I find that the OEM battery is a 96R group size.

I've also found a youtube video where the person appears to have replaced the battery in a 2011 Escape with a 124R battery, but the video is chopped into modules, and the 124R battery install could have been in a different vehicle. The 124R is nominally similar in length, a bit longer, and the same width, but a little bit taller in height. The hood still closes with a taller battery, according to a report on the Escape City forum, which is otherwise short on DIY information.

Since the CCA ampacity of the 124R is over 700, versus the 590 of the 96R, and since the reserve minutes is also greater, I have a strong incentive to get the larger battery, particularly for the reserve minute capacity.

In fact, I have read of people putting in the Odyssey PC1200MJT, which the Odyssey book shows as the replacement for both the 96R and the 124R interchangeably.

So, who here has a 2008-2012 Escape who has upgraded/upsized their battery? What group size did you use? What fitment issues did you encounter?

I searched the stickies at the top of this forum, and was surprised to find that this subject had zero submissions or threads.


(This is the normal starting battery, not the motive battery for a hybrid.)

 

I have an '02 and wondered the same thing. I would have had to do some re-routing of the cables to allow the increased height and install longer battery tie-down rods.
Then I wondered about extra strain on the alternator which is NOT a fun job to replace on the V6.
In the end I opted to leave the 96R size and move on.
If I had extra running lights, spot lights, grill lights, intended to use the radio while camping, had an installed power inverter for AC power ect... I would reconsider the upgrade but for normal every day use... no. I couldn't justify the work and cost of the larger battery that would in al likelyhood last the same 4-5 years that the 96R would.

 

I've got an o4 and I put a 40R in mine from oreillyauto.com.Fits perfect in the tray (touches left and right sides) and is 650cca. Crank Amps at 32* is 810 and reserve at 20Ah is 50 minutes.
I know it's nice to have a big ol' battery, I put two 31 series in my Ram diesel, but I don't see a huge benefit on a gasser unless you're in a very cold climate.

 

That's what comes up as an OEM replacement at O'Reilly auto parts not a 96R.

 

I live in Northern Maine where the winters can be quite brutal. When it is below zero outside, the cranking power of almost any battery is more or less, half of what it is at 65 degrees. I stuff the biggest battery that the hood will close on in all of our vehicles, including our 05 Escape. I even put two batteries in my old GMC plow truck (1700 CCA total). It has a 351 big block V-6 that takes a whole lot of snuff to turn in the cold.

 

So what group size battery did you install in your 05 Escape, and what modifications did you need to make in order to fit it?

 

I guess that I don't understand what "group size" means. I took out a 550 CCA battery and installed a 700 cold cranking amp battery from CarQuest. I didn't have to make any modifications at all. It fit like a glove.

 

Group size is a short hand numerical code that describes the external physical dimensions and terminal characteristics for batteries in standardized fashion as set forth by the Battery Council International (BCI).

The ampacity of an automotive battery, for a given chemistry and voltage, can be limited by size. In other words, it may not be possible for a lead acid battery to achieve 1000 CCA in a battery case with a Group size of 96R. More plate surface area would be needed per 2v cell, necessitating a larger volume battery.

On the 2011 Escape, the Ford OEM Group size is 96R. In other years of Escape, the Group size has been listed as 40. In my Ford Super Duty, the Group size is 65. There is no correlation between the amount the Group Size number is greater than zero, and actual battery size. In other words, the Group 65 battery is actually greater in volume than a Group 96R battery, and a Group 31 is actually greater in volume than a Group 65... AND, a Group 31 is greater in volume than a Group 24.

So again, there is no linear relationship between Group number and battery volume size in terms of distance from zero on a number line, BUT, there is CONSISTENCY between each manufacturer's iteration of Group number to a given volume of battery, as defined by it's external dimensions. In other words, the Group number is a STANDARD that ensures that a battery made in accordance with the BCI standard for that group number will fit a vehicle battery tray and cable configuration originally designed to accommodate that group number.

