Truck Battery

[bigbuck]

Getting time to replace mine in my 2012 Sierra half ton. Thinking of going the expensive route. Worth it? What are everyone’s go to brands? I had no issues with my last Costco battery but I have heard some stories.

[elkhunter11]

My next battery will be an Odyssey AGM. With so many more electronics, the draw on batteries in new vehicles has increased significantly.

[3blade]

Costco lead acid and replace every 5 years regardless. I’ve never got a no-start in -40 doing this, everyone with batteries that are older gets to pay the booster truck.

2012 should not have the excessive draw when not in use, to require an AGM. Unless you run mods. Even if you go AGM, replace every 5 years

Did I mention replace every 5 years?

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by 3blade

Costco lead acid and replace every 5 years regardless. I’ve never got a no-start in -40 doing this, everyone with batteries that are older gets to pay the booster truck.

2012 should not have the excessive draw when not in use, to require an AGM. Unless you run mods. Even if you go AGM, replace every 5 years

Did I mention replace every 5 years?

His 2012 may not have the loads that my 2021 does, but the AGM battery in my F150 failed a load test after two years under warranty. I asked what the normal lifespan was, and they told me that 3-4 years was pretty normal battery life in a newer vehicle. By comparison, the battery in my 2007 Tundra with no remote start lasted 10 years.

[jstubbs]

I go with Costco batteries also. Mostly for the warranty. Believe they are (or were?) simply rebranded Interstate batteries. Never had an issue with ‘em.

That said, one time I bought a used ‘98 Dodge diesel that someone had put in two group 31 CAT brand batteries into it (they were slightly longer though). Probably insanely expensive (don’t even want to know what Finning charges for a set) but man those were the best damn batteries ever. It would crank -25 like it was a fresh warm day. Truck sat in a non heated enclosure one tome from September to June without being started and the batteries still cranked (albeit needed a bit of a boost).

[Dean2]

In Canada lead acid batteries will often last 8 to 10 years, AGM the same. That is why Costco in Canada gives 4 and 5 year full replacement warranty and prorated for a further period out to 9 years. Arkansas would be on the long life end of batteries too. Battery type has only minimal effect on service life, at least in on pavement, car use. Heat, and how often they are allowed to discharge below 70% are the two prime determinants of how long a battery will last.

Costco has the best Warranty on their batteries of anyone I could find. All my vehicles get Costco batteries at the first replacement. Price for performance and longevity are hard to beat.

Canada Costco Battery warranty on Kirkland Batteries; Is 48 month full replacement, then prorated to 100 months. AGM is full replace to 60 months, prorated to 100. Our LSs are configured for lead acid, which have a diofferent charge profile than AGMs, so that is what I use in them. On top of that, the AGM batteries are significantly more expensive and they do not last enough longer than lead acid to justify the extra cost. Like I said before, the thing that kills batteries the fastest is high heat. It kills AGMs almost as fast as lead acid. It is why the battery warranties in the States are so much shorter than up here, they have to consider Texas, Arizona and Florida.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...4cbb9bdc45.jpg







Post I wrote earlier. Hope it helps.

In addition to high temperatures killing batteries prematurely, leaving cars sit and letting the battery drain down then recharge, dramatically shortens battery life, no matter what kind it is.

In order to understand how quick this happens on our heavily computerised cars I thought, I would run the test on my 2015 LS460 SWB AWD. I started with a quality Multimeter that has both DC and AC current(AMP) measuring capacity. You put the black lead into the common port, and the Red lead into the 10A port, may also be labelled just AC/DC A on some meter. Having Alligator clips on the end of the probes will make doing this a whole bunch easier.

I shut off the car, put the key FOB in the house in an RFID box, left the doors unlocked, and lifted the hood. My car does not have a hood open warning light so no hood open sensor that needs to be defeated. I disconnected the negative terminal on the battery, clipped the Red Lead to the battery terminal and the black lead to the Negative cable. I then opened and closed the drivers door. Reading popped to 4.8 amps with the interior lights coming on. Closed the drivers door, reading dropped to 2.7 amps and after about 30 seconds started to steadily drop. Within 90 seconds it was down to .7 amp and still dropping. Within three minutes it was reading between .03 and .04 amps, so 30 to 40 Miliamps.

