My wife's battery died on her 2002 Oddessy. She went to an auto parts store to replace it. The guy looked it up and talked her in to buying a stronger battery than the one that came with the van. Can this hurt the van in any way? 24f6 is what she bought, 24f5 is comparable to what was in there originally.

Part No. 24F6
Autocraft Battery
CCA: 700; OE Group Size: 24F; OE CCA Rating: 585

Part No. 24F5
Autocraft Battery
CCA: 585; OE Group Size: 24F; OE CCA Rating: 585

 

Nope. A higher CCA won't hurt at all. If anything, you'll benefit from it.

 

no, their both 12 volts.

 

If a higher CCA battery were a problem for your vehicle, then you'd have to be careful what vehicles you used to jump-start yours. I.e., you wouldn't let my 850 CCA truck battery jump start your 2 CCA Yugo.

That being said, I wouldn't go over about 125% of the OEM rating, as your wiring may eventually get too toasty from the excessive amperage (partly why you shouldn't crank it over more than 10-15 seconds when you're having trouble "gettin' 'er goin'"). Many times you are limited in how many CCA you can stuff in a particular vehicle by the physical size limitations of the battery tray or compartment--it generally takes a physically larger battery to deliver more CCA.

Jason

 

Have to agree with cgl, you being up in the cold spell , the sales guy did you a favor in selling the higher cold cranking amps.

I live in Pa an always try to buy the highest rating. When it's cold out, batteries lose power and engines need more to turn over. Helps out as time goes on. Also if lights or radio is left on with engine running, it will buy you more time before needing jumped. Sales and wife did good, auto store was not feeding a line, they did a good suggestion.

 

Dont understand. CCAs still dont change the fact that the battery is 12 volts and the vehicle was designed to handle 12 volt applications. All it is is a little extra kick for cold mornings and the battery may last a little longer.

 

There is a little chance for a problem to crop up. In general you are OK with a battery that is somewhat larger in capacity than what you have, but if you go too big there can be trouble.

I had a 74 Datsun truck way back with a 12V battery that was like a small 24 series. Figuring bigger is better I bought the 27(?) series Diehard which was a LOT bigger than the factory original. Wild guess is I went from 300 or so CCA to over 800CCA if I recall. And the reserve capacity was hugely different.

I drove that truck for 180,000 miles and all the time I had those big Diehards in there, they never really got much more than about 1/2 to 2/3 charge according to my hydrometer.

I always had plenty of current to start and could run off battery for a long time etc. But it never really got fully charged. I also wound up replacing the battery every 2-3 years or so on a 5 year battery. Usually I would have a shorted cell when I turned it in for a prorated replacement.

My theory is that with the Datsun's 50A or so alternator, this battery never really got enough amperage to really kick it hard and get that last bit of charge in. The truck running pulled 10A according to my amp meter. If I turned on the heater motor, wipers, lights and had my whopping 20W per channel stero blasting, you could hear the engine keep time with the wipers or the beat of the music. The lights would also pulse. So I am guessing like I said, there wasn't enough current to go around, and the batteries never got enough to keep them healthy.

Every other vehicle I have ever owned had a normal for it's size battery and usually I get 5-6 years on a battery.

Maybe coincidentally I also had to rebuild/replace the alternator every 50K miles or so except that time when I got to replace it 4 times in a month due to a crpy rebuilt from a shop when I was stuck in the middle of no where and couldn't rebuild it myself. I am guessing again the alternator was always busy so it wore out. I have yet to replace any American vehicle alternator in all the years I have driven one.

So yes you can go too big, but in my opinion, if you stay with the same relative size or size number battery, you will be OK.

Just my long ago experience.

Jim Henderson

 

CCA means exactly that .

The battery delivers more cranking power to the starter when the temperature outside drops.That's all that it means.The battery contains more plates and is of course heavier in weight.

I have a 1000 CCA battery in my truck,an 850 in both my Lincoln and my Mustang.

 

The battery's CCA rating will not have any negative effect. The truck will only draw as much current as it needs, no more.

If a Datsun's alternator is healthy, it will charge a large or small battery with no problem because the battery draw is the same in a given vehicle.

 

Yes, more CCA's will not be a problem!! Jim Henderson, did you ever measure
your battery voltage? I think your problem was with the alternator and/or voltage regulator, not with the higher CCA battery. The other possibility
is a high resistance in the wiring/connectors between the alternator output terminal, and the battery, dropping voltage not allowing the battery to fully charge.

 

What don't you understand? Every wire size has an ampacity--the amount of amperage it can safely carry. Typically, such ampacity ratings are based on the voltage range and type (DC vs. AC voltage) in a given application. In vehicle apps, the ampacity is based on a low (12ish) volt system that is going to run (in places) at high amperage, the highest being the starting circuit. If your battery is capable of delivering way more amperage than OEM specs, IF something were to go wrong, you have the potential to do much more damage, including melting the wires because they're not rated for that much amperage.

Jason

 

You are figuring it wrong. Current capacity of wiring is based on the MAX current the load (starter, blower motor, etc.) will pull, NOT the MAX current the battery will deliver. All electrical circuits (with the exception of the starter) are fused to protect the wiring if a particular load exceeds a MAX current value.

Something to consider: a 500A load @ 12V is 24mOHM (0.024 OHMS), a 1000A load @ 12V is 12mOHM (0.012 OHMS)

 

i have always installed higher cca and reserve capacity batteries in my cars, and never had a problem. even my falcon which had a 38amp generator never had a problem charging a 750cca battery. jim you likely have/had charging system problems in your datsun. i use larger cca and reserve capacity batteries because they do last longer, in my experience about 2 years longer.

 

I've always been a firm believer in getting the most I get in the tray. Found out as a kid that the battery is one of the places you don't cheap out on unless you are planning on getting rid of the car. Haven't ever had it cause a problem yet.

 

I agree with the oldgoat! Remember back in the 70's Penney's had a lifetime battery? I jumped on that wagon, had lots of cca too!