I had my first hiccup with my truck and it is my own doing.
The battery conked out after only 28 months but I did put a high powered security system on this truck soon after I got it. I love the Vipor system but the fact that it is constantly transmitting to the remote and this works up to a mile away means a trickle drain to the battery is happening all the time.
Also the blue LED is very bright and lights up the cab at night.

Any way , now the good part, the OEM cheapo is only a 650 cold cranking amp battery. I bought a new 900 Cold cranking amp battery from Costco and WHAM, the truck is starting faster than it ever did. Big difference.
I have heard many of the guys saying their 3 valves like a lttle extra crank and mine sure did. Now you barely hear the starter and she's running, more like all my old Ford gassers. The battery reference chart shows all SD gassers have the same battery fronm the factory so it is possible we get the same battery as the 5.4 guys.

One last comment, the OEM battery is just done in. It won't take a charge and the red dot is showing. The acid levels in all 6 cells was right up .
And my big Babe, never embarassed the Ford name by dieing on the road. No, she refused to start on the morning of my road trip with my fiver.
I hit the starter and tick....tick.... tick.... Opened the hood and spotted the red eye on the battery. Good deal, she could have died on the BC Ferry and POed five hundred other drivers. Man I love this truck.

On Edit, The Costco battery is a perfect fit and uses the lower wedge clamp like the OEM. I had it changed out in under 5 minutes.
This battery has a 100 month warranty so if I get 48 months out of it I will be lucky. Also, If my truck had been driven every day, the OEM battery may have lived longer but the truck can sit for up to 4 days at a time.
Anyway, the way she starts now is worth the 71 bucks I paid for the new battery.

 

Thanks for the battery tip. I keep expecting mine to go anytime now as I never had one last 8 years (1998 Club Wagon).

 

Good to know there is a good replacement available. I've got the original battery and it still works fine even this last winter. The truck is used every day and I top up the cells at least once a year so the charge stays pretty constant. The next one will definetely be Costco.

 

Funny you should mention the tick.... tick..... tick.... Last winter at about zero degrees (or less) I had that happen, fortunately in my driveway, so I threw a battery charger on it. Initially it drew 3 - 4 amps, but within just a few minutes this dropped to less than one amp. So I tried to start it but still no deal.

The dealer concluded that I probably left the lights on; he charged the battery and the problem hasn't recurred over the last 3 or so months.


I thought these batteries were supposed to have some kind of isolated reserve capability that would still allow you to start once if the lights are left on, except that my 2005 obviously doesn't have that capability.

But then too, I wonder why my charger couldn't stuff any juice into the battery. I.e., its like the charger was seeing 14 volts so it had nothing to do....

In my case though the eye was not red. Thanks though for the CostCo recommendation. If the problem recurrs I'll just go with the 900 amp model as you suggest. Thanks.

 

My original battery is a 750 CCA. For a 2001.

After sitting for weeks doing my headers, hood light on, etc, it's not cranking well.

I guess that 6.5 year old battery has to go

 

When the battery gets old, it doesn't sink as much amperage anymore, causing "auto" chargers to think "hey, it's already charged".

If there's a "manual" setting, or a 10 amp setting, you might want to try that, keeping an eye on the battery during charging. Don't run it at 10amps for more than an hour or so without checking on it. Dangerous in an enclosed area

 

yep don how correect about the factory low amp batterys.

but also the lead plates also start to break down, letting very small flakes of lead build up in the bottom till they short out the plates.

they also sulfate after a while and in plain words. just drop dead and say they have 12 volts but sure don't have the amps any more. how they sulfate don't ask me maybe some super brain knows and can explain to this worn out dead beat just back from HI.

 

When I traded in my 95 last fall for the 01 it had the original battery in it. Worked just fine yet too. The 01 has the original in it and I hope it last just as long. The damn oem batteries are built Ford tough also.

 

The Motorcraft battery in my '97 Cougar lasted until last year. That's 9 years...

It sure didn't have the amperage left in it though

 

My 07 came with a 650

 

I just replaced the factory original Ford battery in my 1995 F350, almost 13 years old, longest lasting battery I have ever had. (I bought the truck new in Dec. '94)

 

My 2004 Battery pooped out last year. I think the 100 degree weather had something to do with it.

I put in a Diehard Gold. Watch the dates and CCA on there batteries. I got a Oct 2006 875 CCA. They had 2005's there with with like 700 CCA.

 

I have had nothing but good luck with Costco batteries. Very reasonably priced & excellent quality.

 

By the way, I have a Roadhawk laying around that I got for my stepson's Taurus. Right size for the Superduty too.

It's a 1040CCA! Oh, maybe that's MCA

 

Yup, the OEM battery in my 2003 is a 750 CCA Motorcraft. The part I don't get is the 2003 Brochure says the stock battery for gas SDs is supposed to be a 650 CCA and the diesel versions get 750 CCAs?

Any idea how I ended up with a 750? Not that I mind!

In any case, it still going strong after nearly 5 years with some sub-zero winters behind it and plenty of towing time.