The truck is an '08 w/24,500 miles so still under three year 36,000, but I also have an extended warranty as well.

 

at this point (47k mile) the only thing covered is the engine and powertrain.

 

did they replace them on a sliding scale based on how far into the warranty the batteries were or did they replace them completely?

 

mine were replaced for free

 

Hello all,I just got back from miami(1190m) and had to stop at a dealer just above charlotte NC. and have my batteries changed.I started having weird lights comming on when I started the truck 4 days prior.The (ABS),Check engine,and seat belt lights would come on at different times or all at once but go back out.I had no slow cranking though.Comming up I95 I had the cruise control just speed up from 75 to 83 all by itself (kinda scary) and auxillary items such as windshield wipers would slow down then speed up and radio and GPS would shut off them come back on.So after reading a few weeks ago on here I stopped to have my batteries checked and low and behold they were bad.Driver side 350cc amps and passenger side 650cc amps.I went with the new 850cc amp motorcraft batteries instead of the stock 750cc amp ones.Mainly because I needed them right then and they came with a 100 month warranty,3yr full replacement and prorated after that.I figured that if the stock ones went in two years 54,000 miles then maybe I'll get some free batteries next time.

 

good to know what you had happen in case we all have those symtoms.

 

X2, good to know

 

I went to Advance Auto Parts today, and asked them to run a load test on my batteries because I "knew" that one of them was bad. I had been having the message pop up when starting, and other weird things were going on. The load test showed my primary battery had only 137 cca's. It was 1:15, and the Service Department closed at 2:00. I went straight across the road, and asked them if they minded dropping a couple of batteries in for me. "Sure!" the service tech said. Then she found out why, and that it was a warranty repair. She said, Well, ya know, we have this special load tester they like to use that takes about an hour and it does a more thorough test and it tells us whether the battery can be recharged. What a load of baloney. The load tester Advance used was a Snap-On unit, and was a very good one. I told the service tech that if the battery could be charged then the High Output alternator in my truck would have charged it, and also that I had put a charger on both batteries earlier in the week. I get so sick of dealerships, they dont want to do anything to your vehicle when its warranty work, yet when youre out of warranty they want to replace everything under the sun. Im just going to buy a couple of Red Top's and then take the truck up there Monday and let their special little load tester check my batteries then they can just pay me the difference for what their cheap a*# batteries cost. One less part I have that I have to deal with them over in my truck.

 

That's exactly what i did! I put the Red Tops in and paid the diff @ 140.00 for both batt's. Have had no issues since and everything work great! Like i said in a previous post the Red Tops will withstand the heat!

 

I'm getting the "Check Brake System" message when I start my truck. Sometimes it stays up, sometimes it goes away quickly. I have noticed that my truck seems to labor to turn over. It's gotta be the batteries. Truck is at the dealer now. I gave them a photo of the message in the display center and the sequence that it appears. I'm gonna call them shortly with the info from this thread.

 

let us know but does sound like the classic symtoms of batteries. It is at the point when most are starting to fail. Mine are still good, but for how long?

 

Champ, If it is indeed your batteries,see if you can get the Optima Red Tops and pay the difference that the warranty doesn't pay.It will be well worth the $ in the long run! Good Luck.

 

Bass, I've got 60k miles on it. I think the batteries will be on me for this one. Gonna look into the red top Optimas. The dealer is looking at my rear pinion seal on my rear diff, they're also going to do a test on the batteries. I'm pretty sure it's the batteries though. I'm glad I found this issue with the search, it will save everyone time!

 

Dealer said it was indeed one dead as a door nail 750 CCA Delco. It was putting out 15 CCA vs. 750 CCA. The bad one was the one with the main red leads and the insulator (one that gets the brunt of the heat) I replaced both of them with the Optima Redtop 800 CCA AGM batteries (Group 65 compatible). You have to use the supplied anchor adapters and set the batteries in the middle of the tray to allow the wires to reach (because they're physically smaller than the factory batteries). They are sealed and maintenance free. They cost a premium but good batteries are critical on these trucks. Truck fired right up!!

 

A few weeks ago started getting the "Check Brake System" and the other day came out to start truck and dead. Had batteries checked and one was bad the other said charge. Replaced 1 battery in hopes of getting by for a little while without having to replace the other. Went to start truck this morning and guess what...Dead! So now Im going to get the other replaced and probably need to have alternator checked as well.