I know most of already are aware of this, but this morning it was a warm 48*. My Battery light flickered while my truck was turning over. I took it as the truck reminding me.. she doesnt like winters. So I went in and cleaned my battery terminals and lubbed them up with some Nolax.. Thought I might share, knowing that some of use wait until we are reminded..

 

It's getting that time on the year Pat, for you guys up there. Down here it is still right at 100*. My truck was born the 19th of last month in 2000 and I only changed the batts out once in 10 years. I think I will have to change them out again before winter is over.

 

Its funny you say that Rick.. I was always taught that it was heat the killed batteries..you certainly have uhm.. challenged my past learnings..

 

And I thought it was the cold that killed them. Maybe it is the heat that kills them, but you don't notice it till it gets cold????

 

Yep, time for a winter checkup - GPs are good, batteries are solid, and I'll be doing an oil change shortly and running full synthetic Rotella for the winter.

 

I need to do my GP's in the next month before the weather gets cold.

 

I might cheat this year with the glow plugs.. I took an amp reading last year, so in theroy, it should read the same, if it does not, then I need to look into this.

 

I've been cheating for the last couple of years...

It's just time to do it for me.

 

Pat,
call me and let me know when it is winter. We go from summer to fall then the two or three days of almost winter then to spring and back to summer. Sometimes it is hard to tell. haha. Not trying to rub it in (too much)

 

No Problem Bob.. as soon as I wake up the first morning and I see snow.. lets see, that should be about 1:00am your time

 

You don't really want to wake Carol up, now do you?

 

you win...

 

Bob, I thought we just had Summer and Christmas here....

Nothing quite compares to sitting in a deer blind in January in a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, and still sweating bullets...

 

Ya I was cheating on the glow plugs for a couple years as well. Finally just did them. It went ok. Lets just say I'm glad that they are in and that I now know what my valve covers look like. Starts up great but I am wondering about my batteries now as well. Just the first start of the day sounds like there is a lack of juice. How can you really tell whether its a tired starter or tired batteries? Is a test the only way? I believe these are still the stock batteries, so maybe I'm due for some. Any suggestions on which ones to get if needed? Lets just say I have an "extreme" stereo system, so I suppose we should keep that in mind too.

 

What really kills batteries is the amount of time they spend below three-quarters fully-charged. When that happens, the sulphation rate increases dramatically. That's an insulating "plating" that begins to cover the battery plates. Fully-charged, it hardly happens at all.

That's why an accurate regulator on the alternator set at 14.4 volts, that big extra wire that Kwik always suggests, and driving it to keep them charged all contribute to making them last.

There's a fine line between too-low a charge, and over-charging, which also kills a battery. Turns out that fine line is 14.4 volts for a six-cell lead-acid battery.

Having a "serviceable" battery will allow us to add distilled water to compensate for the effects of over-charging and hot ambient temperatures.

Nothing will compensate for the sulphation (though some charger manufacturers claim they can), and the more it happens, the less "reserve capacity" the battery has. Eventually it will have none, and won't start the truck at all.

So keeping the batteries fully-charged is the one single thing we can do to make the batteries last a long time.

Since I just replaced both of mine (they lasted over six years), I'm in the market for a good-quality "minder" or "tender" type plug-in box that I will permanently mount in the truck and keep plugged-in when not going down the road.

Then all I should have to do is keep an occasional eye on the electrolyte level.

It's going to be a long-term exercise to verify that I can actually make it any longer than I already have on a set, but what-the-heck....

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