Are there tools for predicting battery life?

Question:

My question for you concerns checking car batteries. My 1966 Chevy C-20 has 3000 miles, or 6 years, on its current battery. The battery works fine here at the house. My concern is that I might experience battery failure at a destination. Would a Carbon Pile Tester predict battery failure in the near future? Is there a new tool for predicting when a battery will fail?

Answer:

Any sort of a load tester will give you a good indication of the condition and likely lifespan of your Chevy truck’s battery. But even if your battery does fine with a load test it may still leave you stranded at any point in the future. This is because the battery can suffer a sudden internal break or other physical failure that leaves you stranded and older batteries are generally more susceptible to these problems, but even in older batteries they are quite rare.

If batteries in my older vehicles pass a load test with flying colors I don’t worry about them. Check the water level regularly, check the function of your charging system regularly, and keep the battery fully charged all the time, even when the vehicle is in prolonged storage. And to guard against getting stranded, even from a newer battery that goes dead for any reason, it is always wise to carry jumper cables if you have the space.