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FYI Battery replacement

1miracle2

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I have airbags and I'm pushing about 3K+ watts, running a DSP, plus dual rearview monitors, under glow...
In Phoenix the average batteries only last 2 years, 3 if you're lucky. As for signs of battery death... Mine just straight up died without signs lol, but again I was consuming tons of power.
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Nagare

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Guys were there any signs or issues before the stock battery croaked?..going on 4 1/2 yrs ownership with my stock battery and now concerned a bit after reading some of these post.
None at all for me. I drove home from work, parked at the apartment office to drop off my rent check, went back out and the car wouldn't crank at all. Tried jumping it and no luck. Ended up getting an Autozone battery because that way at least I can actually take advantage of the warranty because Autozone is OPEN nights and weekends, unlike a Ford dealership.
 

Grimmer

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Mine got a little weaker everyday. After about 2 or 3 weeks it would give me the "battery saving mode" error when I got in. It would crank and start but noticeably slower. Overnight (or more) on a restorative (de-sulphating) charger would perk it up to normal and the cycle started again.

When new it would keep the cigarette lighter ports on even after the retained accessory power shut off. (They stayed on for about 40 minutes charging the phone with the car off.) As the battery got weaker the cigarette chargers shut off with the ignition.

Back to normal with the new AGM battery. And haven't had a weak crank start ever since, even when the car has been unused for 2+ weeks.

I agree with the posts above. There is a real chance that car batteries can quit with no warning and you'll be stranded wherever you are at the time. Depending on your support base you'll have to decide how much those last months of battery service are worth against risking being stuck somewhere.

My wife's battery crapped out. Luckily in a Walmart parking lot so replacement batteries were at hand and we weren't stuck. Unlucky in that Walmart batteries suck. That replacement battery has started showing signs (or completely crapped out - haven't tried very hard to recharge it yet, but overnight on the charger and it didn't take any charge so far) and it has only been in service about 2.5 years. Needless to say that battery is out of service now and won't go back in my wife's car.

On the flip side, the AGM battery in my motorcycle is 5 years old and still going strong. Maybe the AGM technology or the lighter service of starting a smaller engine, or the initial build quality, or all of the above has helped it go longer... But its replacement is starting to make it onto my list of things that need to be done as regular maintenance.

I also think that the time spent on the dealer lot was very detrimental to my original car battery's life span. I always see cars that need to be jumped before a test drive. Dealers just don't take care of a those batteries on their lot.

I was also quite dismayed to find such a pathetic old school battery spec'd in a modern electronics laden car like the S550. I get that Ford wants to save a few bucks, but why spec a battery group that has no aftermarket current battery tech direct replacement? All of these cars have computers and sensors that drain the battery a little all the time. AGM can handle mild discharge better than flooded lead, it would stand to reason that tech laden vehicles (especially those models like the S550 where daily driver is optional) be equipped with a battery can take the intended use profile.

And to the aftermarket... If Ford insists on specing this 96R "fill it with water every so often" crap in half a dozen model lines with a bazillion units sold every year, where the hell are the direct replacement non garbage options?
 

Nagare

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My wife's battery crapped out. Luckily in a Walmart parking lot so replacement batteries were at hand and we weren't stuck. Unlucky in that Walmart batteries suck. That replacement battery has started showing signs (or completely crapped out - haven't tried very hard to recharge it yet, but overnight on the charger and it didn't take any charge so far) and it has only been in service about 2.5 years. Needless to say that battery is out of service now and won't go back in my wife's car.
But lucky in that Walmarts are everywhere and the batteries have a 3 year full warranty. Just keep the receipt in your glovebox and exchange it quickly once it craps out. That was my logic with the Autozone replacement. It'll do it's job decently and if it dies in the Florida heat within 3 years, replaced under warranty. Much better than having your battery die on a Friday night and having to wait for dealership service to open on Monday morning!
 

Grimmer

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But lucky in that Walmarts are everywhere and the batteries have a 3 year full warranty.
I have considered trying for a full replacement. However, then I would have another Everstart and no where to use it. And that is assuming I can win the argument that it is bad enough to require warranty replacement. I'm OK with the full replacement warranty period, but I consider the prorated warranty period to be a marketing scam. It is well known that batteries have to be replaced eventually so they dangle a little "in store credit" if you bring back your battery within the prorated period. This effectively captures you to keep coming back to them for your next battery and it also requires to you run the battery until or very near failure (i.e. stranded somewhere). I choose not to participate, others can decide for themselves.

