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If it ain't broke don't fix it......

Usually I wait until they start acting up. I'll pull them out and check the date and take it to the battery shop and have them tested. If they're bad I replace them. I always buy the most cold cranking amps I can get.

Beat me to it....

MOst OEM batteries are rated for 3-4 years max life. WAIT until it dies then call AAA unless you plan on a long roadtrip. Buy one with extended life, there are but a few battery manufacturers in the US anyway.

The best advice given thus far. Taught my daughters to buy 60 month battery's and replace at 48-months. Standing around in the dark hoping a stranger jumping your car doesn't jump you first is a bad plan. $125 to $150 more or less for a battery is cheap insurnace.

LOL.



The Go To guy for car battery advice!



https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...cs/13320478/truck-batteries#Post13320478

I'd say it depends on how the battery is used. If it never leaves the 'farm", I'd rum it a long time. I am no fan of being stuck, nor stranded.

oem batteries a way better than anything available to us through the parts retailers...they must be built to a higher standard...
I have replaced the factory batteries with the same brand and size and they never last as long as the original...they want those batteries to last over 10 ys..

Are you sure about that?

That rule sure applies to wrist watch batteries!

I made the rounds of the auto parts stores a couple of years ago. None of them load tested the battery; they just measured the output. When I asked them if it was a load test a couple of the testers made it clear that they did not know the difference between a load test and a resting output test.

When I get a slow start I just go to Walmart and get one of their base batteries, which seem to last long enough for the price.

Battery maintenance 101 right there. Amazing how many don't know it.


Curious. Does you wife make a lot of short trips? If so, the alternator may not be running long enough to restore charge. Other thought is if it sits a lot in between drives, the same thing can happen. Charge due to leakage drops low, then the drive isn't enough to fully recharge.

Sam;
Good morning to you my cyber friend, I hope that the summer has been a good one for you folks - enough rain that the crops are growing and enough sun to make hay.

As always I'll state the proviso that I'm not a trained mechanic - but was in charge of maintaining a small fleet of vehicles for a construction firm for 5 years, ran a boat, RV, classic and exotic auto storage facility for 2 years and now am employed at a Big 3 auto dealership - so am not exactly unschooled on the subject either.

Not all replacement batteries are created equally by any stretch. If I'm keeping the vehicle for awhile and want to depend on it starting, I will personally buy/recommend an AC Delco branded battery.

Many parts retailers and suppliers have told me there's only a few battery manufacturers in North America now, but that doesn't mean that factory X batteries will be the same spec if they make them for "these guys" parts store as opposed to say AC Delco. Like a lot of manufactured items these days, they are made to the retailers spec and to a price point.

Some new cars have so much anti theft electronics going when the vehicle is off that the battery will only last a couple weeks without a tender on it. Ferrari, Corvette and some of the sportier BMW units come to mind here - they will kill a battery in short, short order.

Our 40th Anniversary Mustang which is an '04 is on it's 3rd battery in the 4 years we've owned it. Being only run 6 months a year combined with the anti theft system is just plain hard on batteries. I'll note I've been experimenting with solar trickle chargers and now that I'm running 2 of them it's a wee bit better, but not entirely cured with solar.

Edit to add - the Mustang also had a parasitic drain issue which killed one battery. It was a faulty alternator - but took a mechanic who knew what he was doing, as in not me - to find the problem!

On the tractor which is mainly used in winter, I use a battery tender which won't overcharge the battery and actually discharges it sometimes and then recharges it. Anyway they're not free - roughly $50 CDN for the one I'm using, but they do work in my experience.

Some folks have mentioned battery testers, but if they don't test the amps under load, it will only tell you if you've got a dead cell - not if we've got enough amps to run the system.

As well too, there's so many batteries now which are sealed, so testing the liquid level or quality isn't an option.

Then there is the fact that newer vehicles require more power to start them than many older ones. For instance as early as the '99 F150 we had, if there's not enough cranking amps available, the on board computers will not give the fuel system or the starting system the go ahead if enough amps aren't detected - so the auto door locks may work, as might the sound system, but it won't start.....

For sure and certain too - as an extension of the electronic power requirements - one has to keep the booster cables on much, much longer than we did when all the rigs had a mechanical fuel pump and carburetor.

Hopefully that was useful for you or someone else out there in the ether space this morning Sam - the experience of a guy who's likely boosted and/or tried to start 3-4 dozen different brands/types of rigs in the past half dozen years.

All the best to you all as we head into the fall Sam.

Dwayne

My cousin is a AC Delco distributor. He’s says by them from a dealer who sells a lot of batteries. Get um fresh. Hasbeen

Or in a desert climate in the heat of the summer. No AC and it might be your wife who's out and about.

Cheap insurance, indeed. If you want to save a few bucks over the life of a battery, have at it.

Paul

Not true.

The first thing most people do (because many need to compensate for something), is buy a battery that exceeds OE spec. This usually means higher CCA, which translates into less heat dissipation and less life. In newer, gear reducted starting systems, exceeding OE spec is a waste. The other pitfall is that many times these are the batteries with the longest "warranty".

The other thing, if your all else equal, is that everything in a new vehicle is, well, new. Cables are clean, alternator brushes aren't blackened and the battery isn't one that's been sitting on a boat, warehouse or shelf.

That brings us to the next consideration, is the age of the aftermarket/replacement battery as it sits on the shelf. Many times they are discharged or slightly sulfated, meaning the charging system will not recover the battery to its full state of charge. Again, your gauge might say its charged, but unless the battery measures 1275-1300 on a hydrometer, it ain't...driving it, instead of charging it first, will create issues.

Gringo, you nailed it. The vehicle sits for days at a time and then is usually only driven a few minutes to the grocery store.

I should either take it out and drive it once in awhile for an extended time and or leave it on a slow charge over night.









Good afternoon Dwayne, we were baling this morning and with all the rain lately things look really good. Green going into August is almost unheard of in this country!

Speaking of alternators I've had to replace the one on my 6.0 Ford diesel twice. They make it about 3 years and die.

The last one I just replaced a couple weeks ago and it was covered under warranty.

I pump a fair amount of diesel off the batteries(electric 25 gpm pump) and wonder if that doesn't have something to do with the short life span?

Ford alternators burn up because their charge voltages are too high (beyond 14 volts)....


FWIW, any car that sits beyond 30 days (modern) needs a re charge, at best.

Sitting beyond 30 days with modern vehicles for battery health is the equivalent of a knife in the sidewall of a tire.


But what the [bleep] do I know.....

Please tell me why the highest CCA gets your vote; I've seen about 30 semi loads of defects that tell me otherwise.....

Does your battery shop use a hydrometer, or are they 20th century outfits with digital bullshit?

Replace my batteries every 4-5 years.With all the electronics on cars/truck these days cheaper than replacing the alternator.Price one of those puppies.When its -20 below 0 here in michigan I want my truck to start & not leave me stranded.For $130 its well worth it to me.