So when you say you got a 700 CCA battery that fit like a glove from CarQuest, I am VERY curious what group size that battery is, because the 96R battery in lead acid form ranges between 500 and 590 CCA. Unless you are referring to the cranking amps, not the COLD cranking amps, you must have a different group size battery that happens to fit the tray that came in your Escape. Was your original battery a Group 40, or a Group 96R?

What is the Group size of your CarQuest battery. It will say so right on the battery. If it doesn't say "group", then please just post the model or part number to the battery, and we can cross reference that to a corresponding group size online.

 

I just replaced the battery in our 2010 yesterday, it was going on six years old, replacing on age. Wife had the car, so I looked up 2010 owners manual online, said 40R/96R. We like AutoZone Duralast Gold batteries, never had a premature failure with one of those, and we get their Southern version (DGS) with thicker plates for better heat resistance (thicker plates does reduce the CA, CCA, and reserve ratings).

A-Z had the 96R in Duralast Gold S, the 40R only in their low-line battery. I have never had the battery cover off the Escape in the almost 6 years we've owned it. So later in the evening with the new 96R battery waiting on the ground, pulled cables and cover... and found that the original battery was a 40R! Oh well... The 96R is about 1 1/2" shorter (length-wise) than the original 40R that filled the tray side to side. So I had to center the 96R in the tray.

The positive battery cable (why is that thing so short?) had to be repositioned to reach further over to the positive terminal, which meant the clamping nut was now blocked by the battery top, had to use an adjustable wrench on it. I like the vertical nut wedge system on the negative cable, too bad they didn't do that for the positive cable too. Hopefully the 96R stays put, and doesn't work itself sideways over time.

When I was a Northerner, I would always research and buy the biggest battery that would possibly fit into a tray, like a Group 27 instead of Group 24, and there was a similar biggest battery for GM side-terminal batteries, might have been a 77. But in that environment of extreme cold, dark morning and evening commutes with headlights on, rear window defroster grid on, often bumper to bumper traffic with low engine RPM so low output from alternator, etc. batteries were real important.

Here, the load on batteries is small, with warm temps engines crank easily and start immediately, but heat resistance is now important.

 

Thanks for your report Torky2.

My 2011 Escape doesn't have any type of battery "cover", so I'm quite curious what the previous year's battery cover looks like. If you have the ability to post a picture, I'd be much obliged!

Another characteristic found on my 2011 is that the battery tray has four length reducing cleats molded into the tray on the bottom, which prevent the stock BXT-96R from moving side to side within the larger pan bottom. It sounds like Ford made some changes to the battery tray and OEM battery spec between 2010 and 2011.

I have the 2.5L 4 cyl. I wonder if the 3.0L V6 has a different tray/battery spec?

 

Looking at motorcraft.com (they tucked away the owner manuals pdfs a bit more), the 2nd printing of the 2010 shows BXL-40RU/BXT-96R, that was the pdf that I had saved off, figured the newest was best.

I now looked at the 1st printing of the 2010, that would be the same as our paper copy, it shows only the 40R!

Looked at the 1st and 4th printing of the 2011 online, it shows only the 40R! Shows battery is the same for both I4 & V6.

Looked at 2012 online, 40R! So it seems their manuals and what they were producing are at odds.

The original 40R in our 2010 I4, measuring at the base of the battery, is 10 3/8" long, 6 5/8" wide. For height, it is 6" to the part of the case where the terminals stick up through, and 7" to the top of the case.

At least on ours, I don't think that a taller battery would work, the cables wouldn't reach, particularly the positive one. I would not use some sort of terminal extender, like a battery switch, too many more connections to have trouble with over time.

No pics ability, but the battery cover is made of a sturdy black plastic, think of a shoe box lid, but has two depressed areas molded in that drop down to allow the battery cables to attach. The hold-down metal strap goes on top of it. Very very little of the battery top is exposed. There is a hole/notch in the cover to see the "eye" in the battery. I assume the battery cover is for safety, my 1997 F-150 has one, older Fomoco vehicles of ours didn't. Are you the original owner of your 2011?

