12v Battery - do it myself?

bpratt said:
I now carry a 12 Volt LI battery to use if this happens again.
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I carry one as well. It worked perfectly the first time I had a dead battery after leaving the car for 6 months without a battery maintainer. The second time, after being away from the car unexpectedly for 5 weeks, the fully charged jump pack would not power up the car.

That was near the 4 year mark, and having had a dead battery twice, I opted to go get a new one rather than try to revive the old one.
 
Mine is at 5.5 years so far. I had an oil change a couple of weeks ago, and they told me it was at 230 cranking amps and that they recommended replacing it. I think I'll wait until it fails the first time (jump pack in trunk), then buy a replacement at costco.
 
Robert_Alabama said:
Mine is at 5.5 years so far. I had an oil change a couple of weeks ago, and they told me it was at 230 cranking amps and that they recommended replacing it. I think I'll wait until it fails the first time (jump pack in trunk), then buy a replacement at costco.
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Mine also is at 5 years, and I have a jump pack at-the-ready. Like you, I'm waiting for that first failure.
 
Landshark said:
Perhaps we define failure differently. I would consider a loss of 12V power to be a battery failure, since the battery failed to provide power to a system which requires 12 volts in order to function.

The car will not power up when the 12V battery fails. That is the actual effect. As stated previously, there is no warning prior to a 12V battery failure.
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Thanks for the detail. I assumed that the car would continue to start even with the 12V battery failure since the other poster said that the 12V is not used for cold cranking. From the other posts, it appears that the 12V jumpstart may or may not work. I will get it tested again at Sams since I am at the 5 year mark as well.
 
Following up here as I haven't done it still. So Sams will test it, but won't replace it??

Was going to get it at Costco but now their warranty is 3years but prorated and no longer full replacement. Sams has them on sale this weekend for 120. May pick up one finally.
 
su_A_ve said:
Following up here as I haven't done it still. So Sams will test it, but won't replace it??

Was going to get it at Costco but now their warranty is 3years but prorated and no longer full replacement. Sams has them on sale this weekend for 120. May pick up one finally.
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No they won't test it either. I went in and both Sams and Walmart declined to test or replace.
 
I don’t think testing is overly helpful. Mine has failed the last two times I’ve had the car in for service at Honda dealer for oil changes. The last test was 190 CCA. Before that was like 210 CCA. Both times they acted like I was crazy not to replace it. Just passed 6 years…
 
Robert_Alabama said:
I don’t think testing is overly helpful. Mine has failed the last two times I’ve had the car in for service at Honda dealer for oil changes. The last test was 190 CCA. Before that was like 210 CCA. Both times they acted like I was crazy not to replace it. Just passed 6 years…
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How long ago did it test at 190 CCA and do you know the CCA now ?
 
Does any of the chain stores replace the battery on a Hybrid ? My 12V just read 65 CCA so it may be time to be proactive and replace.
 
If you have a AAA membership consider having them replace the battery. They come to your house, install the new one, take the old one away, and we’ve found the price to be competitive. We’ve used them for our last several battery replacements and have been satisfied with the product and the service. So much easier than driving your car someplace and waiting in line, etc. etc.

I haven’t used them for my clarity so I don’t know if their service includes plug in hybrids. I’ll probably find out sooner than later, next month will make six years of ownership on my 2018 and I’m still using the original battery. But I had it in for service last week and the dealer didn’t try and sell me a new one.
 
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lanb said:
After looking at the chain stores, the best price for a battery (uninstalled) seems to be from Honda - $132+tax with 3 year replacement and 100 month prorated warranty. How easy is a self-install ? @Landshark mentioned frustrating installation earlier. Reason ?
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Self-install is easy, The video you found is pretty clear.
You don't need to use a battery tender as he shows, making it even easier.
Without the battery tender, you will have warnings / errors on the dash when you first start, but they will all clear up quickly after driving a couple of miles.

The hardest part is just grabbing and lifting the battery because it is 'heavy' and there is not a lot of clearance so you are kind of lifting it with your fingertips. Also, there is a foam 'blanket' that slides over the battery limiting how you can grip it. Just pay attention to how the mounting bracket hooks in as you remove it.
 
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Install is easy.

That price isn't nearly the cheapest. If you don't need a super strong battery (I drive only 1hr+ trips multiple times a week) you can get a $70 battery at Walmart. Mine was fresh (about a month or two old) and made in Korea.
 
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