gmchx4

I bought the car in October of 2006 and its been my DD since. I leave to go back to school this August and have been putting this off (why replace it if it works just fine right?). Well, I don't want to be down at school living on a tight budget again for several months and have it decide to crap-out during the semester. So, when is a good time to swap batteries? Or how can you tell when it's time for a new one? The car has 36k miles, and the only mod that affects the battery is my audio equipment (speakers, sub, and amp); all of which is properly installed. I also rarely play the system without the car running, so I don't consider myself to 'abuse' my current oem battery. Just looking for advice as to knowing how to tell/when to replace the battery (hopefully that doesnt require me to wait till it dies for me to know lol).

Since purchase, I have had zero problems with it; i bough the car new and i am the only owner and driver.

Thanks

disposablehero27

well i've put over 50k on mine over the years, make sure there is water in it, and clean the electrodes, should be just fine, as my 96 has over 164k on it that was bought in nov of '07. same ol battery. also they make battery chargers that you just plug in and clip on the battery. i've ran mine dead more than a few times, and its still working just fine. lights on or working on the car and being to lazy to take the neg off etc. in theory you should be just fine.

157dB

When you purchase a digital volt meter and monitor the running,
just turned off, start-up and been sitting voltages.
Plot a curve and see the results indicate a new battery
when the lowest voltage seen is 12.1V and the highest
seen is 14.1V.
Or check the date code and replace when the 36 month warranty expires.

jtstakelin

Word of advise, if you search around on here you will see a lot of people complaining about the stock batteries on 2006 model year fords. My 06 escape had a bad battery that the dealership couldn't diagnose until they replaced it. I would replace it now and have the confidence in it.

07 Stang

Most of the dead battery issues you read about take place in cold weather months, especially if the car sits a few days without starting it.

Nuke

It's a crap-shoot. I've had batteries that lasted beyond 8 years including northern cold starting loads and some that lasted less than 3 years. If you're not noticing any problems then you probably can hold off. Unfortunately, most batteries don't give you a lot of notification. They will often load test fine one day and fail the next. Internal failure can occur on an old battery at any time. And the Motorcrap batteries are known to be a sorry excuse for a battery. My '07 and my g/f's '06 both are still running the stock battery. So far so good.

If you have the cash, pick up a battery before cold weather hits if you want to play it safe. If you're like me you'll take your chances and run it until it either craps out or begins some telltale signs (slow cranking, odd electrical issues, lights dimming on heavy loads kicking on). You could always carry a set of jumper cables.

157dB

The S197 draws 1.3 amps or so just sitting
unlike the vehicles of yesteryear so camparing
battery life in them to the battery life in a modern
S197 is invalid.

SixN2

Buy a set of jumper cables or make friends with somebody that has them. If the day comes where your car won't start due to the battery, jumpstart the car. If the battery dies again, replace it.

thuxel

Here in the desert you are lucky to get 2 + years.
Why would you replace the battery unless you are having problems?

157dB

Depending on the amount of time the S197 has been sitting,
this is not a valid set of rules for battery replacement.
Maybe 20-30 years ago but not nowdays with all the electronics
drawing amps while sitting parked.