How Long Can a Battery Last? [Archive] (2024)

MX-5 Miata Forum > NA/NB (1990-2005) Miata > NB (1999-2005) General discussion > How Long Can a Battery Last?

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Payser

3rd June 2020, 19:11

I have a new-to-me 2001 LS and the battery is not very strong. I have been thinking of replacing it; even though it always starts the car. I found that the battery is a Panasonic S46A24L(S)-MF.

Am I correct that is the OEM battery?

Is it plausible that it is the battery that came in the car when the car was originally purchased?

When did that battery become unavailable to purchase in the US?

It would be exciting if it was the original battery. 19 years!

bogey

3rd June 2020, 19:14

Original Miata batteries seemed to last forever. I think my original was about 12 years old. Replacement batteries don't seem to last more than 3-4 years.

OrangeRa1n

3rd June 2020, 19:37

Charge cycles are what kill batteries. Since the Miata doesn't have a bunch of technology that runs while the car is off there isn't much of a parasitic drain that would otherwise wear the battery out. Most car batteries that share similar chemistry are made in the same factories, or similar factories. I think whatever battery you do go with will be more than sufficient for the Miata since it won't see much wear besides starting the engine.

It is possible you have an OEM battery that is original, especially if you live in a climate that does not see extreme temperatures. There should be a date stamped on the battery somewhere. If you do replace the battery, make sure to get an AGM battery.

MMoondog

3rd June 2020, 20:20

Don't get too excited. Out here in hot, sunny Tucson, even garaged when it is not in use, batteries seem to not last much longer than 5 years ON AVERAGE. That means some fail sooner and some fail later, but they all fail eventually.

When you replace your battery, make sure to get an AGM that fits exactly in your battery tray with the vent tubes and all. I think that all the available ones that are CORRECT made right now are made by Penn Deka, regardless of the name on them. And I think you can get it shipped to your front door from Amazon.

pedxing

3rd June 2020, 22:09

Trunk mount helps. Two things kill car batteries, heat and drain.

Although my problem with Miata batteries has been they're old before going in the car...not much call for the size so they've possibly sat on a shelf for a year. I've gotten two replaced under warranty before just moving to a more popular 51r size.

My trunk mount agm battery in my BMW lasted 9 years.

S13MX5

3rd June 2020, 22:13

I replaced the original Panasonic battery on my 10AE after 16 years. Granted the car is only used in summer so that's 8 years of actual use and 8 years just sitting unplugged.
Reason for replacing was that it would not have enough juice to start the car if the temperature was under 9 degrees C. So the Fall evening drives were starting to get risky.

Jesse1999

4th June 2020, 11:26

I replaced the Panasonic battery in my previous '01, built in May 2000 if I remember correctly, summer of 2018. Battery tested slightly weak but started fine. I didn't want to get stranded taking my mother on a 4 hour one way trip to Lake Superior north shore so I replaced it. I was tempted to put it back in and see how much longer it would have gone!

Lance Schall

4th June 2020, 11:37

Yes, the original Panasonic AGM is notoriously long lived.

I'm pretty disappointed with the car battery manufacturers. Why can EV manufacturers warrant the drive batteries for 10 years but the aftermarket ICE start batteries can only manage 3 years? High end batteries are already $200+. They aren't getting enough money for good tech? I'd pay more for a 10 year battery.

j9fd3s

4th June 2020, 12:06

When did that battery become unavailable to purchase in the US?!

i'm not sure, sometime in the early 2000's, the cars continued to come with the Panasonic's up to 2005.

Lance Schall

4th June 2020, 12:31

And that's the other tragedy. Mazda had a half decent battery and stopped exporting it to US. Yeah, it was sometime in the early 2000's. At the same time, they were still sending a Panasonic over in each new Miata. Bastards.

bperrybap

4th June 2020, 13:25

Yes, the original Panasonic AGM is notoriously long lived.

As long as it is never run way down.
The factory battery in our 2000, only lasted a little over two years, but it was run down to about 1.8 volts. It never really recovered from that and had to be replaced fairly soon after.
(around 6-8 months once the weather got colder again)
Just wouldn't ever fully charge or have much starting power after that.

This has been my experience with pretty much all car batteries, they really don't like deep discharges.

--- bill

bellamia

4th June 2020, 15:01

The original Panasonic lasted 9 years. Replaced with a World One AGM battery and that one lasted 9 years as well.

monkeylizard

4th June 2020, 16:46

My original Panasonic lasted from 2001 until 2019.

I have a Duracell in it now from Batteries Plus. If I get 1/2 that life out of it, I'll be thrilled.

wentwest

5th June 2020, 02:07

My battery in a 2002 built in 10/2001 lasted until summer 2018, when I replaced it because the cranking speed was getting slow, a few days after being charged fully. The car has spent its entire life in the San Francisco Bay area where the temperature is moderate all year.

