2004 toyota Corolla. 89,000km.
I haven't used my car for about 4 weeks. I try to trickle charge it via CTEK MXS5 CHarger but it's only stay on stage 1 of charge overnight. suppose to be fully charged at 7/8 stage.
If the car starts do I drive to the auto shop and get a battery change. Last battery change was at 2017...
I haven't started the car yet. may do tomorrow morning..
OCassically drive the car every 2 weeks for 40 mins each way.
I have a fluke multimeter btw. Is there a way to test the battery health with it?
Well I use a regular battery tester we professional mechanics doing. It shows you the percentage of life left. Most auto parts stores have one and we'll test it free. Tell you what's left
TOPDON BT100 battery tester is a battery tester I'm looking at to buy. Would you recommend something else or better?
Good question. Yes you can test it and no you don't have to change it on a schedule, because you never know. My wife's battery is 6 years old and going strong. But once you start to see deterioration, suggesting 1 of the cells is going bad, the others probably aren't far behind, and I would replace it to avoid getting stranded.
'on time' is more comfy: you choose time and place,
'when dead': the battery chooses, which can be problematic: long road, heavy rain and the next house 8 miles away...
I guess, you get the point?! 😀
if you don't use the car often maybe invest in a solar charger like Scotty has
I always carry a good Jump starter, the new type are very small, and I put it in my car emergency bag.
It's a safe practice to at least test your battery every oil change.
Just get it check for free at your local auto store.
BTW I've noticed that sometimes the responses from Scotty don't appear to be from him!
Why? the grammar, sentence structures and spelling are not correct.
Scotty is a very educated person so these errors seem off.
Scotty uses dictation software, and it's not very accurate. At times, completely incomprehensible.