You may be right. I think of it as the longer I wait the more money I save. May be a real cold day when I do get stranded and I might be kicking myself in the butt. If you are right then I will send you a PM when I change my battery and let you know .

 

OK I just had to say it !!! Tenderizer is what you put on steak not hooking up to a battery thats a battery tender !!!!!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong .... but I thought that once the car is running, and the battery should "fail", that the alternator would provide enuff to keep the car running. But once the car is shut off, forget it. Just sayin .....

 

That was true in the old mostly noncomputerized cars, I'm no mechanic but I thought I heard that the computer has to run off of a constant voltage like the battery would provide not the somewhat variable voltage that the alternators does. So when the battery will not keep up a high enough voltage the computer gets mad and crazy and things start not to work. That's what I heard anyway.

 

I have an 04 that I bought new in Sept.06 ! Still has the white VARTA OEM battery. The thing to note everyone, is that these are a wet cell unit. The caps on top can be unscrewed to check the fluid level . . . always use DISTILLED water to top up the cells - to bottom of the cap well.

The plates in these batteries need to be covered with the acid in order to create the ion exchange for electricity. If the plates become uncovered (i.e. low fluid level), then that part of the plate (if uncovered long enough) will become non-functional - so you lose part of the battery total capacity. Using the distilled water, will mix with the acid in the battery, and become converted to acid . . .keeping the plates always covered and the battery at full capacity.

I was amazed at how low the fluid level was in my battery when I checked !! I ALWAYS check the fluid level in a battery, regardless of it saying "Maintenance Free" on it . . . if it has caps or a couple of caps, that can be removed to check the fluid level, then DO IT !!

Most people think batteries die because of cold . . . it is actually the HEAT that will do them in - boiling the fluid out of the cell and exposing the plates to air.

As long as the battery is topped up on the fluid side, and is fully charged . . .it will last a long long long time !!! That is why if you are storing your car over the winter, it is a must that you use a battery TENDER (not sure who said "Tenderizer" - ha ha ha), that will keep the charge in the battery to 100%. These chargers sense when the voltage level is correct, and shut off until the voltage falls below that level, then they charge up the battery again.

I have a 2002 Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel with TWO batteries . . . and yes, they are always full of fluid and have a battery TENDER on it during the winter (as I only use truck in summertime) . . . .

By doing these two things . . . you should be able to get at least 10years out of an auto battery !!!

Another trick, was mentioned earlier in this thread, use vaseline on the battery terminal connections . . . it will inhibit corrosion ! It is conductive, so you can use it on the posts/cables prior to installation !

Happy Motoring . . . .

Cheers

Mark

 

Hmmm .... this does make sense Larry .... might be why things start to go haywire... Sooo.....if this is true, it really doesn't pay to take a chance and NOT replace the battery beforehand. Just DO IT!!!!

 

Very interesting thread. My 07 had a Build Date in August, 2007, so it will be 4 years with OEM battery late next year. And my experience over the years is 4 years is about it for a battery, especially if doing a lot of short trips to & from work and around town. Not enough time to get the battery juices really percolating!

But when I checked the Interstate battery site for the replacement MTP-91, the website shows another battery for our cars with higher CCA rating. Model No was MTP-48-H6 and they show it as a Suggested Retail of $164.00!

Curious how the MTP-91 was identified by others as the Interstate replacement.

 

Not so curious. The MTP-91 fits but it needs a spacer under the clamp as it is a bit lower than the MTP-48-H6 which is identical in height to the OEM battery. The MTP-91 is also cheaper.
Full report here;
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post340783
I agree that four years is all you should rely on a battery for. It may last six but why take the chance, I look upon replacement as cheap insurance.

 

Went to local self-service auto parts stores this afternoon to see if I could find the MTP-48-H6 battery. Advance Auto had 3 of the Gold level batteries (7-yr) in the rack, priced at $154.99. AutoZone only had their 3-yr battery in this size, and priced the same! No Way!

I'll go by local Firestone store tomorrow and check out their batteries.

 

Back in February last year I bought and installed the Interstate MTP-91 from the Firestone across from my house.
I printed the $20 coupon off there website.
Cost before coupon was $129

It fits the battery tray perfectly but is a tiny bit shorter so a rubber spacer is suggested with the battery hold down strap.

 

need help bigtime. had a weak battery so i went to autozone and purchased the battery they had listed for our cars in their computer. installed it and the car seemed to crank with more vigor. now , 2 days later, the car will not start, just clicks. i think its the starter, but why would the battery cause this? should i have gotten a certain brand of battery, or what? has this ever happened to anyone else? any suggestions? thanks in advance.

 

It sounds more like a bad connection somewhere.

 

any suggestion where i should check first. the battery cables look firmly seated. where do you think i should start?

 

Cold, I would remove the battery cables again and take some sand paper and clean the posts and inside the cables, (or use a battery cable cleaner brush).
If it still clicks, then remove the cable that's attached to the starter, and clean the connection there as well.
If that doesn't work, I'd have the battery checked out, it may have a dead cell, even though it's brand new.
Good Luck

 

Still running the OEM whitetop. First hint of impending failure it will get replaced. Seems to still be running strong. 108 deg. days when I got her in Aug. and down in mid teens recently.
I can't say I've seen any threads on starter failures.. I'm guessing they are fairly solid?

 

Is it possible that the battery that you originally had was OK but was showing the same symptoms that you are having now?
One guess would be that the alternator/regulator is not working properly and the battery is run down like your first battery. Did you have the alternator/regulator checked out?

 

Great suggestion 180, a car could run off the battery alone for a couple of days (depending on distance driven of course).
But wouldn't the alternator "light" be on if it wasn't charging?
Not arguing, just curious.
Could it be a short somewhere that's draining the battery?

 

Normally I would think the light would come on but what turns the light on? If it was a function of the regulator and the regulator was faulty .....?
I am not too sure on things that spark, so I am just surmising.
We have seen problems with unseen faults in the cables under the insulation as well. If batteries are flat the lights should show up as dim, sometimes all the symptoms are not spelled out making the diagnosis really hard.

 

thank you all very much for all of your help. once again, the forum has saved me time, wasted money and frustration with the fire. turns out that +fireamx was correct. i cleaned the battery terminals, and then tightened the connections when i reinstalled them, and viola! she roared to life with vigor! i know it seems like something simple, but if you dont know, you dont know. and i didnt know. thank you so much. i am grateful.

 

Cold that's great news, thank my Dad for it. He told me when I was 16 years old, even though the cables may look OK, they can still have enough corrosion on them to keep the current from flowing the way it should.
Glad it worked out for ya.