ravjeff
Club Regular
Posts: 754
Location: New Zealand
Primary Vehicle: RAV4
Model Spec/Trim: GLX
Engine Capacity: 2.5L
Fuel Type: Petrol
Transmission: Automatic
Drive Type: 4WD/AWD
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Post by ravjeff on Jun 4, 2023 20:29:23 GMT
I think I know the answer but I will ask anyway to see if anyone agrees with me.
It will help ease my conscious and be good ammunition to show my wife about spending
lots of money. 
The battery is over 4.5 years old and when purchased it had a 2 year warranty. Car is always garaged and I sometimes give it a slow top up charge @ 2.5 Amps Yesterday afternoon when I connected the charger it said 12.1v and started charging at
approx a peak of 14.8v. When I looked at it just now after about 18 hours it said it was fully charged. I opened up the drivers door, got in for about a minute, got out closed the door and looked at the reading on the charger. It said it was now charging @ 15.2v and was still doing so 5 minutes later. The car always starts first time everytime but being an Automatic I don't want to be stranded.
So as it's now Winter should I bite the bullet and spend money?
Edit. I forgot to say it's a non maintenance battery with of course no access to top up the fluid.
UPDATE
Just had a quick look and it's charging @ 15.5v then it drops to 14.6v then back up to 15.7v then down to 14.5v then 15.6v
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Post by jasehutch on Jun 5, 2023 5:03:03 GMT
Hi Jeff, can you get the battery tested ?
Are you using a good battery charger ?
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ravjeff
Club Regular
Posts: 754
Location: New Zealand
Primary Vehicle: RAV4
Model Spec/Trim: GLX
Engine Capacity: 2.5L
Fuel Type: Petrol
Transmission: Automatic
Drive Type: 4WD/AWD
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Post by ravjeff on Jun 5, 2023 6:36:34 GMT
Hi Jeff, can you get the battery tested ? Are you using a good battery charger ? I have a 9 stage charger which does all kinds of stuff ( too much to type out manually on here ). I shall get the A.A. to come and test the battery but I suspect I will purchase one from them.
They give a competitive price for members along with a 3 year warranty.
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Post by philip42h on Jun 5, 2023 6:57:42 GMT
I can't see a fault with your battery from what you have written ... it started out at 12.1v - so not flat by any means and is now fully charged - what's the problem?
The OEM battery on my previous RAV was still going strong after 7 years. During lockdown when we weren't going anywhere I topped it up about once a month but otherwise it worked fine with no attention.
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Post by firemac on Jun 5, 2023 8:18:23 GMT
I can't see a fault with your battery from what you have written ... it started out at 12.1v - so not flat by any means and is now fully charged - what's the problem? The OEM battery on my previous RAV was still going strong after 7 years. During lockdown when we weren't going anywhere I topped it up about once a month but otherwise it worked fine with no attention. I tend to agree with Philip. The readings look fine. The battery on our first RAV lasted 9 years. If you’re going to renew then I’d recommend Yuasa irrespective of any deals from the AA (unless they’re supplying Yuasa, of course 😊). In my experience you can’t get better than Yuasa.👍👍 |
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Post by charliefarlie on Jun 5, 2023 11:41:09 GMT
Battery on my 2013 car was changed last year but only because I thought it was about time to replace. In reality it was still going just fine and my car is seldom used which isn’t good for batteries. I replaced it with a heavy duty Yuassa. 4.5 years is nothing so I’d leave it alone . 👍👍
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ravjeff
Club Regular
Posts: 754
Location: New Zealand
Primary Vehicle: RAV4
Model Spec/Trim: GLX
Engine Capacity: 2.5L
Fuel Type: Petrol
Transmission: Automatic
Drive Type: 4WD/AWD
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Post by ravjeff on Jun 5, 2023 21:36:05 GMT
Well the A.A. man arrived and tested the battery, he said it was not very good but might last a little bit longer.
He wasn't able to say how long however and he showed me his tester results. They didn't look very good.So I chickened
out and bought a new one. Mind you it lasted a couple of months longer than the original one which had started to
play up after 4 years in 2018.
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Post by charliefarlie on Jun 6, 2023 15:03:26 GMT
Battery’s either test good or duff there is no in between. No one can predict how long any battery will last even if it’s brand new …AA drivers get bonuses for selling retail items .
But if your happier with a new battery why not . I replaced my one only because I like yourself didn’t want agg but my one was over 9 years old .
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