How Often to Replace a Car Battery

Most experts recommend that you should replace your battery about once every 4 to 5 years. However, like with many car parts, your car battery’s lifespan will vary depending on driving habits and climate. Get to know about the telltale signs to look out for, the causes of car battery deterioration, the steps to test your battery, and the usual cost to replace one in Orange, MA. 

MOPAR Battery Info Service & parts Info

How to Know If Your Car Battery Needs to Be Replaced

If your car battery is about to die, it will usually display these signs: 

  • Dimming headlights
  • More frequent need for engine revving or jump starts
  • Takes longer to start the engine when you turn the key/push the button
  • Unusual power fluctuations

What Causes Car Battery Deterioration?

  • Heat: Hot weather causes the evaporation of liquids inside a car battery, so if you live in a more consistently hot climate, your battery life will be inevitably shorter. Lucky for us folks in MA, we have all four seasons, so the heat won’t be as much of an issue. 
  • Vibrations: If your battery’s hold-down clamps are loose or you drive over rough roads frequently, vibrations will cause internal battery parts to break down faster. 
  • Needing a Jump: If you’ve done something like left your lights on overnight or let your engine idle for too long and require a jump start, this can shorten battery life significantly.
  • Time: A car battery can only go through so many charge cycles, so the death of your car battery is unavoidable, but proper care can prevent the battery from dying on you early. 

For the best idea of how long your car battery should last with proper care, consult your owner’s manual or maintenance schedule. 

How to Test a Car Battery

You can have your car battery tested during regular maintenance at your local service center twice a year. If you want to test it between that time, many retailers offer free tests, or you can test the battery at home with a few easy methods: 

The Headlight Test: 

  1. Turn on the engine, keep the car in park, and make sure the headlights are on.
  2. Rev the engine and see if the headlight brightness changes.
  3. If the headlights get brighter, that means the current is not strong enough to keep the lights at normal brightness while the car is idling. 
  4. Take your car to a service center at this point for further assessment.

Using a Digital Multimeter:

  1. Set the voltmeter to 20 DC volts.
  2. Under the hood, touch the negative terminal (black) with the negative meter probe (also black).
  3. Touch the positive terminal (red) with the positive meter probe (also red).
  4. Have a friend turn on the headlights and check the voltmeter reading.
  5. At 80℉, 12.5 volts or higher means your battery is fully charged. 12.3 volts means it’s at about 75% charged.11.8 volts or lower means you have 25% or less charge. 

How Much is a Replacement Car Battery? 

The typical car battery can cost between $75 and $120, and if you have a premium battery, it could be up to $200. Hybrid car batteries have a much bigger job, so they are more expensive– anywhere between $1000 and $6000. However, this is usually offset by the much lower gas consumption. You can find MOPAR batteries at Sonia’s CDJR!