Trying to figure out if I should replace my battery. It's in a 2017 Rav4 and the battery is original equipment. The battery voltage was read after the car sat over night. When I started the car the voltage went up to 13.8 volts. I think that's normal when running. I haven't checked the voltage since shutting it off as I figure it'll just be high due to having just been charged.

Every first Saturday of the month I do an overall health check in the engine compartment. Oil, coolant, brake fluid, battery voltage not just after having driven the car so as to not get a false reading. Last month it was, if I recall, 12.08V.

Since the battery is 9 years old and given the reading, should I consider changing it before I get stuck?

Oh, and only one cell was a little low on water. Not showing the battery plates. Never the less I topped it off with distilled water. My dad uses distilled water in his CPAP. TMI?

 

If you're worried about it, replace it.

 

Any starting issues like hesitation or cranking delay at first start in the morning? For me here in NY 5 years is a good run for a battery. They show their weakness in early winter and if they faulter I replace them to avoid getting stuck. I think 12.08 v at rest is ok, you can google that for lead acid which I'm assuming it is.

 

Welcome to AAC!

Since the battery is 9 years old and given the reading, should I consider changing it before I get stuck?

It's beyond its warranty period and the voltage of a fully charged battery should be around 12.6V. To be safe, I'd just replace it.

FWIW, I had a Sears Die Hard battery last around 15+ years. I have an AutoZone Duralast battery that's 11 years old and still going strong, but it's in a vehicle that's seldom driven and on a battery maintainer.

 

The average life span of a car battery is 6 years.
Get a new battery.

 

You are lucky to get 9 years out of a battery! I would definitely replace it for peace of mine and preventative maintenance! Also, if you are interested in monitoring your battery status, maybe consider getting one of these. I put one on my vehicle and it was super simple and allows me to monitor what's going on without having to connect a multimeter. Ancel Battery Monitor

 

Replace it as you are running on borrowed time.

Ron

 

It paid itself by now; replace it. Your 13.8V running reading tells the alternator is fine.

 

I suggest get a new battery BUT hang on to that 9 year old battery. THAT is an amazing life time! Keep it on a "maintainer" for when you need 12 volts at a few amps.

 

If this were thirty years ago, I wouldn't be getting too concerned yet, but today's batteries are doing pretty good to get five or so years out of them.

Depending on where you live, you might be able to go to an auto parts store and have them do a load test on it. This is usually free and is pretty quick.

But, as others have said, it may be a case of better safe than sorry. A lot depends on how much hurt you would be in if it failed on you suddenly.

 

It would also be worth checking that the discharge current when the engine is off is not excessive. It could be something that is left switched on that you can't see (like the courtesy light that you can't see with the tailgate close etc..)
How far do you drive it each day (or each time you start it?)

 

Certainly checking for an unwanted current drain when the engine is off would be a first step.
You could do that without any current meter by disconnecting the battery soon after switching off, and measuring the voltage, and then check it again in the morning to see if it dropped over night. If there was no drop, then the issue could be an unwanted load with the switch off.
OR, if the battery voltage is 11.78 at the start, then you have a charging system issue.

 

First: I have replaced the battery with an AGM type (maintenance free) battery.

You are lucky to get 9 years out of a battery! I would definitely replace it for peace of mine and preventative maintenance! Also, if you are interested in monitoring your battery status, maybe consider getting one of these. I put one on my vehicle and it was super simple and allows me to monitor what's going on without having to connect a multimeter. Ancel Battery Monitor

Peace of mind for sure. Thank you. And that link; how did I ever get along without such a device. I am now considering getting one. Or two, one for my wife's car. But I won't tell her I can track her location with it.

It would also be worth checking that the discharge current when the engine is off is not excessive. It could be something that is left switched on that you can't see (like the courtesy light that you can't see with the tailgate close etc..)
How far do you drive it each day (or each time you start it?)

I'm fairly confident there is no discharge. There have been times when the vehicle has sat for days and no problem starting up. I do have LED headlights that reveal a fairly significant drop in voltage during cranking. The signs have been there, and I think it definitely was time to replace the battery.

Certainly checking for an unwanted current drain when the engine is off would be a first step.
You could do that without any current meter by disconnecting the battery soon after switching off, and measuring the voltage, and then check it again in the morning to see if it dropped over night. If there was no drop, then the issue could be an unwanted load with the switch off.
OR, if the battery voltage is 11.78 at the start, then you have a charging system issue.