I had read that the FOB being too close would cause the vehicle to wake up so I went in the house and got the FOB. Even right beside the car, not change in .03-.04 AMPs being drawn. Used the FOB to open the trunk, reading popped up to 6 Amps. Closed the Truck with the auto close system using the button on the trunk lid, reading stayed at 5-6 AMPs. As soon as the trunk latched the AMPs dropped to 2.5 and then kept dropping following the same pattern above. I tried a number of different combinations and permutations, including putting the push button start in the run position without stepping on the brake so the car didn't start. Remember, your multimeter is limited to 10 AMPs, if you start the car, or turn on high draw things like Headlights, you will likely pop the fuse that protects the multimeter.

No matter what combinations I tried, the at rest reading dropped back to the 30 to 40 miliamp reading. The only thing I didn't do that I wish I had done, was lock the doors and see if the at rest reading increased with the security system active. Since I park in a secure garage and never lock the car, I didn't think about that till I had it all buttoned up again.

Since the car sits for long periods of time I have attached a NOCO harness to to the battery terminals to make hooking up the trickle charger much easier. This way I can just plug the trickle charger in without having to remove the clips and lift the battery cover each time to attach alligator clips. I have these quick connects on all my vehicles. Even at only 40 Miliamp, a battery will drop below starting voltage in about a month, if it is stored cold it will go flat faster than that. Remember, lead acid batteries do not like to be discharge down to 11 Volts and recharged. They are much happier and last far longer if kept above 12.3 volts and that means a trickle charger is a good idea if you don't drive your car for at least 30 minutes every 3 or 4 days.

Hope this information helps those of you suffering from batteries going flat or dying prematurely.


Multimeters have a lot of different layouts, this is just for illustration.






As a followup, Charged the battery to full, after an hour off the charger, read 12.73. July 2023 OEM Lexus battery. After sitting in the garage un-driven for 8 days, battery now reads 12.45. So the constant drain, even though very small, definitely draws down the battery over time. Battery went from 100% to 80% in 8 days. Still lots of juice to start the car. Left parked with no trickle charger, and assuming an even rate of drain the battery will be down to 50% in another 12 or so days.

At 12 Volts it is still enough to start the car but this is NOT what lead acid batteries like and will materially decrease its service life. If you aren't driving the car regularly your battery will last far longer if you put it on a .75 AMP to 2 AMP smart trickle charger like a Noco. The other option is to disconnect the negative battery during storage, but I find it a lot easier just to leave it on the trickle charger.


You can use the quick connect cable on the jump start terminals as well, they don't have to go on the battery itself. The reason I put them on mine was so I don't have to remove any of the under hood covers or the battery cover to hook up alligator clips each time I wanted to put the trickle charger on. On my LS you can't reach the battery terminals without opening the battery cover by the windshield.

Here is a picture of the LS460 Battery location. The panel with the Yellow sticker has to be removed at min to get alligator clips onto the battery.







A bit of an update to my post above. Have had the LS460 on a battery tender all winter. Car hasn't been driven for about 35 days, prior to unplugging the tender. Took it off two weeks ago as I was going away and didn't want to plugged in while I was gone. Got back, measured the battery voltage, still at 12.67 after 14 days just sitting.

So the good news is, for longer term sits the car must go into a deeper sleep than what I was first measuring. Once it has sat un-driven for a month or so, the draw must drop to nearly nothing as 12.67 is virtually a fully charged battery. If the draw had remained at even 40 Milliamps, it would have drawn it down more than that.

So a battery in good condition, and a car stored in heated indoor storage, no alarm armed, appears to be able to sit for very long periods of time without flattening the battery.

[Big Grey Wolf]

I got 20 years out of my two origional batteries in my Dodge/Ram diesel. Do not remember brand.

[Bushrat]

My 2011 gmc battery lasted 11 years and still started fine right down to -40 not plugged in. Start it in the morning, maybe a couple minute warm up while brushing snow off, no snow or frost start wait till the squeaks and grinds stop drive 1 kilometer to work, start at lunch drive 1 km home, start after lunch 1 km back to work, start at quitting time 1 km home. Only time the truck really got warmed up in the winter was when I went somewhere after working hours or the weekend. I changed it because it dawned on me that it was 11 years old, getting spooked that its got to fail soon and replaced it with same OEM replacement. I gave the old battery to a kid at work, its still starting his 2015 f-150 2 years later. 13 year old battery has never failed to start, never been boosted. Can't complain.

