Battery Maintenance

[M-Sport fan]

Cosco has interstate battery's, I've use them in my class 8 trucks for 30 years and IMHO they are the best. they don't pro-rate their battery's. So if you bring it in the last day, they give you a new one. and you can go to any interstate dealer anywhere and that helps, if your stuck in elephant breath Iowa. truck n fuc.

These are what I used to run in my A2 GTI 16V, and basically every car I've owned (once the factory/previous owners' battery died), except for the original Optima Red (when they were still a good brand), and then the Die Hard/Osyssey AGM in my last ride, a '00 Z28.

 

[koozy]

Original 2014 OE Battery update. Still going strong @ 5 1/2 yr old. attributing that to proper regular maintenance. Eye is still green.

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[Clint Beastwood]

Good thread - everyone forgets battery maintenance.

Be careful around the acid, homies! I had a motorcycle battery explode once, helpfully mounted under the seat spattering both legs with acid :| that was a rough evening.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I have now brought my factory battery 'back from the dead', or at least from the one cell it represents, back from not having the green eye, MANY times by maintenance charging, and imprecise/haphazard de-sulfating (using the 55 AMP starting setting for a few minutes on the cheap Husky lead acid battery charger) after three years of abject abuse (listening to the sound system with the engine off for extended periods of time, and short trips after starting).

I am not sure just how many more times this will be successful for me, living in a cold wintertime environment, but I am just trying to extend it's life until Odyssey FINALLY releases their full size/600 CCA/RC/etc. 96R AGM battery, which supposedly is being built right now, for release in the middle of September.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Just change it out already....but hey I have another stock battery if you want it. Shipping might be an issue though. I put a group size 48 in the tray with some slight modifications to the tray....but it fits like a glove!

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[Clint Beastwood]

I once de-sulfated a bike battery with a stun gun in the middle of nowhere. Figured I was stuck in the middle of nowhere anyways on a bike too heavy to bump start, if it didn’t work I’d still be stuck. Zapped the battery with the stun gun (always in tank bag when going cross country) and some wire from my repair kit, topped off the battery with bottled water and was able to get a bump-assisted start and got to a place where I could swap the battery. Would not recommend!

I put a group size 48 in the tray with some slight modifications to the tray....but it fits like a glove!

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Why the size change?

 

[M-Sport fan]

Why the size change?

Because EVERY SINGLE manufacturer out there flat out REFUSED to make our 96R size in an AGM, until now with Odyssey.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

I once de-sulfated a bike battery with a stun gun in the middle of nowhere. Figured I was stuck in the middle of nowhere anyways on a bike too heavy to bump start, if it didn’t work I’d still be stuck. Zapped the battery with the stun gun (always in tank bag when going cross country) and some wire from my repair kit, topped off the battery with bottled water and was able to get a bump-assisted start and got to a place where I could swap the battery. Would not recommend!




Why the size change?

Had a super deal on a group size 48 agm at autozone for $60 and the dimensions are almost identical and I made it work with a slight modification to the battery tray.

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[koozy]

6yr and two month old OE 2014MY battery still ticking strong with routine maintenance.

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[M-Sport fan]

^^^You're going for the WORLD RECORD on the factory Motorcraft!

 

[DoomsdayMelody]

Those that have the OE battery can check the sight glass on the battery. If it's not green, then it's not operating at full potential. Battery power can affect power to critical components like the ECU, fuel pumps, and not so critical components as the accessories. Those that don't have a sight glass on their battery can use a multimeter to check battery voltage. An ideal healthy wet cell battery will be at 12.7+ volts at rest. 12.4 is required to start the car. The are other tools available to test battery load, but this is just to go over simple maintenance to extend performance and life.

The OE wet lead acid battery is not "maintenance free" if you want it to last long and provide the most power in it's lifespan. Battery acid in each cell naturally evaporates over time and use. So checking and topping off fluid every year is good idea, 2yrs at the most. If you don't do anything to maintain the battery during ownership it will probably last ~5yrs. average, which is about right at the rate at which the acid evaporates and the lead plates build sulfate on them. A slow and uneccessary death.

Warning: Don't do any of the following if you are not comfortable, find someone who is qualified instead. Battery sulfuric acid will eat through your clothes and dangerous to your eyes if it comes into contact.

To maintain the battery pop off the battery caps, make sure none of the lead plates are exposed above the acid level and top off the sulfuric battery acid with distilled water for each individual cell, keeping the level ~3/4" below the filler holes. Exposed lead plates is cancerous to the battery. After topping off the battery put it on a slow trickle charge at 4 amps or less and top off the charge. If you had a battery that didn't show green through the sight glass before, you may be rewarded with it turning green after simple maintenance.

The Magic Eye that is used in Motorcraft batteries provides 4 stages of indication, they are:
1. Green: battery is charged and the acid level is good.
2. Yellow: Battery is partially dis-charged and the acid level is good. Re-charge the battery.
3. Red: Battery is dis-charged and the acid level is good. Charge the battery.
4. Clear and bright: Acid level is low. Add distilled water if possible. Do not fast charge or jump start the battery.

My battery depicted below is from a 2014 model year. You can see the mfg. date is stamped on the battery in the 2nd photo. After ~3yrs. of use without maintaining it, it took in ~1 quart of water with the sight glass showing black or clear with one cell barely exposing lead plates. After maintaining it I've extended it's life, increased it's performance and got a green indicator through the sight glass.

