Battery Paranoia!

Discussion in 'MINI' started by Dwight, Jun 17, 2011.

  1. Dwight

    Dwight Racing with the Gods
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    Jul 7, 2009
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    San Marcos, Calif.
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    My R56 is 3.5yrs old with 50K and still has the original battery. The Scangauge still holds steady at 13.8-14.0 volts, but I'm getting nervous. Is there any such thing as a "average" lifespan on the OEM battery? I can remember the days when if you got 1.5yrs on the OEM batteries you were considered very lucky! :eek6:
     
  2. Onramp

    Onramp Enjoy the Hiways of Life!
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    May 4, 2009
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    Renton, WA
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    I'm 5 years and 60K on my battery. Tests fine. Something will give one of these days. I think 5 years on a battery is about right, but the dang battery in the explorer is 8 years old and still cranking out the amps just fine there too. I gotta think I'm on borrowed time there though.
     
  3. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

    Mar 30, 2009
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    A lot depends on where you live. Down in TX we would see 3-4 years tops since the heat really took it out of the battery.
     
  4. Justa Jim

    Justa Jim Well-Known Member
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    Good grief, I'm just turning 46K at 2 1/2 years. You folks need to get off the couch and DRIVE. :lol:

    Jim
     
  5. KittyMini

    KittyMini Club Coordinator

    Jun 24, 2009
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    My first MINI didn't need a new battery until it was over 5 years old!
    TRUST me, you'll know when you need one.... the car had a seizure, I swear! :eek6:
     
  6. Dwight

    Dwight Racing with the Gods
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    Jul 7, 2009
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    San Marcos, Calif.
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    Nope! Don't like surprises in the middle of Nowhere's Ville, WY. Just want a little advance warning. :Thumbsup:
     
  7. KittyMini

    KittyMini Club Coordinator

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    Then I would say at 5 years replace the battery.
     
  8. Rixter

    Rixter Well-Known Member

    Jun 14, 2009
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  9. KittyMini

    KittyMini Club Coordinator

    Jun 24, 2009
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    It went into disco light show mode! Every light on the MINI started flashing! Never saw that happen before on a car with a dead battery??? :eek:ut:

     
  10. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

    Jun 12, 2009
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    101k, 5 years, NC heat, original battery :biggrin5:

    Fingers crossed!
     
  11. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

    Jun 4, 2009
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    I changed mine out for an Optima red top a year or so ago. I'm not a fan of cars giving me problems so it was a preemptive strike on my part.
     
  12. docv

    docv Well-Known Member
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    Aug 30, 2009
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    Mine went 7 years before it died, and when it quit that was it, Dead......
     
  13. beken

    beken Well-Known Member

    Jan 13, 2010
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    I'm still on my original battery and it still holds a full charge. Going into it's 7th year.

    Once a year, I hook up my CTEK charger to desulphate and top up the charge.
     
  14. lotsie

    lotsie Club Coordinator

    May 5, 2009
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    On my 03, the battery went 7 years and over 100K miles. First 3 years in Manitoba, with -40F winter temps, then 4 years in St.Louis. It was still working fine, but swapped it out as a I figured one day it would just go dead on me.

    Mark
     

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