When to replace Battery as preventive maintenance?

E

embe

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Background: '02 LS8. No electrical issues to speak of yet, no aftermarket stereo, etc

Symptoms: Inside garage it would always fire first crank. This week when outside (cold) the car would crank but sometimes not start. Eventually after the 4th crank or so it would fire and I'd be on my way.

Blocked fuel filter, bad fuel pump, MAF, IAC, water in gas all crossed my mind but since it would eventually fire and run OK, didn't narrow it down.

Hooked up the trickle charger last night after all the recent wear and tear from cranking (battery still looks brand new) and did some research on Motorcraft battery date codes - from what I can tell this thing might damn well be original ie: Nov 2001.

Car ran like a champ today, but I think this battery is due for retirement tomorrow..
 
I usually get 5-7 years from the origonal battery and 2-4 on replacements. I would say bravo to 12 years on that battery! Woo hoo! You could almost take it out for drinks.
 
You can take it to a parts store and do a load test. You can also do a specific gravity test. Chances are if it is 12 years it's best to replace it. But if you want to KNOW that it's dead you should do one or both suggestions.
 
My 06 had the original battery. It stopped holding the full charge and thus the alternator thought the battery needed charged and just was running constantly.

Then the alternator went out, the car gave me the death bong (which is ridiculously annoying that it is also the put on your seat belt bong) and said "Check charging system" A short time later, it was trying to eject all the cd's opening and closing the sunroof, and the alarm was going off in a completely patternless and random way.

So yeah, that's nice that you all are gentlemen and are making honest women out of your batteries and all, but hell, get a new one.
 
The original OEM battery, mfg in '05, in mine died about a month ago. It pretty much just upright failed which is usually how it happens to me. A few days before I did notice it taking a little longer to crank (like 3-4 seconds instead of 1-2). But anyways, got up, went out, started it, drove to lunch, had lunch, came out, dead battery. No real warning signs other then a little longer to crank. It failed so hard it wouldn't even spin the engine, just the relay stuttering and then the car alarm going off. Typical bad battery nonsense. Maybe I've just been lucky, but haven't really had a battery slowly die. They always just seem to die at once.

On a side note batteries have gotten expensive. Guess when you haven't bought one in 4-5 years you don't notice it. Ended up being $132 before checkout. Probably should have gotten an interstate or motorcraft battery but I wasn't really about to get picky with a dead car.
 
The correct battery (with the hydrogen vent tube connection) from the dealer was $115.45 each when I had to replace both of mine last week.
 
My battery died after 7 years or so ('06 LS factory battery). My father has always said batteries tend to last 5 years so I've always kept that in mind
 
joegr said:
The correct battery (with the hydrogen vent tube connection) from the dealer was $115.45 each when I had to replace both of mine last week.
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Yeah, but it's hard to be picky when your car is dead. :)

Ohh well, hopefully I get a few years out of it.
 
Mine finally died after 6.5 years. I'm not disappointed at all, my wife does alot of short trips, Black car that sits in the TN sun all day all summer, etc...

Does anyone make a replacement besides the Motocraft?
 
mnmridg said:
Mine finally died after 6.5 years. I'm not disappointed at all, my wife does alot of short trips, Black car that sits in the TN sun all day all summer, etc...

Does anyone make a replacement besides the Motocraft?
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Mine was a direct-fit replacement with vent tube and everything. Looked exactly like the OEM motorcraft battery minus the motorcraft stamping on the side of the case. Had the little green battery indicator, same ribbing, molding marks, etc. It came from Advance and was $130. Was the only one they had in the store. It was their house brand called "Autocraft" with 750CCA and a 3-year free replacement warranty. I rolled the dice. So far so good.
 
Cool, I'll give the local stores a peruse then, I thought I had read a few years ago (when I did not need a battery) that the Motocraft was the only option.
 
Suprisingly, the local stealership has the Motorcraft for $109.95 + 9.5% for the priviledge to buy in Tennessee. Parts stores are starting at $20 more and up.
 
mnmridg said:
Suprisingly, the local stealership has the Motorcraft for $109.95 + 9.5% for the priviledge to buy in Tennessee. Parts stores are starting at $20 more and up.
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I just bought mine a few minutes ago. At that price + core. The parts guy said we have to have the battery with the vent because without it will allow corrosion in the well and turn it blue. 100 month warranty including roadside towing and replacement if it fails. I got free doughnuts too. Autoway Lincoln in Clearwater, FL
 
01V6 150k miles

On my second motorcraft, 1st one died after 7 years. Still runs like new.
 
Robot said:
I just bought mine a few minutes ago. At that price + core. The parts guy said we have to have the battery with the vent because without it will allow corrosion in the well and turn it blue. 100 month warranty including roadside towing and replacement if it fails. I got free doughnuts too. Autoway Lincoln in Clearwater, FL
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I believe the factory was 650CCA. The Motorcraft battery was 3 year free replacement and then 8 year pro-rated. Pretty much the same as the Autocraft I got.

So, I spent about $20 more for the convenience of having it just 5 minutes down the road. If the dealer doesn't have one or is an hour away I wouldn't worry about it and just pick up one from the parts store.
 
Kumba said:
I believe the factory was 650CCA. ...
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Yes, the factory battery in the LS was 650. Warranty replacements were all 650 too. The from Ford is 750 CCA. If they run out of the 750s, they will sell you the 650 at the same price as the 750.
 
I just bought one today and he said the 750 wasn't vented plus it wasn't in stock... so I took the 650. I think both were $109.95. The dealer I bought my car from installed a brand new non-vented battery less than six months ago so it hurt a little to buy this one... but I think it was necessary.
 
Mine started to get weak 2 mos ago, factory battery from 99', figured I had a week tops but I wasn't risking it, stuff usually happens when its most inconvenient so I just replaced mine, better safe than stranded!
 
rsimmons1 said:
I just bought one today and he said the 750 wasn't vented plus it wasn't in stock... so I took the 650. I think both were $109.95. The dealer I bought my car from installed a brand new non-vented battery less than six months ago so it hurt a little to buy this one... but I think it was necessary.
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I just bought two batteries from Ford a few weeks ago. One 750, and one 650 (because they only had one 750). Looking at them, they are exactly the same battery, except that one is labeled 750 and the other is labeled 650. The 750 most certainly does have the same vent tube connection.
 
It is truly amazing what things you notice weren't working right when you get a new battery.
 
Hey, thanks for everyones help/comments so far. Put a brand new battery in last week, everything has been swell but she conked out on me today. Started to idle real bad (at stoplight) before she went down and no revival. No other misfire symptoms up till now. Could get it to fire but kaput in a second after running. Tried boosting, no good. Thinking fuel filter or...

Had it towed to the dealership so we'll see what they try to ram me with. Hey, could be worse.

My search on COP's etc but didn't see anything about instant failure. I'd expect a bit of the stuttering but it makes sense that if a cylinder isn't firing the car wouldn't run
 
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