Hello all!

I've owned my 2007 GD Sport for a little over two months now and I knew from the get go that the battery was getting near its time for retirement. When I had my car inspected upon purchase, I believe it was producing 220 CCA (not sure) instead of the full 300 or so the battery is rated at. The car is probably still running the original Yuasa battery.

My car and battery run fine but sometimes it takes a couple extra chugs to get started on a cold morning. Also, I've noticed that if I try and raise two windows at once, the headlights dim very slightly. I was gonna leave the battery as is until I saw the battery light come on and then just change it for a 51r. However, my main question is as follows: Is it bad for my alternator to run a poorly performing battery and could it cause the part to fail more rapidly? Remember, my car is working fine and ALWAYS starts up, so this would be a preventative measure.

 

I don't think a weak battery would place a vastly higher load on the alternator than a new battery. The alternator needs to be sized sufficiently to supply the average electrical consumption of the car plus a bit in any event. Alternators are pretty reliable devices in general. (If the battery is genuinely broken rather than just getting old, such as by having a dead cell or an open circuit, that might be a bit different story.)

I've never had a car with power windows where activating two windows at once doesn't cause some voltage droop. So long as the car is starting reliably, particularly in cold weather, there's no real need to worry about the battery. (The dash light probably won't come on when the battery is in need of replacement, however; it mostly indicates troubles with the alternator and charging system, rather than the battery specifically, despite its looking like a little battery.)

 

No. It will not. A weak battery will have higher internal resistance so less current will flow through it anyway, reducing the load on the alternator. Your concern should be that if the car doesn't start you might need a new battery.

 

Thanks for the replies! I have some jumper cables in my trunk so in the even that I need a jump start, I'll be ok. My battery has never failed me to date so I'm going to try and get through at least this winter season with it. Also, the indicator inside the battery indicates it's state is "good". My mind is now at ease!