Battery: charge or buy new?

[ziggyboy]

Ok I've got a Yaris YRS 2007 that's exactly 4 years old this month! The battery on it has never been drained before but I accidentally left one of the inside lights on for about 36 hours over the weekend :frown:

Would you guys suggest buying a $25 charger and charging it overnight or just replace it?

Don't know much about batteries but I get conflicting info from friends. Some say my battery could die any time now even after charging but some say charge it and replace it when it really runs out....:iono:

[Klink10]

Try a re-charge first. You might get a liitle more life out of it.

[A-Dingo-Ate-My-Baby]

4- 5 years is about time to replace. see what you can get out of it, but it could
strand you on a cold day

[UTVitz]

36 hours is not that long for a battery to be discharged, it should be okay. If you get the car jumped it's own charging system will recharge the battery if you have some driving to do with it. Give it a shot.

[Ratz]

Where you are and how badly you need to start the car matters. I noticed your location is Sydney. If it is Sydney Nova Scotia and you need the car to start it may be a good idea to get a new one as the winter is approaching and they are cold. Nice to have a good battery.

If you are in Sydney Australia then you likely not going to experience extreme cold weather and I would just get a boost and drive it around for an hour. When you suspect your battery is on a verge of failing it is always good to have a booster cables on you.

There may be other Sydney on this planet, but you get the drift.

If you are frugal as me you can check the electrolyte strength with hygrometer after few days of driving (when charged up). If all cells are around 1.260 and above with less then 0.040 difference between the cells you should be OK. In addition you can load test the battery with ½ of it’s cranking capacity and if the voltage does not drop below 9.5 volts it’s a keeper.

Just my two cents worth.

[ziggyboy]

Thanks for the suggestion guys. Went to my nearest Kmart to get my battery tested. The guy said it's borderline OK and I may get up to a year with it if I really took care of it but suggested for me to buy a new one. Offered me $10 off the listed price on the shelf of the 'better' batteries they've got...and after double checking Google on my phone found that it was actually a good price. Decided to get it and installed the battery myself just now.:thumbup:

As UTVitz mentioned 36 hours is not that long to get it discharged but if it did in did then maybe the battery isn't holding up too well any more.

I'm from Sydney, Australia by the way :biggrin:

[Ratz]

Good on you mate.

[Ratz]

Sydney Australia. Fair dinkum.

[ziggyboy]

Haha. Cheers.

I'm off to eBay to sell my old battery. Hoping to get $20 out of it. Haha!

[Ratz]

Good luck. 20 bucks for the old battery and $10 discount on the newone, you good. Cheers