[Backwoods Runner]

Costco. Did anyone mention Costco. Never had issues in 4 dodge diesel’s. Just replace every 3-4 years. Full replacement.

[Big Sky]

Originally Posted by 3blade

......... and replace every 5 years regardless. I’ve never got a no-start in -40 doing this, everyone with batteries that are older gets to pay the booster truck.

........ Even if you go AGM, replace every 5 years

Did I mention replace every 5 years?

A no-start at the grocery store is an inconvenience.
A no-start out hunting or fishing, at dusk, in cold weather, with no cell reception is something else altogether.

We replace batteries at 6 years.

[Dean2]

Even a new battery can end up flat for a whole bunch of reasons, like forgetting to turn off the interior lights. For years my hunting vehicle has had a Noco 1000 Watt jump box in it, as do my other cars. On sale at CT, $120. Quad has a pull start in case of battery failure.

I have never needed the jump box on my vehicles but I have sure boosted a ton of other folks with them, I always let them do their own hookups. WAY safer than hooking battery cables to my vehicle that are the rolling computers we drive these days.

[elkhunter11]

The biggest advantage of an AGM battery, is that it charges much faster. That is a big advantage in a vehicle that has more constant draw, and is used in a situation where you do a lot of short trips where the vehicle doesn't run long enough to top up the charge with a regular lead/acid flooded cell battery. That also applies to vehicles that shut off and start automatically in traffic. They also don't lose voltage as fast when a vehicle sits longer periods without a voltage draw.

[W921]

A normal lead acid battery starts to wear out as soon as they mix the acid in them. They wear out sitting retailer's shelf.
I've had best luck with Canadian energy batteries bought directly from them. Their South Korean and American batteries they put the fluid in them when I purchase them from them.
I've given up on and won't buy batteries from anyone else even if it cost me a hundred dollars in fuel to drive to lethbridge to buy them. Napa, bumper to bumper is garbage and expensive garbage.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

The biggest advantage of an AGM battery, is that it charges much faster. That is a big advantage in a vehicle that has more constant draw, and is used in a situation where you do a lot of short trips where the vehicle doesn't run long enough to top up the charge with a regular lead/acid flooded cell battery. That also applies to vehicles that shut off and start automatically in traffic. They also don't lose voltage as fast when a vehicle sits longer periods without a voltage draw.

This only holds true if your vehicles charging system is configured for AGM batteries. What Interstate says about the special chargers needs to charge AGMs applies to the vehicle charging syatem too.

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/...an-agm-battery

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Dean2

This only holds true if your vehicles charging system is configured for AGM batteries. What Interstate says about the special chargers needs to charge AGMs applies to the vehicle charging syatem too.

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/...an-agm-battery

Many new vehicles, including my F150 come from the factory with AGM batteries.

[EZM]

yup AGM in many new vehicles ........... my GMC 3.0 Diesel Duramax has a factory AGM.

GROUP 49 (H8), 950 CCA, AGM BATTERY.

I was surprised.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by EZM

yup AGM in many new vehicles ........... my GMC 3.0 Diesel Duramax has a factory AGM.

GROUP 49 (H8), 950 CCA, AGM BATTERY.

I was surprised.

True, many new vehicles come with AGM batteries now and thus the charging systems will be properly configured to charge them. Many still do not come with AGM and many even a couple of years ago rarely had AGMs. On those the charging system is not configured to charge an AGM properly. Personally I would not put an AGM in a car configured for lead acid, nor would I put a lead acid in an AGM configured car, but guys are free to do whatever they like.

[Tommy]

Wow this is a very informative thread, great details Dean and backed up with pic's was very easy to follow. This type thread is what I've missed on AOD GD section.

Tommy

[fordtruckin]

I’ve always used Costco or interstate batteries. The noco jump pack is a fantastic idea though. I helped a guy with a dead battery a while back, hey man I hook up to my truck you hook up to yours. Avoids any you hooked it up to my vehicle wrong accusations. Well the idiot hooked red to black and black to red on his car. Only time I’ve seen jumper cables start on fire and melt. Thankfully it was my work truck and does not appear to have done any damage as I’m still using the same battery.