Clean off any corrosion on the battery terminals and apply some dielectric or lithium grease on the terminals and battery posts.

clean terminal ready for service

Battery voltage is used for two things: starting the car and supplying makeup voltage in the event that your charging system isn’t properly functioning. Once the engine is running, your alternator completely handles any and all electrical loads. So saying that battery performance can effect critical components like the ECU is a bit of a stretch. Batteries are considered a wear item, the more you cycle them the less efficient they become at converting chemical energy into electrical energy. That just has to do with the chemistry involved with pulling ions out of solution by discharging the battery, and putting them back into solution by charging.

Maintenance CAN help, but unless you’re replenishing electrolytes as well as distilled water your just diluting the source of chemical energy, and since you don’t really know the concentration of the acid that remains in the battery when you go to perform maintenance, sooner or later you aren’t helping. It’s why maintenance free batteries are much more common in the aftermarket.


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[Fiestig]

Good writeup.

I pull the caps check my battery levels every other oil change.

Just adding something that wasn't mentioned and is quite frequently overlooked. Dirt on a battery will draw volts as a parasitic drain. Make sure to keep your battery clean and it will add to the life of the battery. Eric the Car Guy has a great video on battery maintenance.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhnVZ7ZPunw

 

[Intuit]

My OEM just died last week. Hoped in, hit the button and it gave an unusually weak crank. I took that as a sign.

Went back in, grabbed my sockets, Li-Ion jump start pack and headed off to work. During the morning I ordered an AGM 96R battery from Advance Auto. https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...ery-group-size-96r-590-cca-96r-agm/12102917-P (if you peal off the Advance label, you see CarQuest)

Went out during lunch and sure enough, would not crank at all. Jumped it, went to Advance Auto, swapped it out in the parking lot, went back to work. It was in the parking lot BTW, that I realized I should've brought my voltage tester. Always read your batteries BEFORE you install them. I've caught one that sat on the shelf too long that way. The batteries also, typically have a manufacture or charge date on them.

 

[Intuit]

This past weekend I removed and cleaned up the mess that the old battery left behind in the tray. Terminals were nice, but the tray and beneath, not so much. Have to pull apart the intake hose and other nearby items, and unplug the ECU in order to get that battery tray out. Not a quick process. This video will keep you from breaking some very expensive hardware. Oh, there is also a very PHAT wire harness clamped to the back of the battery tray. You'll have to feel around back there and pull it out of the clamp.

View: https://youtu.be/bVvkgK5a_u0?t=167

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yeah, I did it the royal PIA method of not removing the whole intake, with yes, MUCH resultant swearing and agita, enough to make the gruffest/crudest of the proverbial sailors blush.
That steel strap in the battery box was in bad shape rust/corrosion-wise, probably due to me overcharging the factory Motorcraft to futilely try and extend it's life a bit further until the 3+ year wait, Odyssey was released.
I POR-15ed that strap, and then painted it with some black rustproof paint as well for good measure, before re-installing everything.

 

[koozy]

Battery voltage is used for two things: starting the car and supplying makeup voltage in the event that your charging system isn’t properly functioning. Once the engine is running, your alternator completely handles any and all electrical loads. So saying that battery performance can effect critical components like the ECU is a bit of a stretch. Batteries are considered a wear item, the more you cycle them the less efficient they become at converting chemical energy into electrical energy. That just has to do with the chemistry involved with pulling ions out of solution by discharging the battery, and putting them back into solution by charging.

Maintenance CAN help, but unless you’re replenishing electrolytes as well as distilled water your just diluting the source of chemical energy, and since you don’t really know the concentration of the acid that remains in the battery when you go to perform maintenance, sooner or later you aren’t helping. It’s why maintenance free batteries are much more common in the aftermarket.


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Yes, I will repeat a battery can affect components even after the car has started. Do some research if you care to, if not that’s okay too.


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[Intuit]

........... the battery box was in bad shape rust/corrosion-wise, probably due to me overcharging the factory Motorcraft to futilely try and extend it's life ...............................

Mostly slathered it in grease as opposed to treating it. All it does is reinforce the plastic battery box's shape.

Tell me, is it just the dispstick Ford engineers that like to stick grounds right underneath the battery or do they all do that? It's high time they started working on their own cars. Once those grounds start to rust, there is no "cleaning them up". There's only augmenting and/or moving them. Last Ford they pulled the same crap. Ran completely new grounds, rather than mess with the existing ones. Car ran smoother, headlights were way brighter and oh, quit burning up alternators. At some point I'll be voltage-drop testing the main ground, as well as the (now corroded) grounds beneath the battery tray. Ugh.

 

[DoomsdayMelody]

Yes, I will repeat a battery can affect components even after the car has started. Do some research if you care to, if not that’s okay too.


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Unless the battery is the source of an internal short, it will not effect anything once the engine is running and the alternator takes over electrical load. Otherwise, the battery does exactly two things while driving: takes a charge, and in the event of a sudden and large draw, it will provide a temporary source of makeup voltage. Unless you have heavily modified your audio system or run a shit load of off roading lights, there will be no draw on a car that is large enough to really put the battery in a state of discharge with the engine running.

The battery is only there for starting and accessory power.


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[M-Sport fan]

Are there any higher output, higher amperage alternators available to us in the aftermarket (like with other cars I've owned), or are we stuck with the OEM, or OEM replacements only??

 

[Intuit]

Remember the old days when people used to disconnect the battery as a means of testing the alternator? (don't do that)