This question isn't 2015+ specific but can easily be handy to any vehicle owner.

I did a simple resting test on my batteries this morning, my 2004 Expy and the 2011 truck. The truck is reading 12.25V and the Expy is reading 11.96. I don't have t he ability to test these at a full charge and when starting till my bride gets home.

Anyway, I've read that a resting battery should read 12.4+. Is the lower reading on the Expy a concern? The battery is a Duralast Gold from autozone and is about 8 years old. The battery was warrantied for 96 months and I'm there now. The battery in my truck was replaced with a MC battery in Jan 2016 and carries a 99 month warranty.

Should I just replace the battery in Expy?

 

is the expy having starting problems?
A resting 11.96V is a touch on the low side, so yes I'd be preparing to replace it. Especially if it's 8 years old.

 

I normally don't "expect" a battery to last more than 5 or 6 years. I'd say that your 8 year old battery is near the end.

I would also add that 11.96V is on the low side. However, you don't really know how bad until you put some stress on it, and see how low it goes when you're cranking the engine. Then watch to see (1) how fast it recovers, and (2)what it drops to right after you shut it off.

 

How long had it been since either vehicle was driven when you took those readings?

 

If I'm worried about the battery, I'll make sure it's fully charged with at least an overnight on my smart charger, then I want it to sit for 24 hours, and then I check the voltage.

That being said, at that age, and with that resting voltage, you are probably near the end of the life.
If the expy is starting okay, maybe just run with it for a while until you are forced to replace? If you are a two vehicle household, and the expy is driven mostly shorter trips, then it's no biggie if it dies one day. If you are saying in your head that it would be a HUGE problem if you got stranded, then just get a new battery. They are one of the cheaper disposable items on any vehicle.

 

8 years old?

I'd have skipped the testing and gone straight to replacing.

 

Lifetime varies. The stock OEM battery on my F-150 lasted 9 years before I replaced it.

If you want to have a better idea of your battery's condition use one of these:

 

I've found in my Fords, that when the battery becomes problematic The gauges start to act strange. Such as the needles begin to move and point erratically.

Outstanding battery life BTW. Here in South Texas, 4 years is about all a battery will last.

 

Thanks for the prompt replies guys.

The Expy is running and starting fine and it's my wife's DD and usually only around town. I drove my truck last night, 10 minutes each way and the Expy hasn't been driven except for moving it from the driveway to the street and back since last week.

I don't have a battery tester but I used my multimeter and set it at 20V so it wouldn't peg out.

 

What a coincidence... just today I tested a battery on a 2004 Expedition, belonging to the wife of an FTE member named Tim.





Sorry the photo is sideways... it was uploaded vertically. Anyways, I used a professional load tester that has a giant calibrated variable resistor inside (not a carbon pile), where you enter the CCA's of the battery, and the tester pushes an appropriate load onto the battery, calculated from the CCA's entered, while measuring the battery's temperature, voltage, and amperage.

The machine found that the battery's state of charge was insufficient to properly conduct the test, and asked that the battery be fully charged first, and then retested. On retest, the machine will automatically apply a brief load to zap the surface charge away from the freshly recharged battery, and then proceed with a true load test again.





So the point that this remarkable coincidence in circumstances helps illustrate is that a true test of a battery's residual worth requires that the battery be first brought to a full state of charge, and then be load tested with a real load commensurate with the battery's rated CCA or AH capacity.

 

Around here, most parts stores will do free battery load testing, and they'll even charge it for you if it's brought in without enough charge.

 

Same around here.

However, an 8 yr old battery sounds like it is time for exchange or replacement. That is GREAT to get that life out of it. WOW...I usually figure 5 or 6 yrs max in the ABQ area.


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What shocks me is that for the last five years or so, the truck has been used primarily in town for short trips and has even sat for a week at a time. The Duralast Gold has been an amazing battery, the best that I've owned.

 

Slight thread tangent, but should we expect the same battery life out of batteries in auto stop/start systems? My understanding is that they have a larger battery than the aspirated V6, but I still wonder how extra starts affect the overall battery life.

 

It is my belief (no evidence to support this...just yet), but the battery will take a hit...and have a shortened life.


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