I have an 03 4Runner with the original battery in it located in Florida. The car has about 33,000 miles on it and is kept in a garage most of the time. Should I expect that the battery is about to die, or will they go longer than three years?
Thanks in advance, Sue
Depends... sometimes they last longer, sometimes not so long. Temperature extremes tend to shorten battery life, as does deep discharge and/or leaving it less than fully charged over extended periods. They'll generally give warning e.g. slower cranking speed when starting, although many other problems can cause that symptom.
Are you having some sort of problem which you think might be attributable to a dying battery, or are you just asking?
-- Mike Harris Austin, TX
We are planning a one week driving trip and want to avoid any problems. We have had no problems yet at all.
Sue
My batteries go 'bad' in the winter months since the battery capacity goes down with temperature. Florida is hot/warm. If you are worried, have it checked. Some places check the battery free in hopes you'll buy a battery from them.
If it's been starting right up with no problems and a visual inspection shows it to be in good shape, eg no corrosion on the terminals, I wouldn't worry about it. A week long driving trip won't put undue strain on the battery.
-- Mike Harris Austin, TX
Your '03 is soon to be 4 years old -- '07s are about to hit the market -- and I'd guess the battery is about to give up. It is reasonable that the factory would use a 36- or 48-month battery, and you are clearly getting close to at least one of those benchmarks.
I have a friend with a Highlander (the Lexus version), and his clock began blinking when the battery ran low. He would start the car and set the clock, then the next day he would have to set the clock again. Sometimes he would have to set the clock later in the same day, but the car never gave him any trouble starting.
It turns out that the car uses the clock as an alert that the battery is getting low/weak. I'm not sure how it could do this, but I suggested he go to the battery store where they confirmed the battery was getting on in years.
If you think about it, it makes sense that the automaker would use a low-importance system, like the clock, to tell you that the electrics were getting ready to give up. You don't really want the battery to drain to the point that the main computer is affected, and blinking the clock is annoying enough that you will look into the problem of why the clock blinks.
Take the trip and forget about the battery.
A week on the road and a week at home is the same thing from your car's perspective. If you have no reason to think you need a battery now, you won't need one in a week.
An '03 battery /should/ be okay for another year or two. The trick is to always listen to how your car starts, every time. It's like a musical note - it will start creeping down as a warning, and give you between a day and a week warning. If you are alert to those subtle hints your car is giving, you can normally catch a dying battery before it's a goner and you are stuck.
When the battery starts failing, it usually cranks a little slower, then a little slower yet, then it almost doesn't start this time...
For insurance, you can carry one of those "Jump Pack" portable batteries that also has an air compressor and a 12V accessory jack.
And by all means let them use the jump pack if someone else is having a problem and asks you for a jump start.
If their car has big electrical problems, or they hook normal jumper cables up backwards (or they connect/remove the clips in the wrong order) to your battery, they can damage YOUR car's alternator, battery or electrical system just by being a Good Samaritan and giving someone else a jump start.
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