Kizashi Club

Old cars with less electronics and always driving : 10years but trough the years i have more modern cars with more electronics and it went down to about 5 years

Got about 3 years out of the OE battery which had been outdoors and used year round at that time) before the extended crank issue and other goofy unexplained electrical gremlins started happening. It was also swollen when I pulled it out to replace it. The Optima red-top replacement is still in the car. It's a good 5 years old now and I expect to get long service life from it as I keep it on a tender and in the garage most of the winter months. It gets a ride to work every couple weeks weather permitting.

Ronzuki wrote:Got about 3 years out of the OE battery which had been outdoors and used year round at that time) before the extended crank issue and other goofy unexplained electrical gremlins started happening. It was also swollen when I pulled it out to replace it. The Optima red-top replacement is still in the car. It's a good 5 years old now and I expect to get long service life from it as I keep it on a tender and in the garage most of the winter months. It gets a ride to work every couple weeks weather permitting.

Electrical gremlin examples?

I think the general consensus for the OE battery life was 3 years. I think I got maybe 3.5 years out of mine. I think the way you drive your car greatly affects battery longevity. For example, I'm not surprised Weshoot2 hasn't needed to replace the battery in his cars. It's because he drives his Kizashis for long distances regularly. This gives the alternator a chance to regularly fully charge the battery which is actually optimal for lead acid batteries. My former Interstate in my Subaru Impreza lasted 10 years as I often drove that car about 200 miles round trip nearly every weekend. My batteries that have lasted much shorter in lifespan have been used in other cars that were often driven short distances and seldom long distances.

I think climate affects the lifespan too. Lead acid batteries perform weaker in cold temperatures but hotter climates cause them to have shorter lifespans as the heat accelerates the degradation of battery components. In essence, batteries in hot desert regions likely don't last as long as other regions, but it's the cold sub-freezing temperatures that really demand the most out of battery performance to start a car. Hence, many batteries "die" in the colder winter months, but people are likely more often replacing batteries in warmer regions with hot summers.

Lastly, I agree with Tom Kizzie that modern electrical-heavy systems and accessories are taking a toll on batteries. I think older simpler cars had more reliable and longer-lasting batteries. For example, my old Impreza hardly ever had anything charging in the cigarette lighter as I owned that car before smartphones, GPS systems, dash cameras, etc. were widely available. In contrast, my Kizashi is always running a dash camera in one of the two cigarette lighter ports and the other is occasionally charging a device like a smartphone. With features like more powerful stereos, electric power steering, and more powerful ignition systems, I think it's not just the alternator that's working to power everything, especially at low RPMs. I've read that even normal family sedans in the future will likely adopt 24 to 48V systems given modern technology is rapidly overburdening the capacity of 12V automotive electrical systems. As vehicles become more electrified and stop using an ICE for idling and low speed travel (thus, the alternator will be suspended), stronger electrical systems will be necessary just to power accessories.

I got about 8 years out of my OEM battery.. and I live in the blustery cold Northeast.

redmed wrote: Electrical gremlin examples?

One or two goofy bogus fault type things popping up in the HUD. Been too long (5 years) since anything like that has happened I don't recall. New battery cured it all. Ignition related warnings as I recall...dunno.

Ronzuki wrote:

redmed wrote: Electrical gremlin examples?

One or two goofy bogus fault type things popping up in the HUD. Been too long (5 years) since anything like that has happened I don't recall. New battery cured it all. Ignition related warnings as I recall...dunno.

Thanks. I'll keep a eye out for anything different. So far the only abnormality I have noticed is the headlights dimming at a idle more than I remember. Nothing else out the ordinary. I'm sure the reserve capacity has suffered due to age and a few instances of excessive drain. After those instances I was careful not to recharge fully at one time, to keep the plates from overheating and warping. If I can keep using this battery in the Kiz till spring I might use it in my International Harvester Super C tractor after I convert it from 6v to 12v. In the mean time I'm going to be watching for a good deal on a new battery.

In the past I have always searched for the battery with most capacity that I could fit in the battery space. Eight years ago (about the same time I bought my Kiz) the battery in my Corolla died and I bought a budget battery, with low capacity. I expected to sell the Corolla within a year. The guys at AutoZone warned me that the budget battery would not last very long. Today, eight years later that battery still starts the Corolla strongly. I read somewhere after, that a high capacity battery has it's plates packed close together to get that high capacity within the batteries space. That a lower capacity battery has more space between the plates allowing plates to deform more before shorting out. That it was a better choice to get a lower capacity battery. I had doubts about that at the time, but my budget battery has lasted 8+ years. Makes me wonder. Should I do it again and get a ValuePower battery from Walmart? Does anybody have experience with Walmarts ValuePower batteries? Or other budget batteries?

got maybe 15 car batteries over years and different cars but cant really say which one was better or did hold longer. So I go with budgetpriced but last 3 batteries were VARTA @ good price and i tend to have a good feeling with that brand so maybe i stick with it (if price stays ok@that same shop)

Walmart battery quality is like the stock market...full of ups and downs. I've had some good ones over the years and some really bad ones. Depends on who's making them at the time, and what kind of mood they were in. The worst and last one I'd ever purchased leaked acid all inside the daughter's Alero dripping on the concrete floor in the garage about a week after I installed it. Had one in the Samurai prior to that that didn't fair too well either before the Alero episode. First ones I'd used were in the garden tractor over the years. First one that replaced the original lasted 5 years. Got another one...3 years maybe. It's replacement didn't even make it through winter. After the acid leak, I was done w/ WallyWorld's batteries. Crap shoot, buy at your own risk.