Some marginally related back story... When my S550's OEM battery was tapering off every few weeks, I removed it and took it to the dealer. They tested it and said it was OK. I guess anything above 60%, 70%, 80% capacity (who knows what they consider adequate) is still good enough to avoid warranty replacement. He told me it just needed to be charged and that I should take the car for a drive up the canyon. However, when driving the car to work weekdays over any of the 2 week tapering off periods I would run the engine between 45 and 60 minutes following each start. This should be more than enough to recharge a single start and prevent a healthy battery from tapering off a little everyday such that 14 -20 days later it will barely start. Ford basically said, "tough beans buddy". The replacement battery performs as expected and even restored all the electrical goodies to full / normal service. The car has even sat unused for 3 weeks at a time on more than one occasion, only to fire right up with the starter cranking at full speed. I have not received a battery low error since replacement either. At least 1 of those 3 weeks unused periods included me leaving it parked it for 2 weeks, then starting it to back out of the garage and wash it, then starting it to put it back in the garage, then store it for another week or so.

Back to the Walmart battery from my wife's car. It went from normal operation (presumed to be fully charged from daily driving) to completely dead (i.e. hit the starter and get clicking and lose the headlights) in the time span required to load the camping gear ...a few hours with the doors open and the dome lights on... In the back of my head I knew that a few hours at that load should not have totally run down the battery but with a little wishful thinking I put it on the charger through the rest of the afternoon and overnight. It read 25% when I started the charger and more than 12 hours later it still read 25%. I wasn't willing to risk a sketchy battery on a road trip, so I replaced it with an AGM from Autozone. After removing the Everstart from the vehicle I noted the build date on the sticker which placed it around 3 years old and it most likely had been on the shelf for several months before we bought it. It should still be within 3 years of the in service date on the receipt but I haven't confirmed. And I haven't tried additional means to recharge it, since I already have the new AGM installed and rolling.

I would have to work at getting it fully charged and then have Walmart test it. And convince them it's capacity has been diminished to an unacceptable level. All that for a replacement battery for which I have no need, use, or want... I thought about putting it in the dune buggy, but that application is the hardest life a battery can have with the highest risk for getting me stranded.

Maybe I'll hook it up to a more forceful (e.g. dumb) charger when I get home... and try to fish that receipt out of the glove box...

...Sorry for getting off topic... back to your regularly scheduled program.
 

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Grimmer

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I bought a group 47 AGM from O'Reilly and it fit well enough for the cover to close.
To redeem myself for getting side tracked...

I also bought a group 47 AGM and it did fit right in the factory box without modification. however, I would add a little caution about the fit...

Yes the cover will fit over the battery, but the group 47 is roughly 5/8" taller (I'm too lazy to look it up right now). This means that the cover will no longer sit down on the box's gasket. The cover will rest on the top of the battery. There is 1/2" or so gap between the original cover to car attachment points. You can still put those "fasteners" in to hold it in place. If you look closely at the pics posted above by Dave 5.0 you can see the gap and the absence of the fasteners.

A few possible disadvantages:
The battery cover is no longer sealed to the battery box. The AGM's are sealed anyway so losing the seal on the battery box is likely not a big deal.
The battery cables also don't go through the center of their original holes... they now pass through the rubber flap over their original holes.
The battery cover will rub on the top of the battery. Should only be a cosmetic thing.
The added stress with the cover fasteners pulling down on the cover may eventually result in failure and might let the cover loose (especially at the track?)

For me, the properties of AGM outweigh the disadvantages listed above. However, based some of the posts I was expecting the battery box to be tall enough to accommodate the taller group 47 a little better and was just a little disappointed when it didn't.

Eyes wide open if you are thinking of going the group 47 route... It is not a perfect fit, but it is workable and it seems to be the least invasive way to get a decent battery in there.
 

tal

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tal

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To redeem myself for getting side tracked...

I also bought a group 47 AGM and it did fit right in the factory box without modification. however, I would add a little caution about the fit...

Yes the cover will fit over the battery, but the group 47 is roughly 5/8" taller (I'm too lazy to look it up right now). This means that the cover will no longer sit down on the box's gasket. The cover will rest on the top of the battery. There is 1/2" or so gap between the original cover to car attachment points. You can still put those "fasteners" in to hold it in place. If you look closely at the pics posted above by Dave 5.0 you can see the gap and the absence of the fasteners.

A few possible disadvantages:
The battery cover is no longer sealed to the battery box. The AGM's are sealed anyway so losing the seal on the battery box is likely not a big deal.
The battery cables also don't go through the center of their original holes... they now pass through the rubber flap over their original holes.
The battery cover will rub on the top of the battery. Should only be a cosmetic thing.
The added stress with the cover fasteners pulling down on the cover may eventually result in failure and might let the cover loose (especially at the track?)

