is it time for me to change my battery

[D_roc]

I still got the original factory battery in my car so far no issues other than i changed the alternator a year ago. think i should just change the battery just to in the safe side or should i just go ahead and buy a battery. also if i'm buying a battery which should i buy Optima,Diehard or a Duralast the Duralast got more amps that the other two and cheaper. thanksD

[Sentientbydesign]

Sounds to me like you want to change your battery. I don't change mine until there are signs of age...ie hard to turn over engine, lights dim significantly when starting engine. Dies with little use when engine is not running etc.

Your choice in batteries is dependent upon what you do with your car. Although, I think we'd all like an Optima, most of the time it's not necessary. Dropping $130-$160 on a battery because it is super high performance when all you have is a daily driver doesn't seem feasible. If on the other hand, you're racing a lot and maybe your sound system pulls alot of juice, then the Optima might be the way to go.

I just went with a Duralast Gold. It has plenty of cold cranking amps and it has a 7 year warranty with some sort of jump start service included for about $70.

[MinisterofDOOM]

^^ Good advice.

I just went with a generic with a good warranty last time I replaced mine. I've never needed to use the warranty (which I imagine is expired by now).

[D_roc]

well i have a little system on my trunk. and i just went to autozone and the autozone gold obe had more amps than the optima think it will do the trick i got a 1800w with a cap and planning on installing a carputer soon. so think the gold will do Because seems the generic one got more juice than the optima but i dont really know much about them thanks

[Sentientbydesign]

Basing your decision on just the CCA (cold cranking amps) isn't always the way to go. The CCA basically tells you how much power the battery can give you when you're starting your car (the battery has to turn the engine over so things can start blowing up lol).

The actual capacity of the battery will be in watt-hours. Basically it means that the battery can give off a certain amount of electricity for a certain amount of time.

Hope that helps.

[warp-speed-max]

yea i think it is, while your at it u should change your cables and connectors, as well as clean them, and if you want to kno the best battery is the duralast, best value, if you wanna be a "cool" person get a redtop optima