How Often to Replace a Car Battery?

Anyone Googling ‘how often to replace car battery’ will quickly find every 4 to 5 years cited as a general rule of thumb, but there are other things to consider, including:

• Signs a Battery Needs Replacing
• Common Causes of Battery Deterioration
• How to Test a Car Battery

We’re always happy to provideservicing tips and tricks, so here’s a quick and easy guide to answer all those questions.

Signs a Battery Needs Replacing

While every 4 to 5 years is a good estimate, there are signs it needs to be done sooner. Just a few common signs include:

• Frequent Need for Jump Starts
• Dim Headlights
• Unusual Power Fluctuations
• Trouble Turning the Engine on
• Long turn-Over Times

Common Causes of Battery Deterioration

How much is a replacement car battery? You’re looking at between $75 and $120, or up to $200 for a longer-lasting premium battery. Hybrid batteries are significantly more expensive, coming in at between $1,000 and $6,000.

That’s why you should keep these common causes of battery deterioration in mind:

• Leaving the Lights On
• Extremely Hot or Cold Weather
• Vibrations Causes by Broken Internal Components

Simply leaving your vehicle in the shade when it’s hot around East Baton Rouge or turning the lights off immediately when you return home from Ascension can prevent the need for an early battery replacement.

How to Test a Car Battery

When you’re looking at how to know if your car battery needs to be replaced, you’ll quickly realize the best way is by having it tested. That’s somethingour service team can help with, but you can also do it yourself using the following methods.

With a digital multimeter:

• Set the voltmeter to 20 DC volts.
• Lift the hood and connect the black negative battery terminal to the black negative meter probe, then do the same for the red positive ones.
• Turn your key to activate the headlights, then check the voltmeter. 12.5 volts or higher shows a full charge. 12.3 is roughly 75%. 11.8 volts or lower is under 25%.

With the headlight test:

• Put your vehicle in park and turn your key until the headlights come on.
• Rev the engine and note if the headlights change in brightness. If they get brighter, your battery is close to dying.

Visit Our Acura of Baton Rouge Service Center

We can help with batteries whether you need to have yours tested or pick up a replacement fromour parts center. For any further assistance, feel free toget in touch today.

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