I noticed the last month my truck had trouble turning over and firing up in the colder mornings. Thought it was due to cold.

Took an 11 day vacation to NY and left the truck home. Started the truck the day after the trip and would not trun over. Tested both batteries and reading around 10.5 volts.

Quick trip to sams and 2 red optimas at $140 a pop. They have 50 extra CCA and I am sure they cost less than the motorcrap batteries.

I have 4 optimas on my boat and 1 is like 8 yrs old and still works great and holds a charge even sitting for long periods of time.

 

Might surprise you to know that Johnson Controls makes both the Optima and the Motorcraft batteries. Therefore, if one's crap, the other ought to be as well. Personally, I've always had good luck with the Motorcraft batteries.

 

You don't state the age of the truck or batteries!! You have no credibility to your statements with the info supplied.

 

3 yrs and six months. Truck produced may of 2007, I drove the truck home june 1 2007. Replaced the batteries 12/31/2010.

I thought the optima were made by interstate batteries?? There regular celled batteries are crap too. I had to go bad within two years of installation on my boat.

 

My truck is almost exactly a month older than yours. Knock wood, she's still crankin' on the original Motorcrafts.

Here's the Johnson Controls Optima product link: Johnson Controls Inc. | OPTIMA Here's the one for Motorcraft: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_makes_...raft_batteries You'll be surprised to note that Johnson controls also makes the Interstate batteries.

 

Mine was built june 07 and both have already been replaced under warranty. Seems like they should last longer but I think one of them in my 7.3 quit right after the 36 months was up.

 

Still running mine. Born March 08.

 

Mine are still in, though 1 of them is getting weaker according to the dealership when it was last serviced about 2 weeks ago. Build date 3/07

 

Thanks for the info Larry. I dread picking up my travel trailer next week. I have a feeling it will be needing a new battery as well. Looks as though another optima in the future.

 

I have posted this before, but now looking back i have a different view. I jumped in my 08 truck it started right up just like always, no drag at all. I moved it about 50 yards and shut it off. Get back in and it will not turn over at all. Lights on, door chime worked, radio on but turn the key and nothing. Ford came and got it. Called me a few hours later and said the batteries had died. I have never just had a battery die with no signs. So they told me they had already put 2 new ones in it and it was running fine now. Well i go to pick it up and it won't start, same exact deal. Everything worked fine but turn the key and nothing happens. So i go back in, they send a tech guy out and he sat scratching his head. They had to give me a rental truck. Two days later they call and said it was ready to go. They said that they forgot but when you replace the batteries in the 6.4's there is some sensor you have to reset and they forgot about it. Well I had to pay 100% full price for the batteries, they would help me at all on them. Never could tell me what sensor they fixed or anything. Well the next day I'm out to eat with the wife and on the way home I get the check engine light and it says to pull over and then shuts off, they towed it again and then said that because of the batteries going bad it caused and electrical issue and caused the EGT sensor to go bad and the sensor told the computer i that the EGT's were to high. They paid for the tow and fixed the sensor, but the also put 80 miles on the truck to test it out.
So looking back I don't really think it was the batteries, I think they put new batteries in to see if it fixed the problem and then didn't want to take them out and also made some money on me. And I understand that batteries are a wear and tear item, but they should prorate them.

 

The Optima Batteries are an AGM design, they may be made by the same people but it is a different animal...and in my opinion AGM batteries like Optima or Odyssy are the only way to go.

 

Not to start an argument, but my 2000 Contour just killed it's original MotorCrap battery last month. 10 years is pretty good for a battery, IMHO.

There's a lot that can have an effect on battery life, I killed the one in my '07 F150 in one year by discharging it twice. Not that Optimas aren't great batteries, but I have yet to hear anything that concludes that they will last longer than a conventional lead-acid battery.

 

Here is a little light reading on Batteries Battery Tutorial

 

Add me to the list of people having battery concerns. They have died 3 times now but dealer isnt willing to admit anything is wrong yet. They claim the relay I run for aux lights is draining the batteries. Can a relay drain batteries?

I disconnected the relay and letting the truck sit a few days to see if they still drain down.

I will say I have had better success with Optima red tops in my hot rod than I did with regular batts.

 

Battery life is dependent on a bunch of variables - temps, reg short vs long trips, number of deep drain cycles, acessories used, etc.
IMO 3 yrs isn't too shabby for batteries asked to start a Diesel Eng on a reg basis regardless of temp. 3 sure fire ways to kill batteries: heat, extreme cold & running them till they're dead more than a couple of times