For me, the properties of AGM outweigh the disadvantages listed above. However, based some of the posts I was expecting the battery box to be tall enough to accommodate the taller group 47 a little better and was just a little disappointed when it didn't.

Eyes wide open if you are thinking of going the group 47 route... It is not a perfect fit, but it is workable and it seems to be the least invasive way to get a decent battery in there.

Thank for the insight! This is great info!
 

Dave5.0

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To redeem myself for getting side tracked...

I also bought a group 47 AGM and it did fit right in the factory box without modification. however, I would add a little caution about the fit...

Yes the cover will fit over the battery, but the group 47 is roughly 5/8" taller (I'm too lazy to look it up right now). This means that the cover will no longer sit down on the box's gasket. The cover will rest on the top of the battery. There is 1/2" or so gap between the original cover to car attachment points. You can still put those "fasteners" in to hold it in place. If you look closely at the pics posted above by Dave 5.0 you can see the gap and the absence of the fasteners.

A few possible disadvantages:
The battery cover is no longer sealed to the battery box. The AGM's are sealed anyway so losing the seal on the battery box is likely not a big deal.
The battery cables also don't go through the center of their original holes... they now pass through the rubber flap over their original holes.
The battery cover will rub on the top of the battery. Should only be a cosmetic thing.
The added stress with the cover fasteners pulling down on the cover may eventually result in failure and might let the cover loose (especially at the track?)

For me, the properties of AGM outweigh the disadvantages listed above. However, based some of the posts I was expecting the battery box to be tall enough to accommodate the taller group 47 a little better and was just a little disappointed when it didn't.

Eyes wide open if you are thinking of going the group 47 route... It is not a perfect fit, but it is workable and it seems to be the least invasive way to get a decent battery in there.
Your observations are correct. I don't know if anyone would have the cover come of at the track. I haven't used those cover fasteners for quite a while because they don't really seem to work too well on my car and one or two of them aren't even there anymore. I race SCCA Solo, including six runs yesterday after installing the Group 47 battery. My cover has never moved during a race. I just checked it before posting this to make sure it didn't move yesterday. It is intact. I really don't think there is enough room between it and the hood to go anywhere.
 

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Dave5.0

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Excuse my ignorance but is it really important to have the cover on?
I am no automotive expert by any means, but I don't see what the benefit is. It doesn't create a tight seal. My 10-year old Toyota pickup does not have any kind of cover and it seems to be just fine. Maybe someone else on the forum can explain its importance.
 

Grimmer

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I assumed that since the "retro" crap stock battery is not sealed in anyway that the cover was primarily to contain any battery acid should the plugs pop out during overcharge or battery failure.

Other than that just cosmetics for that clean factory finished look that seems to be so prevalent in cars these days with engine and manifold covers all over the place.

With a replacement sealed battery I don't see any real need for the cover unless you are trying to maintain that original look. But that's just one guy's opinion...
 

Chef jpd

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If you look at the lip that runs along the top of the cover, that seals to the under side of the hood.
No cover equals no seal and lots of water.in the engine compartment when it rains.
 

GTP

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The OEM battery in my 2016 GT became weak with 3 months of warranty left. I kept it until one month left, and then Ford exchanged it under warranty. I noticed that the water levels dropped quite a bit, bit I am undecided if we should top up with distilled water or leave it alone as per the manual.

Traded that car for my new 2019 GT. The night before track day, the car had screen messages of "Deep Sleep Mode to preserve battery". The car continuously made a click/whine sound every several seconds even though the car was off. Then it would not start. I rushed to AutoZone at 9:45 pm to buy a new battery as a backup, but did not install it. I disconnected the OEM battery and put it on a battery tender overnight. Sucks to be in a panic 1 hour after spending $600 for track day and track insurance, when I should be falling asleep.

Early track day morning I still could not start the car, so I jump started it. Drove the car 60 miles to the track. Car started up before every session and lunch/gas trip into town, so that's about 8 restarts. No problems.

Took it to the dealer, and they said it passed the load test but replaced it under warranty anyway.

I decided to use Parking Mode on my Blackvue Power Magic Pro from now on. There just is no reason to record 3 hours of darkness inside my garage while waiting for the battery voltage to drop below the threshold. I just have to extend 3 wires in order to get the module to reach the left side of my glove box (so I can reach it from driver's seat when parking.)
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