[bigbuck]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Even a new battery can end up flat for a whole bunch of reasons, like forgetting to turn off the interior lights. For years my hunting vehicle has had a Noco 1000 Watt jump box in it, as do my other cars. On sale at CT, $120. Quad has a pull start in case of battery failure.

I have never needed the jump box on my vehicles but I have sure boosted a ton of other folks with them, I always let them do their own hookups. WAY safer than hooking battery cables to my vehicle that are the rolling computers we drive these days.

Yep! These are great to have in the truck. Only had to use mine once to boost a quad. But she did the job.

[Tygarian]

Costco always

[6.5 shooter]

Originally Posted by W921

A normal lead acid battery starts to wear out as soon as they mix the acid in them. They wear out sitting retailer's shelf.
I've had best luck with Canadian energy batteries bought directly from them. Their South Korean and American batteries they put the fluid in them when I purchase them from them.
I've given up on and won't buy batteries from anyone else even if it cost me a hundred dollars in fuel to drive to lethbridge to buy them. Napa, bumper to bumper is garbage and expensive garbage.

Totally different experience with CE batteries here in Med Hat.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

My next battery will be an Odyssey AGM. With so many more electronics, the draw on batteries in new vehicles has increased significantly.

Nope. Your battery is there to start your vehicle, that is all. If there is draw on your battery after the engine is running it means your alternator is undersized.

ARG

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

I’ve always used Costco or interstate batteries. The noco jump pack is a fantastic idea though. I helped a guy with a dead battery a while back, hey man I hook up to my truck you hook up to yours. Avoids any you hooked it up to my vehicle wrong accusations. Well the idiot hooked red to black and black to red on his car. Only time I’ve seen jumper cables start on fire and melt. Thankfully it was my work truck and does not appear to have done any damage as I’m still using the same battery.

I've always wondered how that idea helped... what gauge of cables started on fire?

ARG

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

Nope. Your battery is there to start your vehicle, that is all. If there is draw on your battery after the engine is running it means your alternator is undersized.

ARG

I am not talking when the engine is running, I am talking about the extra power to keep starting the engine with the stupid auto stop/start system, and the draw after you shut the engine off. With new vehicles, some systems stay active for minutes, after the engine is shut off, and some are always active, and drawing the battery down, while the vehicle sits .

[W921]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

Totally different experience with CE batteries here in Med Hat.

Are you buying the batteries directly from Canadian energy where they mix the acid in them and put the stickers on them after you buy them or are you buying them from a retailer who already has the acid in them and they have been sitting on a shelf waiting for someone to buy them?
I see princess auto and some car repair places are now selling these batteries already with fluid in them.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I am not talking when the engine is running, I am talking about the extra power to keep starting the engine with the stupid auto stop/start system, and the draw after you shut the engine off. With new vehicles, some systems stay active for minutes, after the engine is shut off, and some are always active, and drawing the battery down, while the vehicle sits .

Turn your auto stop start off.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by W921

Are you buying the batteries directly from Canadian energy where they mix the acid in them and put the stickers on them after you buy them or are you buying them from a retailer who already has the acid in them and they have been sitting on a shelf waiting for someone to buy them?
I see princess auto and some car repair places are now selling these batteries already with fluid in them.

If the battery is charged when they fill it and the battery turn over is reasonable it is not a big deal.

[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

I've always wondered how that idea helped... what gauge of cables started on fire?

ARG

They were a crappy old set of farm cables handed down to me when I got my work truck 7 years ago. I’d say 2-4 gauge. Stiff as hell in the winter and more electric tape on them then I care to admit. They have since been replaced.


I don’t mind helping a guy out but in todays society unfortunately if you hook up something to someone’s car wrong or something happens to their electronics etc… they will say I did it wrong and damaged their vehicle and file a tort claim against my agency. Then I get in trouble for trying to help out as I’m not a certified/licensed tow operator. So I either don’t help and call a tow for them as they’re licensed and insured or take a chance. Depending on the situation I may take a chance but I got burned 3 winters ago trying to help some idiot out of a ditch in my work truck in a very bad snow storm multi car pile up and vowed never again unless I know who they are or it’s literally life n limb at risk.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Turn your auto stop start off.

If I could, I would turn it off permanently, but that isn't an option, and I often forget to turn it off right after starting the truck.