Never thought of that method for checking for parasitic drain. However, with disconnecting the battery then later reconnecting it means having to reprogram the radio and reset the clock, along with whatever else may have a dependency on memory current. I suppose I could inject a 12 volt source to maintain all settings while the battery is disconnected. That might be a way around having to reset everything.

Thanks all. Glad I stumbled onto this web site. Been having a glance at all that's available here. Some pretty good Joe's.

 

I put one on my vehicle and it was super simple and allows me to monitor what's going on without having to connect a multimeter. Ancel Battery Monitor

After reading a bunch of reviews I see a common theme - poor bluetooth connectivity. Maybe because it's basically inside a metal box (car body). I guess I can live without one since all these years I've done so with no issues. Doing a monthly monitoring check of the engine bay, fluids and battery voltage, there's no real indication this device would be more than just a useful toy. Do I really need to see the battery voltage profile? Perhaps. Perhaps not. I have a battery volt meter inside my Toyota (after market) that would tell me if my alternator is having any issues. As it stands, when the engine is running I get a 13.8 volt reading. That in itself tells me there's no issues with the alternator. Or the drive belt.

Still, I might get one for my daughter. She tends to neglect routine maintenance and checkups. That's been something she has always left up to me. Kids!

 

Toyota OEM battery is long life so their charging system voltage is a but low, suited for a more deep-cycle type battery.
Just replaced my OEM Panasonic 24F at 12 years I got out of it. It was rated 65Ah and only 540CCA. Same for a Yuasa Japan one, it lasted over 12 years. You'll never buy anything that good as a replacement lol. All I did was periodically add water every few years and manually top-up/equalization charge.
But this year measuring ~12.1V with engine off (which is only 20-30% capacity) and it was cranking slow, and a cold winter... I decided to replace it.

In modern cars, the ECU controls the alternator voltage and it's the norm to not keep the battery fully charged, in order to get higher fuel economy numbers. They will charge higher during deceleration, i.e. going down a hill. It's like a regen I guess.
Problem there is the ECU's mathematical model of the battery fails as the battery ages, you can read about a few car makers like Ford that bungled it and the battery gets chronically undercharged. Or in cold weather that algorithm fails miserably. A top-up charge is necessary.

For parasite drain, my car stereo did not always shut down right away at key off on certain music USB sticks. Not sure if that was also a problem. Subaru are notoriously very high at over 100mA and a few class action lawsuits over that because they have dead batteries if parked for a while, and the batteries are only lasting 3 years.
I've also heard people who park close to their house, the car can still read the RF keyfob and thinks you are near, so it does not put the BCM to sleep mode as it should, and extra parasite drain occurs.

 

I had a couple older batteries kept in reserve for whatever may come of need. Those are the cores I turned in. The wife's battery and mine will now go into the reserve cart. The cart has a battery maintainer on it so it holds volts at 13.5V. Every now and then I unplug the maintainer and let it shut down. Then plug it back in. Voltage will go up into the 14 volt range (low side) but quickly return to standby at 13.5V. I have yet to swap the batteries. It's cold out there. And today it's rainy.

 

In modern cars, the ECU controls the alternator voltage and it's the norm to not keep the battery fully charged, in order to get higher fuel economy numbers.

Where are you getting this information?

 

Twenty years ago I replaced my Plymouth Horizon's 12 volt battery with an absortive glass mat 12 volt battery that was excess to a project where I worked. It certainly started the car very well for about a week. Then it died completely. The charging system killed it totally. It was totally dried out, quite a bit lighter than it had been. So there is a $130 lesson to be learned. Just because a diffeent kind of battery will seem to work, the charging system must match the battery.

 

Twenty years ago I replaced my Plymouth Horizon's 12 volt battery with an absortive glass mat 12 volt battery that was excess to a project where I worked. It certainly started the car very well for about a week. Then it died completely. The charging system killed it totally. It was totally dried out, quite a bit lighter than it had been. So there is a $130 lesson to be learned. Just because a diffeent kind of battery will seem to work, the charging system must match the battery.

Thanks. I have a 3 year warranty. I'll have to see what happens, but it's designed for automotive use.

 

The battery I had was not designed for automotive applications!
I suggest learning the charging requirements of the battery before installing it. MY guess is that they are not the same as for a wet-cell lead/acid battery, but that may not be the case. KNowing in advance is what I suggest.