My 8 year old orginal battery is still going strong after 9 years, going on 10, 2003 Escape XLS 3.0.

Not taking any chances with it for the upcoming cold winter months.

Any differences between the Motorcraft BXL-40R and BXT-40R except the $20 difference in price?

The BXT-40R is a 100 month battery, but not sure what the BXL-40R is rated at in terms of longevity. Both put out 590 amps.

Is it worth spending the extra $20 and get the BXT?

 

My OEM didn't even make fours years but that goes to show what short drives do to your battery. It was still cranking but it was summer but I had just started to test it and the rsults weren't too good. During a series of dealer visits for a tranny leak, they must have noticed it also and dropped a new one in. Not even listed on my paperwork. I still had Ford Oasis access at that time and it was listed there.

I've been on a Battery Minder daily even on the OEM battery. Kind-of a long term experiment.

 

Tony, don't know if you've seen this:

http://machenry.com/documents/batteryspecs.pdf

It is a Motorcraft Battery spec. Besides the tables, there are descriptions of the different battery lines "Tested Tough Max", "Tested Tough Plus" etc. and also listing of warranty per product line. The BXL has a shorter full-replacement time, and a shorter pro-rated time. Probably want to scroll through the whole thing.

 

Thank you Torky2 that is an excellent reference chart.

I see though the BXL has more CCA and a longer reserve than the costlier BXT.

I guess the reason it is less money is because of shorter replacement warranty.

I have to check the sizing also, I have the BXT in the vehicle now and just want an exact replacement without any hassles.

Thanks again for the very informative chart.

 

I noticed that too. Batteries with longer warranties that are actually built more sturdy (instead of just different marketing price-points) usually have thicker plates and larger inter-cell connections. All of this takes up more space in the battery case, which can mean that the plate area has to be slightly smaller to fit the case. Which means less CCA and reserve time.

So, to get more, you get less, but it all depends on what you want. Somewhere in the "Tested Tough Plus" family description, I noticed the word "value". That is a keyword in auto parts. Like Standard Motor Products (SMP), which made high quality parts for years. But they were losing out on the "I don't want to spend much, gimme yer cheapest one" trade. So they, like many others, came out with different lines. For example, any SMP ignition part, etc, that ends with a "T" on its part number is a cheapy. Which for people like you and me that work on our own stuff, and keep things for years, we want to avoid the lower quality level. We want to do it once. Many/most car repair places want to get it out the door and make a profit, the more the better of course, and not have it come back... right away. If it comes back a year or two later, that's beyond any warranty they gave, so its a "new problem".

The concept of "builder special" is rampant everywhere. If companies like Whirlpool, etc. etc., didn't play that game, they would lose sales. Just about everybody does it. And we have to try to figure it out to stay one step ahead.

 

From what I heard there is only 2 companys that make batterys in the USA now.So they make Exides on Monday,Die Hards on tues. dont know that for sure.I just bought a new battery for the wifes Jeep Grand and the cheapest I found was $150.00 its a Deka made in USA.Hope it lasts a while.I didn't think of pricing a Motorcraft for it.

 

Well I picked up the battery and installed it in no time flat. The BXL is an exact size replacement for the original BXT that was installed at the factory. I buy all my Ford parts at this dealer and he gave me a little discount on the BXL and got it for $80. Plus you have to add on the NY State sales tax, but that is not a bad price for a battery that has more cold cranking amps, and longer reserve power than the more expensive BXT. The trade off is the replacement and pro rated warranty. This is almost a case of getting more for less. If you want to trade way up in batteries you would want to look at Interstate batteries. Not sure if they are local to NY, NJ and probably some other North Eastern states, but I priced one for the 03 Escape I have and the cheapest one they had was $135 with the discount. From what I heard, Interstate makes a top quality battery.

My vehicle is a 2003 Escape with 150K miles, hopefully this battery will last until I replace the vehicle.