How Often To Replace Your Car Battery

mechanic changing a car battery
How long a car’s battery lasts often depends on a variety of factors, but service experts recommend replacing them around every 4-5 years. Learn more about car batteries and when to replace yours with Sayer Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, near Blackfoot! Let us help you better understand your Jeep battery replacement and the Jeep battery cost. Don’t be shy about reaching out to our service center if you have any questions about service tips for your battery RAM.

How to Know If Your Car Battery Needs to Be Replaced

Here are some key warning signs that may indicate your battery is reaching the end of its life:

  • Jump starts and engine revving upon starting are needed more often
  • Your headlights are dimmer
  • It takes longer to start your car
  • You experience unusual power fluctuations

What Are Some Causes of Battery Degradation?

  • Heat: The liquid compounds in your car batter evaporate more quickly in excessively hot temps, so if you live in a warm climate your battery life will be most likely be shorter than 4-5 years.
  • Vibrations: If your battery’s hold-down clamps are loose, or if you drive over rough roads often on your daily Idaho Falls commute, vibrations can cause internal battery parts to break down faster.
  • Needing a Jump: Jumpstarting your vehicle (especially often) can shorten car battery life significantly.
  • Time: A car battery can only go through so many charge cycles. Though you may be able to get 4-5 years out of your battery, it’ll eventually need to be replaced.

How to Test a Car Battery Easily

Want to get your battery tested near Pocatello? We can do that for you when you bring your car in for regular maintenance at our service center twice a year so we can ensure your Jeep battery replacement runs as smooth as possible. If you want to test it between maintenance appointments at home, here are some helpful suggestions for how to do that:

Do the Headlight Test: 

  1. Turn on your car, keep it in park, and make sure the headlights are turned on.
  2. Rev the engine and see if the headlight brightness fluctuates at all.
  3. If your lights get brighter, your vehicle’s battery is probably not strong enough to keep the lights at normal brightness while the car is idling.
  4. If you do experience headlight fluctuation, we recommend bringing your car to our service shop for further diagnostics.

Use a Digital Multimeter:

  1. Set the voltmeter to 20 DC volts.
  2. Under the hood, touch the negative terminal (black) with the negative meter probe (also black).
  3. Touch the positive terminal (red) with the positive meter probe (also red).
  4. Have someone turn on the headlights while you read the voltmeter reading.
  5. At 80℉, 12.5 volts or higher means your battery is fully charged. 12.3 volts means it’s at about 75% charged.11.8 volts or lower means you have 25% or less charge.

How Much is a Replacement Car Battery?

Most car batteries for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, RAM, Wagoneer vehicles range between $75 and $120 in cost. If you have a premium battery in your vehicle, the cost to replace it could be up to around $200. Hybrid vehicle batteries have a much larger job to do, so their batteries often cost between $1000 and $6000 to replace but this is usually offset by the much lower gas consumption, in addition to the amount of time you can go between replacement.

Car Battery Replacement Service Near Blackfoot

Our service center and parts center are here for you, whether you have additional questions about replacing your car battery or you’re looking to schedule a service today. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re looking for additional information for professional car battery replacement service. We can’t wait to get your car into its best shape here at Sayer Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram!

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