Every single car I went out to that had constant issues (people are to cheap to buy new batts it seems these days) was not an interstate. The ones that had the most issues were exide and the cheapo walmart type and autostores.

Maybe its just my neck of the woods, IDK.

 

I have a walmart battery (in it when i bought it) date is july of 05 and its a 3 year warentty i am impressed plus its 3 inches less wide and 2 inches less deep than the 65 held on by bungie cord so when it comes time for a new one im going with a interstate mtp65 sell them at work i can get mine for $95

 

I used to sell Interstates at the parts store I worked at, and was always impressed with them, BUT that was about 12 years ago. I have heard that their quality is not what it once was.

 

+1. I mean, WTF? [Disclaimer - this is meant as a joke, not a slam on Ed]

I've had great luck with Deka batteries. I used to be big on Interstate, but they do seem to be going downhill.

Does anyone know who makes the batteries for Ford? Two cents says it's Deka.

Sorry about your battery; but she had a good life, and I'm sure she's in a better place now.

***

Looks like they might be made by Johnson Controls, and they might be available from WalMart (aka "The Evil Empire").

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...Number=2095207

***

+1 on they're made by Johnson Controls, -1 on buying them from Walmart with the "Everstart" badge on them. Looks as if they're made to a lesser standard for WalMart.

http://sun-transport.com/Auto-Parts/...aft-Batteries/

100-month warranty from Ford. That is really something. Fourteen years = 168 months, so I guess your warranty claim just went out the window. Oh well.

 

just go to auto value get a recon cost about $30.00 your goood for about three years if it's just driving around. cheap yes but it works

 

Hey Bud.........the warranty claim remark from me was meant to be humorous, sorry if I didnt make that clear.

 

I definitely knew you were joking, and it was a good one. The "+ 1" meant I was agreeing with you (also in jest), and the "WTF" meant "what kind of crappy battery only lasts 14 years"?

I edited my post to make it clear I wasn't busting on you. Sorry for the confusion.

Maybe if you re-read it with my real intent in mind you can derive some of the comedic effect that I failed to convey properly. (Hey, if I was actually funny, I'd be on TV).

Peace, John D

 

I guess this really doesn't count,but my red top optima is 11 years old,has been in several different vehicles,has been ran down because people left lights on overnight,etc. I even left it in my 78 f100 I had all winter,and it cranked and started the engine just fine after 4 months of cold weather. It resides in my 95 f150 now,and shows no signs of dieing.

 

"I guess this really doesn't count ..."

Hell, that counts plenty! Sounds like that battery deserves a medal. Optima's seem to have a pretty good reputation from what I've heard, and that just backs my hearsay evidence.

(To be honest though, when I saw a new post to this thread I was hoping it was Ed, telling me I was off his sh** list).

 

Well......
I have an AC Delco deep cycle that is 13 years old, but it is getting tired.
I bought a backhoe a couple years ago and it had a NAPA batt in it. It was starting the engine pretty well, but it
started to get rapidly weak, so I took it to my local NAPA to see if there was any warranty left. ( yes I am Cheap) I know all the guys behind the counter. He looked at me for about 10 seconds and started laughing. He said they had not sold that line of batteries since around 1995. He called a couple other guys over to give me crap. They tested it, and of course it was bad, but they were pretty shocked that it had the charge it did.

 

I put an interstate in my 95 when I bought it in 02; it lasted a little over 6 years/130K miles. Replaced it with a Motorcraft that went bad two years later. No trouble so far with the free replacement. I'd still go with Motorcraft only for my vehicles. Every brand has a bad one once in awhile.

Never had a bit of trouble with the '06 Motorcrafts in my 97 diesel.

 

My brother's 1997 Ranger, built in July 1997, still has the original Motorcraft battery, so going strong at 116k and 13 years and 6 months now. I think it helps that it is a California truck.

 

Question. My 93 F450 is a boom truck with factory PTO. A pair of decent deep cycle batteries were put in 1 1/2 years ago in October so they've been through 2 cold winters and about 650 pto hours with the truck idling. The old 7.3 non turbo, by virtue of its' own mass, takes a lot to crank it. The less than 2 year old batteries could use replacement already and, this time, I'd like to see 3 or 4 years out of them. It is not practical for me to have a trickle charger on them when not in use. Any ideas? Alternator is functioning fine and there is no current draw when truck is off.

