You can determine whether your car battery should be replaced by testing it with a voltmeter. It doesn’t matter if you use an analog or digital voltmeter. Remember to wear rubber gloves and goggles to protect your hands and eyes from the battery acid.

First, make sure the ignition key and the vehicle’s lights are turned off. Next, connect the voltmeter test lead to the battery terminals, matching the red (positive) voltmeter to the red (positive) battery terminal. Then, do the same for the black (negative) voltmeter lead and the black (negative) battery terminal. If the voltage is between 12.4 and 12.6, and less than four years old, the car battery is good. If the voltage is 12.2 or less, and the battery is older than five years, the battery needs to be replaced.

To get help with testing your car battery, come see us at Porsche Downtown LA.