Battery Replacement?

No, you should let them go bad. Yes, that's a bit of sarcasm. Of course replace at 4-5 years or so. Like said, they don't give much warning.

"My vote is do a load test. Most battery places will do such a test for free."

To do so the batteries need to be separated.

salem wrote:
I have a 2016 Chevy 2500 diesel with 20,000 miles. That means the batteries are five years old. Should I replace them before they go bad? How long do they usually last? Any recommendations as to brand?

Hi salem,

Where you live makes a huge difference. Cold storage is best so long as the batteries are fully charged before hand.

Heat kills batteries fast.

My car is from 2013 and the battery is just fine. It will start the car at -27 c, with no block heater. It will NOT start the car at -34 c, with no block heater.

My vote is do a load test. Most battery places will do such a test for free.

OP, as you see by the responses, battery life can vary from a few years to over 10.
Guess what that makes the average?
You’re getting into the average.
On a scale of good to worst conditions (all other things equal) it goes moderate temps = longest battery life. Cold conditions = not as good. Hot weather = shortest life.

You’ve asked a crystal ball question that is frankly pretty silly. Given you have a high $ truck that is a garage queen, I’ll presume you’re an older person. As such you probably have your own years of experience with car batteries and this vehicle or it’s batteries are not any more special than any others.
So bottom line, flip a coin.

Living i the Central Valley of Ca, you are right on the cusp of replacement time. Extreme heat is the killer of batteries. Carrying a single jump pack won't help with w diesel. Only you can decide what to do. I usually wait until they die, then find out right when I am getting ready to go somewhere. Then I have to tell the DW it'll be an hour....I have to go to Costco to replace the batteries again.

salem wrote:
That means the batteries are five years old. Should I replace them before they go bad? How long do they usually last?

Mine lasted 12 years. As some on here say: they last until they don't. Maybe carry a set of good jumper cables. I could tell by the dash voltage gauge that it was taking longer for the needle to reach the point that it had for years.

If you are going to push the envelops so to speak be sure and carry some sort of jump start device. As noted most batteries just fail with little warning. The planned obsolescence of automotive batteries is 3 years. Most folks will get more than that with proper maintenance but if you get 3 years you got what you paid for. There is no such thing as a 72 or 84 month battery. They are just taking more of your money knowing that most folks will not own the vehicle that long.

Years ago I worked in a marine Chandlery and we sold a lot of batteries, mostly deep cycle both 6 and 12 volt but also sold a fair number of starting and or the so called dual use batteries. We were one of Trojan's top marine retailers and the info I cite above came straight from the regional Trojan rep. There are only a handful of battery manufacturers in the US and they all make products for hundreds of different labels with not a lot of differences in the actual production of their various product lines.

Just saying...

:C

I replaced mine in my 15 RAM at 5 years with nothing wrong. Doesn't take much for the electronics to wack out!

Get ER Dun!!!

Do a load test on them. That is about the only reliable way to see what condition they are in. Depending on climate, etc. batteries could last 5 years (hot climates) or less or 10 years in milder climates.

On my 2004 duramax it's on it's 3rd set of batteries. OEM's lasted just shy of 10 years, Next set of Delco's 7 years, Now our son has it and has an Intersate in it.

On my 2015 at 6 1/2 years I replaced the OEM delco's with the top of the line Delco's. The OEM were getting weak, during covid the truck often sat for 3-4 weeks between starts and the were starting to have self discharge issues.

I would continue to run them unless you might be in a situation of difficult conditions and all alone. And that is fairly rare.

Costco/Sam's is fine for low price. For superior performance I recommend Odyssey AGM. https://www.odysseybattery.com