 

Im with CJ , optima red top , its been great...Lew

 

From what I've read here and think I know about batteries and charging systems, I'd just get the highest capacity Motorcrafts I could, or Deka if you can't get Motorcrafts with about 1125 CCA, which I think is about the most powerful Group 31 battery Deka makes. (I'm guessing that's what your beast most likely takes). *** Guess not - yours are group 65. Around 800 CCA). ***

You might be able to get a higher-amp alternator, but if yours is working fine, I don't really see the point.

I know you said there's no drain on the batteries with the engine off, but to make sure there's not even a milliamp of draw, you could put an inline shutoff switch on the ground cable. If you made it a habit to use the switch every time you finish with the truck (*), you'd also eliminate the possibility of accidentally draining the batteries by leaving the lights on. Seems to me that even a stupid dome light can drain a couple of huge batteries in as little as a few days. Non-deep cycle batteries hate that as we all know, and I have to believe that even deep cycle batteries will have their longevity increased by limiting the number of deep cycles. And even they probably hate having every last amp drawn out of them, as leaving the lights on will do.

Lastly, how about a solar trickle charger, permanently plugged into an added auxiliary power port? Even a small one mounted on the back of a visor would do a lot of good. Will it start a truck with dead batteries? Hell no. And it would take about a week to charge them. But I have to believe it would go a long way toward keeping healthy ones topped up at all times.

Do I have one? Of course not. I'm too cheap, chronically broke, lazy, and stupid for that. I still think it's a good idea though.

More power to ya,

John D.


***


(*) "Total pain in the ***", you say? That's what I was thinking as I typed that. Who the hell wants to pop the hood, or open a battery box, to flip a stupid switch every time you're finished using your truck for the day? Then I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if they made a remotely-operated disconnect switch so you could just flip a switch in the cab, and the batteries would get isolated from the electrical system"? "Well duh", I then said to myself, isn't that simply the definition of a solenoid relay switch"?

Here it is:

http://www.colehersee.com/pdf/hot_fe...5_Latching.PDF

This one is good for about 115 amps. If that's not enough capacity, I bet there are bigger ones out there. (**)

I'm going to seriously consider putting one in as many of my vehicles as possible. (Disclaimer: Most of my trucks don't have a computer or much of anything else that will have a hissy-fit when it loses power. I suppose you could get around that by supplying a dedicated ground wire to anything that wants to stay on - like the damn solenoid that going to reconnect your ground cable when you flip the switch again).

*******

(**)

" ... the most popular continuous-duty is the standard ignition #SS608, it is packaged under other brands (Federated, NAPA etc.) but the part # stays the same. I believe it is 175 continuous, 750a momentary. That is the one you'd find in electric golf carts, bucket trucks etc., never have known one of these to fail and i've been using them in the race cars for over 20 years ..."

" ... I found another rated 200 amps on page 2 of the above listed link, part Cole Hersee number 24143 ..."

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/a.../t-378806.html <=== Nice lengthy discussion of what they're refering to as "latching solenoids".


*******

(***) Yes, I think too much.


*******

This just seems to get better and better:

"Battery Disconnect for Remote Controls"

"Use that extra remote control channel (just one momentary switch) to shut off the battery from outside the car. Push it once and the battery is connected. Push it again and the battery feed is disconnected. ====> Includes our auxiliary "hot" feed to the clock or computer or other items requiring power for memory. <==== The solenoid is rated 110 amps continuous duty and 750 amps surge. Hardware, wire, connectors and detailed instructions included. There is no electricity used when this unit is ON or OFF, only while switching. Remote not included".

http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/battery.html

So you could isolate your battery using your remote keyless entry control. Sounds like a fairly effective anti-theft measure as well. This place also has toggle-type for inside the vehicle, keyed switches for exterior, and one that you can swipe with a magnet kinda like a Mobil Speed-Pass.