think it's about time to replace the Motorcraft batteries that are in my '06 F350 DRW when I bought it from a co-worker last July and was just wondering what everyone on here's preference was. the truck has about 52K on it and is mostly used for hauling my camper and boat. on average, used once a week, sometimes more during the summer. after the glow plug light goes out it takes 4-6 seconds of cranking before the engine fires. if it sits for more than a week is when it takes longer and sounds like it is struggling just a wee bit. recently went into the dealership for an oil change and part of their service is checking batteries, which they said is fine, but I'm not real confident in their assessment.

this website has been a great resource (even though most of it is WAY over my head). I'm new to owning and maintaining a diesel so I'm trying to pick up info as I go.

 

Well t_dub, it really isn't just this diesel engine, it is all modern diesel engines beit VW or Fiat or Ford. They just aren't as simple as they once were and what is great, is that you happened upon FTE: damn good place to get your feet wet.

So, to your question on just batteries: Motorcraft are good ones, I've used Costco's with good success, others have used the top end Wally World batts.

But besides the batteries, with the truck sitting we should think about trickle charging them. With a dual battery system such as ours and most other diesel trucks, you need to pull a ground wire off one of the batts to charge them independently or even check their resting voltage. A fellow FTE'er turned many of us on to one charger: BatteryMinder that does a very sophisticated charge, one that might help your batts live longer.

Also, most of these trucks were delivered with a 110A alternator, a few folks will say they are fine, but most will say it is undersized and a 140A or bigger is really what you want (Ford made the 140A std. in '08).

There are a number of things on these engines (and all the competitor's too) that require that you understand the cause/effect and either monitor "real" data to know to do something, or do some things in advance. Maintenance is huge and Real Time data on your truck just as huge...

and here you just asked about batteries...

I'd highly suggest you look into buying: DashBoss if you are an Apple person, Torque Pro for Android or Scangauge II if you aren't into computer anything (there are others, I'm just not going past the big 3 most can afford).

Read the Tech section, do not get paranoid, we are here...

and this place

 

One thing to do witch ever battery brand you choose. Clean the cable ends, alt connection and the ground cables. Wire brush and put some battery cable compound on the ends to keep corrosion to a minimum.

Sent from my leash using IB AutoGroup

 

Good Advise guys, also when replacing, do them in Pairs a weak batt will drain and kill the other, I like Interstate Battery they seem to have a good warrentee , Costco well their meat department is great I didn't like there battery maybe it was just a bad mix but it leaked drained the other batt, other's have used the Opitimum red top with good results.

 

I've had no luck with the red top optimum,2 sets died in 2years ea. full replacement first set ,second set died 2 years gave up on them, went to di hard platinum 4 year replacement 100% will be taken them in for a load test at 3 yr 10 months, I think the heat kills the red tops,did'nt work for me, good luck it's something you want to maintain for you'r ficm

 

Sounds like you need some Dummy Plugs to prevent the HPO oil from leaking down when it sits.

I like Walmart Maxx batteries myself.

Josh

 

my ficm died in that red top time , ED. ficmrepair took care of it.

 

In the fleet we were not concerned with what brand but rather the cca of the battery.
We did not put anything less than 900 cca. Now 850 will do for most homeowners but our trucks useually had more demand on them. All carried 100 gal piggy back fuel tanks and most of them had DC pumps on them. Believe me you don't want to hand fill 20 to 30 pieces of equipment twice a day every day.

 

Excellent. Thanks for the information guys.

 

I run the diehard platinum's and have been happy with them.

 

I run the Kirkland batteries from Costco. They have a 3 year, no questions asked, free replacement warranty. I'll never buy batteries for the truck again.

 

Does cat make any for these trucks? I have used them in a pair of kenworth trucks this year and instead of the John deere batteries and noticed a HUGE difference. Largely thanks to the increase of CCA. The john deere bats were 650 I think and the cats were like 1000!

 

I'm starting to have issues with my batteries from advanced auto,I've got them on trickle charge right now and will test from there. We shall see how good their warranty is,as they are just a year old. I think one of them has a intermittent cell short

 

Group 65, maybe they do. Exide makes the re-badged Deere batteries.

The Deere 4D batteries are the best I have ever used, pricey though.

Josh

 

I have had mine for 3 years and still love them also.