Scotty and Moderators,
I have a 2019 Toyota Corolla 1.8L with currently 117,000 miles on it (CVT transmission) still running fine and just keeping up with regular maintenance on it. I still have the original battery on mine and given that it is 6 years old now I've been testing it more in the last year. I decided a couple of years ago (from a couple other people on here) to buy an Autool BT 460 battery tester for testing my battery. Even to this day, every time I test it, the life of the battery is still showing 100% which I'm surprised about given that this battery is 6 years old and Scotty has mentioned many times that car batteries usually only last about 3 to 5 years or so. I still don't have any problems starting my car even though when its really cold out some mornings it takes some extra cranks to get it started, but never had any problems starting it. So, I'm wondering if I'm doing the test correctly on this battery tester. I made 2 unlisted short youtube videos that I'll link below of me doing a battery test, and another one of me doing a charging test to show how much my battery is charging while it is running (maybe its charging too much). You'll be able to look at the other details in the battery test and let me know if they look odd for my make/model.
When I did the charging test the car was warmed up good as it was just a little after I drove it about 15 minutes one way and then 15 minutes back. I also didn't have the radio on, heat turned off, and no headlights on while doing the charging test. It was about 35 degrees outside when I did the tests earlier today, so still relatively cold out.
Please let me know if I did the battery test correctly, and also if I did the charging test correctly, and if my alternator is possibly charging my battery too much.
Battery test: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hLXG8FIlCVk
Charging test: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MpVe50a3ZSY
I would completely ignore the battery test. It's nonsense. There's no way you can assess the condition of a battery without putting a load on it.
Perform the cranking test per page 3 of your BT460 user manual, to get a better idea of your battery's condition. But even that doesn't tell you the whole story. If you want to make it more accurate, disconnect your fuel injection fuse and crank the vehicle for 10 seconds or so.
Just keep in mind that a $50 chinesium tester will never replace a $300 carbon pile tester which is able to accurately measure and draw hundreds of amps from the battery, simulating harsh starting conditions.
I still don't have any problems starting my car
In my opinion your best bet is to visit a battery dealer when you start noticing problems and let them test it for you.
I would quit worrying about it .... when you have a battery issue you will know it... I have had batteries last more than 10 years...Honda sales a ten year battery..
