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Important DIY Test After Jump Starting Your Car

Just because your car battery needed a jumpstart does not mean you have to buy a new one immediately. Here’s an important DIY test and maintenance check you should try before considering buying a new battery.
Check Your Battery's Health Before Replacing It

Earlier this week we learned from a battery jump starter review that the best car battery jump starter you really need can be bought for approximately $100, saving you over $200 compared to the more expensive top-rated model. And, with winter coming, that $100 investment pays for itself compared to what a tow charge would cost you, let alone winding up stranded waiting for a tow to arrive.

Following Up with a Toyota Maintenance Recommendation

As a follow-up to the article, a recent Toyota Maintenance YouTube channel episode makes a good point that just because a car battery needed a jump start to get a car going again, does not always mean you should rush to the nearest auto parts store and pay more than you should for a new battery.

In fact, if you take the time to do a little battery cost comparison shopping, you will often find that the correct replacement battery for your car can often be cheaper through an online search for battery advertisements, rather than going with whatever an auto parts store happens to have on hand.

However, if you do not really need a brand-new car battery just yet, your savings will be even greater. And all it takes is some additional DIY test equipment to determine whether or not it is time to recycle your car battery.

That was the message in the aforementioned Toyota Maintenance YouTube video this week where the host does a “show and tell” of what you can do if a car struggles to start or fails to start from a weak or possibly dead battery respectively.

Follow along with the host as he demonstrates how to use a recommended TopDon brand battery tester and charger that cost roughly $40 and $90 respectively that with the recommended jump starter would make a complete “DIY dead battery rescue kit” to keep in your trunk the next time you or someone else who is stranded this winter with a hard to start vehicle.

Car Won't Start, Needs Jump Start

For additional articles related to your car battery, here are a few for your consideration:

Tools Recommended

Here are the two battery tools the host used in the video:

  1. TopDon ArtiBattery 101
  2. TopDon TB 6000 Pro

Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on  “Zen and the Art of DIY Car Repair” website, the Zen Mechanic blog and on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites  and Facebook for daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.

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