automotive transmission

We had a 3 year old battery die in the middle of the summer on one of our cars. The dealer warned me that the battery was weak when it was in for service. I assume they tested it with some kind of meter like this, so I started looking for a way to test the batteries in the other cars before winter. One of our foreign cars has a battery that is 5 years old that costs $320 installed, so I really wanted to avoid replacing it unless necessary.

I used the tester to check the Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) on all of the cars. The new battery tested above the rated CCA and the most of the others were also close to the rated CCA. But the 5 year old foreign car battery tested at 50% of the rated CCA, so according to the meter, I SHOULD have replaced it. But I didn’t, because the car needed new rotors and pads on all 4 wheels for around $1400, so the battery got put on hold.

So every cold morning, I go out and start it and hold my breath. The car with battery with 50% of the rated CCA has started with minimal cranking at temperatures down to 0 deg F, which is as cold as it gets around here. So I am a little suspect about the validity of this meter. I probably should replace a 5 year old battery, but I suspect this battery meter would have caused me to replace it earlier than I needed to. The problem is I don’t know of any other place to have the battery tested that I really trust. Seems like they all want to sell you a battery. So the jury is still out on whether or not you can use this meter to decide if you should replace your battery.
Rating: 4 / 5