About a month ago I looked down the "eye" with a light, it was orange, not green. Resting voltage was still up around 12.65, FWIW. The shop manual says in effect that the "eye" is not a reliable indicator of battery condition. IIRC, Delco had the patent on the battery eye idea, my first one was on 1970 or 1971 Chevys... yeah, I'm not a young person...

 

Thank you Torky2. Interesting stuff you've uncovered there. I really appreciate your skullduggery into the various revisions of the manuals for 2010/2011 model year Escapes.

No, I don't have any type of battery cover whatsoever (nor any insulating blanket for that matter).

No, I don't have the 40R like all that literature you found indicates I should have.

Yes, I am the original owner... scraped the new car window sticker off myself.

Now I really need to see a picture of what this battery cover looks like. Am I missing parts that are supposed to be there? Or did Ford thrift out this battery cover in subsequent years of production? Yours is a 2010, mine is a 2011. It wouldn't surprise me if Ford thrifted out parts, especially with the all new 2012 Escape on the horizon built on an entirely different vehicle platform.

 

The cover could very well have been part of an option package (Protection and Convenience) not installed on that particular car.

Even with the new model coming, they would have kept a stockpile for ~10 years to be sold through dealer parts departments, dealer body & mechanical shops, etc.

 

A few comments...

The all-new totally different Escape was model year 2013. The 2012 was the last year of the previous design, and at least 250,000 2012s were sold.

I have to correct my description of the battery cover -- it is more like the shoebox itself, turned upside down over the battery. All 4 sides extend down to the top rim of the battery tray. There are 2 cutouts in the top of the cover, so the battery cables attach to the terminals. In my previous description, I had confused it more with my pickup's battery cover.

With either cover, to see the top of the battery, or to access the vent caps, you have to disconnect both cables to be able to take the cover off. I assume the cover is a safety item. Have seen them on many vehicles now. There is no "package" that addresses the cover.

I just took a pic of it, if you PM me an email address, I'll send it on to you. Depending on the timing, it might not be until Sunday.

 

PM sent for pic.

The Group 124R will not fit (about an inch too long) without cutting the cleats off of the tray.

The Group 35 will not fit (about an inch too high) without extending the J bolts somehow.

I could not find the original and exact Group size 96R made with AGM chemistry anywhere.

The only AGM battery I could find on paper and online that fits dimensionally without modification is the Odyssey PC1200, and it is a smaller battery, albeit more power dense. The concern there however, was the shape of the top of the battery, which has protrusions surrounding the recessed post lands. Since the Escape battery terminal connections are rather wide stampings, I could not determine based on photos if these wide OEM terminal connectors would fit around the recessed top posts all the way without colliding with the top protrusions of the PC1200 battery. Since top posts are tapered, and terminal connectors are correspondingly reverse tapered, a fully seated connection is necessary to maximize surface contact and tightness. No point to having a great battery, only to hamper it with high resistance connections.

Since Odyssey batteries are special order only (no one locally stocks them), I was not willing to take the risk of ordering something for which no returns are allowed that didn't fit.

So.... I went to the Ford dealer and bought a Motorcraft BXT-96R-590... essentially the same battery as what came with the vehicle when new. The only difference is that the OEM Motorcraft batteries installed in production have the very helpful good and evil eye, and the replacement Motorcraft batteries sold at the Ford dealer do not.

I feel like I failed in my original endeavor... but there is only so much time remaining in life. I really would have liked to install a larger AGM battery, but could not find much precedence for this year and model on the forums from similarly situated owners, and am further confounded by the reports of wholly different battery trays and covers for the same body style Escape which I do not have on my Escape.

Upon installing the new 96R battery, I found that the Escapes top battery bracket appears to be too wide to snugly fit the 96R... as if designed for a wider battery (about 1/2" to 3/4" wider). That was the final slap in the face that cinched my failure to find a larger battery that fit. Hopefully, the next person who comes along with the same intentions will do better than I did, and will find this report to be a useful short cut to their goal.