Tuesday morning I headed out to start my truck and head off to work and my truck wouldn't start. Click, click, etc. That seemed odd as hell since I didn't get any symptoms and the battery was replaced in Jan 2016. 67 months into a 99 month battery doesn't seem too good to me.

I have AAA and had it towed to the dealer to be tested. I figured that it could have been something more serious but it turned out to be a bad battery. It tested at 297 CCA's, not enough to start the truck. To be fair, a year earlier when the truck was in for state inspection, the dealer did a test on it and it tested at 400 CCA's then. I asked the service guy and he basically blew me off because it hadn't failed and he couldn't prorate something that still worked.

I got the truck back yesterday and after the prorate which seemed low to me, my bill was $134 which is the cost of the new battery. It seemed by the repair ticket that Ford covered the labor but charged me full price for the battery. Either way it's done and still not too bad for a series of tests on the starter, alternator, battery and battery replacement.

I explained that there were no symptoms whatsoever and the service writer stated that there won't be on the newer systems, the battery works till it doesn't. Now it's beginning to sound like a power tool, runs till it doesn't.

Thankfully it failed in front of my house.

 

Over a 12 month period I had the batteries fail in all 3 of our vehicles, 2000 Ex, 2014 F150, and 2016 Expedition. One at the house, one at work, and one at the post office.

Years ago I got into the habit of buying my batteries from Auto Zone. They seem to be as good as anyone else' and they keep track of the purchase so when the battery eventually fails, if it's within the warranty period they just automatically credit back what's due.

The "power tool" analogy is a bit troublesome though....

 

You definitely got well past the limit of the expected battery life. You did get 67 months on a flooded battery which is pretty good these days. You also were one of the last to have the pro rated Motorcraft batteries. The batteries are now just 36 month replacement with no further pro rated warranty.

 

Thanks for t he info on that, last Motorcraft battery then. I've had amazing service from Autozone Gold batteries.

BTW, what does Flooded battery mean?

 

Flooded is your typical wet battery, it has the acid as a liquid around the plates. A AGM has the acid in a gel in paper sheets between the sheets of lead.

 

Thank you sir, never heard that term before.

 

My factory battery was great until 1 morning in march of 2019. Parked in the warm garage it was just dead, nothing left on. Jumped it and drive to work and replaced it. Been great ever sense. But like you no symptoms of a weak battery beforehand.

 

In my immediate family, including grown children and their spouses, we have 9 vehicles, located in 3 different states. It seems every few months some vehicle is needing a new battery. 5 years seems to be the norm and it doesn't seem to matter brand of battery. We've just come to expect it at this point.

 

Correction fiber glass. Absorbed Glass Mat