How long does an Engine battery Last?

[TeamBandS]

I know I could have asked how long is a piece of string! However would appreciate peoples experiences.

My battery is original and now 6 years old. Always kept fully charged + very rarely used multiple times in a day and is not showing any signs of getting tired. I am hoping to get back to Spain in January for 3 months and would not relish having it fail abroad. My old x-trail battery went for 11 years with a lot of very cold starts in winter and my Honda Jazz was just as old when replaced and was mainly used for short runs. Neither failed suddenly and gave warning that all was not well.

How long have you kept a Fiat Ducato engine battery?

 

[Phill D]

changed ours 6 months ago at roughly 9 years old.
Just to be on the safe side... Just like your thinking.
It still seemed to be fine, although I choose not to properly test it.

 

[Two on Tour]

Our starter battery gave up the ghost after 5 and a half years on a new van.

 

[Phill D]

Thinking more about it ours spend most of the winter on hook up with trickle charge going to cab battery. That may have helped it live a bit longer

 

[Bessy765]

Weigh up the difference in cost of a new one fitted in the UK and obtaining on in Spain. Other considerations if you buy a new one in Spain and later on it becomes defective how will you claim under warranty. If it were me at 6 years I would fit a new one before I leave the UK.

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[nicholsong]

I can just give you my experience.

I bought our MH 12 years ago with a battery in situ, but I do not know how old it was, or whether it might have been a then 6 year-old original.

My commercial garage had advised me 3-4 years ago to keep it running on the basis that batteries of that age were better built.

It packed up a few weeks ago on a Greek island - no problem as I knew who to call to get help and a new one.

I think I got my money's worth out of that battery.

Geoff

 

[Rapido925M]

My Mercedes battery gave up the ghost at 15y old. A replacement from Halfords was easy to acquire: getting it out through my “letterbox” bonnet required help from my Home Start insurance.

Gordon

 

[Lenny HB]

I replaced my van one at 4 years old, it had gone flat after my CBE split charge relay that tops it up from the leisure batteries had gone faulty.
After recharging it starter the van OK. I gave it a basic test by fully charging it & then seeing how the charge held up. It was down to 12.2v around 50 % charge after 13 days, I would not have expected it to be that low for about 21-25 days so I fitted a new one. Not worth messing about for a £100.

My car one is still going strong at 9 years that only does local journies so not so important.

 

[Flairy]

My battery is original motorhome build date 2001 .

 

[frogijock]

Bought one in Spain just before the Chinese poisoned the world and it cost me around €350, certainly more expensive in Spain

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[Reusables]

I had one in my work van for 8yrs and it came with the van so Christ knows how old it was .
And that was multiple on and off every day.

Buy a lithium jump pack to take with you just incase..they're only small..

I've had one for about 3yrs and only used it for jumping other people's vans

 

[Richard n Ann]

Ours is the same age as the van, 7 years and 2 months old. It gets maintained at home on an optimate maintainer, and even the solar looks after it when we're away via a 1 amp trickle charge.

It got neglected for 4 weeks on the first trip to Benidorm in 2014 though so I don't know how discharged it went (I was young and stupid ) I'll probably replace it at 10 years if it lasts.

The car battery voltage started dropping on its own when it was 6 years old so I replaced that before it let go.

 

[Phill D]

Bit of advice to avoid any issues when you disconnected the old battery....

Connect your car or any other 12v source with jumper leads to the underbonnet jump start points.
This will keep all your ecus and electronics still functioning while you change the battery.
Just make sure that when you disconnect the positive at the starter battery that you either insulate it or keep it well away from shorting to anything.
Old battery out new in.
Connect up new battery, remove jump leads.


No issues with radio, clock, or any ecu.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Ours went at four years old without warning.

 

[bigwood]

The starter battery fitted to our Rienza struggled the second winter we had it. When I checked the battery the date of fitting was marked on the top. It said it was five years old. Considering the motorhome had been stood nine months before we bought it it seemed about right that the battery had failed.
When doing breakdown work it was quite common for average priced batteries to fail after three or four years.

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[TeamBandS]

Thanks everyone for helpful replies. Like many, I plug in to the ECU for 3 months in Spain and at least once a month at home if I have not been able to use the MH. £350 for a battery in Spain is an eye opener and will certainly come to play in my decision! Thanks for the advice on keeping a 12v supply live when disconnecting the battery - I had anticipated radio and clock might have needed resetting but can I ask what happens to the ECU? Battery life does seem a bit of a lottery - my Dad had new Fords for years and his batteries were lucky to last 3 years.....

 

[Phill D]

The ecus are not a definite risk, but they will likely shut down. The potential issues arise when there is reconnection and the possibility of spikes in voltage.
If you have solar charge to your cab battery as well as the habitation then if its day time you will have a charge to the cab battery terminals while they are disconnected.
Or you could disconnect the solar panel positive prior to the change of batteries.

Many of us have experienced loss of, in particularly the airbag ecu from low voltage or voltage spikes.

It's a bit belt and braces and likely not to be an issue the vast majority of the time and I probably being over cautious but I prefer to minimise the risk particularly with the cost and non availability of many electronic components at the moment.

 

[paddymcc]

My Mercedes battery gave up the ghost at 15y old. A replacement from Halfords was easy to acquire: getting it out through my “letterbox” bonnet required help from my Home Start insurance.

Gordon

The battery on my 2006 Mercedes is also 15 years old. Still going strong but it has always had solar trickle charging it from new. I seem to remember your struggles getting it out in an earlier post. Something to look forward too I suppose

 

[62272]

6 years from new then died on our first trip out this year while filling up with fuel at a Tesco near Carlisle!! Recovered to a local tyres/battery depot who fitted a new one within 15 minutes.

Will be changing every 5 years from now on.

 

[Zains Pops]

I’ve got two engine batteries a few years back after serious starting issues was advised to replace. All that did was knock a hole in my bank balance problem eventually traced to a internment faulty relay all been well since. Rather than dumping the original pair I have them as ‘spares’ on conditioning charge so my OEMbatteries are now 12 yrs old and seem fine. Had a BMW 7 series which went to the garage in the sky with own battery 14 yrs old. So with care and maintenance I’d say decent batteries should last at least 12 yrs.

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