What kind of battery do you use?

[kyle_in_rure]

So I've used the Autozone Duralast gold batteries for about the last five years, mainly because they have a great warranty. Now in the last two years I've gone through three batteries, the third of which was purchased last week. It's a 750-DLG with 700 cold cranking amps.

Now we've had a cold snap (its in the teens overnight) and the battery barely turns the starter in the morning. I've ruled out parasitic draw (I disconnected it overnight) and the alternator is 6 months old and reading 14.4V at startup.

Am I just using the wrong battery?

 

[1955moose]

It's possible they switched from a quality part, to a cheaper Asian or Mexican counterpart. One tip you might want to do is have the parts man/ woman pull your battery from back of rack, not front. I used to manage a Kragen auto parts, now Oreillys. The newest batteries are in the back of rack not front. It's just like at the supermarket, they want to sell the oldest product first, or they ending up tossing out too much product.


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[AbbadonTD]

Cold starts are fun, usually between 0 and 20 below. Yhat should be an easy start. 700 is not a big number, but should be enough. Its a terrible rating for a battery its not measuring the right thing (dot dot dot....) but it is comparable between models.

It does sound like a battery. I do hear what moose has to say about retail methodology, but still they should sell through that stock in a short enough time that they should last longer than you are experiencing.

Could be anything in your engine that makes the system bog down enough to make the battery not work, like old oil or bad belts.

 

[1955moose]

You might want to have your starter load tested. A failing starter draws way too many amps, and can kill a battery fast. I know I don't need to ask, but I will, are you running 5/w30 or thinner oil in your cold climate.


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[kyle_in_rure]

I am using 5w-20 Synthetic oil.

I'm thinking it may just be the battery. I have no trouble starting unless the truck sits for more than ~4 hours and it is below freezing outside. The weather here fluctuates a lot and has been anywhere from the upper teens to around 50 in the past week.

I brought the battery to a different store and they tested it and said it "seemed okay" and suggested it may just be the cold weather, which is not really a satisfactory answer to me haha

 

[1955moose]

If you have a interstate battery retailer, they usually can give a more thourough battery/ starter/ charging test. It's possible your just getting crappy batteries. At Kragen when we got a pallet of new batteries in we had to junk 2-4 new batteries because their voltage were too low to sell.


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[stamp11127]

Check and make sure that you have the correct battery for the vehicle and the highest cold cranking amps you can get in the size case.

As temperature drops so does the performance of the battery:

BU-502: Discharging at High and Low Temperatures – Battery University

Interstate application chart for the Expedition:
http://www.interstatedealers.com/ibcatalog/pages/automotive/00048023_auto.htm#home

You can load test a battery yourself if you have a voltmeter. Battery must be fully charged before testing or the test is a waste of time. Let me know if you want the info.

 

[GAINMOB]

northstar battery...made in America and there are tests on youtube that show the performance compared to any other battery on the market

 

[1955moose]

How much are these north star batteries in group 65, and where is retailers.


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[kyle_in_rure]

Could my starter be wearing out? I've been told the symptoms are similar. The starter is original and I now have 215K on the truck.