteries Plus to have us test your battery, free of charge. Not only will our in-store battery experts test your battery they will also test your starter and alternator to see if there are any problems there for you to talk to your mechanic about.
Get Your Battery Installed at Batteries Plus
We know a lot about batteries, it's in our name after all. Batteries Plus is your one-stop shop for all of your car and truck battery needs. Stop in or give us a call and we'd be happy to help answer any questions about your batteries that you may have.
It would be an impressive task if you could not find a car or truck battery for your vehicle on our site or in one of our 700+ stores across the country. Browse our selection of replacement car and truck batteries online, then stop by one of our stores and have it installed while you wait (available on most makes and models at most locations).