Stevester

5th June 2020, 02:08

You probably can get a Panasonic but I bet it won't be worth it unless you're building a concourse restoration. When the Panasonic in my IS300 died (about 10 years ago) I thought it would be fun to replace it with another Panasonic. Went to the dealer parts counter and at first he just said, "nope". I kept bugging him so he looked it up: $450 and one month shipping. So I bought an AGM at O'Reilly's for $150. Although, I guess if (big if) you can get 15years out of it, it would work out.

bperrybap

5th June 2020, 02:18

I've gotten 4-8 years from multiple $100 Wesco batteries.
--- bill

j9fd3s

5th June 2020, 09:04

You probably can get a Panasonic but I bet it won't be worth it unless you're building a concourse restoration.

so it turns out you can, it is NLA from Mazda, globally, but you can still buy it from Panasonic, getting it here might be interesting, i've never shipped a battery before.

Panasonic part number is S46A24LS/AC

https://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/sonic-speed/s46a24ls-ac.html

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/S46A24LS-AC-Panasonic-Mazda-MX5-12V-Japanese-Automotive-Battery-/183894307257

PatrickGSR94

5th June 2020, 09:56

I hate current "regular" auto battery tech. I haven't had one last much longer than 3 years in any of my cars in at least a couple of decades, and it's annoying as hell. And anything better seems to be ridiculously expensive.

OrangeRa1n

5th June 2020, 10:17

I went through 4 batteries within 2 years until I found out that I HAD to go to ford to reset the battery monitoring system on my F-150. Going on 4 years strong so far.

nikkidanjo

5th June 2020, 16:17

I think my original battery lasted something like 14 years.

Payser

6th June 2020, 13:35

Lots of good ideas and information.

Does anyone know what the date code would look like and how to interpret the code? I have looked online and have failed to find any information.

Terminator03

6th June 2020, 14:28

For those not getting decent battery life, do you not use a battery tender during periods when the car isn’t driven (such as winter in areas with snow)? All of my off vehicles that sit for long periods off season are on tenders, and I’ve found that it greatly extends battery life by not allowing full discharge. That is a battery killer in my experience.

PatrickGSR94

6th June 2020, 22:09

For those not getting decent battery life, do you not use a battery tender during periods when the car isnt driven (such as winter in areas with snow)? All of my off vehicles that sit for long periods off season are on tenders, and Ive found that it greatly extends battery life by not allowing full discharge. That is a battery killer in my experience.

My experiences are all with daily driven vehicles. I drive my Miata at least 1-2 times a week year round, and my other cars all get driven every day. Still only get ~3 years out of automotive batteries.

Lance Schall

6th June 2020, 22:32

Same here. Year round driving. I get nervous after 4 years. Around 5 years I either suspect slow cranking or it outright dies and I replace it. Perhaps your experience with longer life is not the trickle charger but rather lower miles driven?

John B. Parker

6th June 2020, 23:45

Ironically, the Panasonic in our 2002 NB failed within a year, but the dealer warranty replacement would not have been the AGM in cars still being imported. I bought a Westco AGM instead, and it lasted 12 years; replaced it with a similar AGM from O'Reilly's.

On a side note, the original battery in our 2002 Mazda Protege 5 lasted about 10 years, and I discovered it was just like the one in my 1999 NB. It had special OEM cladding to fit in its box. I sold the 1999 NB in 2008, with its original battery.

My NC gets a new Duralast Gold every four years of its five year warranty. Attempts to get much more than that have been at my peril.

Terminator03

7th June 2020, 09:17

Lance, you may be right. Because of my schedule and the long winter season here, I dont end up driving my toys nearly as much as I would like so maybe its a combination of that AND leaving them on the tender during the cold season. Prior to doing the tender though, my battery longevity was very short, which was why I started taking the time to do it in hopes of extending the life, and it has made a huge difference for everything including my lawn tractor battery, which I was only getting maybe 2 seasons out of prior!

nikkidanjo

7th June 2020, 09:24

My NB was daily driven when I lived in Atlanta. In Nashville it would typically be a day or so between uses. So the car never was left to sit for long periods of time. In Atlanta it helped that the car was garaged at home and in a parking deck at work. In Nashville it was outside (damn it). Being outside in the southern heat might have ended the battery a bit earlier. Then again, Nashville heat isn't like Arazona heat.

PatrickGSR94

7th June 2020, 09:53

I haven't even seen 5 year warranted batteries in the past several years. Last time I needed a battery for my Integra (just about 3 years ago actually), I went to O'Reilly and the only choices were 2 or 3 year warranty periods. That tells me that the manufacturer expects them to not last much longer than that.

Lance Schall

7th June 2020, 10:16

Granted EV batteries have their own cooling systems and pretty sophisticated charging systems which unquestionably extends their lives. The say nothing of the fact they are designed to deep cycle. I think heat takes it out of batteries more than cold. And Mazda was never overly generous with the capacity of either the battery or the alternator.

PatrickGSR94

7th June 2020, 14:20

EV batteries are lithium-ion. There are regular 12V lithium ion automotive batteries available, and they're super light. Like under 5 pounds light. Like pick it up and wave around with one hand light. But the cost is insane, over $600 for some of them.

This particular one has a built-in reserve capacity which they eliminates the need for trickle charging. And 1,000 cranking amps.

https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/starter-batteries/automotive/ag-51r-rs/

Lance Schall

7th June 2020, 14:29

I like it! Except the price. How are they doing with the history of Lithium batteries randomly bursting into flames?

How Long Can a Battery Last? [Archive] (2024)

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