I tried a search, but couldn't find anything specific. What is the best battery to use? I don't have anything special in the car, just was wondering considering I just got in the car and the thing was dead. I live in Texas, so cold weather isn't all THAT much of a factor. Thank you in advance!

 

First, find out why the battery went dead. The battery may be OK, but you might have left the trunk ajar and ran it down. Or your charging system may be bad. Or the battery terminals may be dirty.

Charging system is easy to check. Get the car started, and measure the voltage at the battery. Should be around 14 volts. If it's under 13, the charging system is kaput. The condition of the battery itself is harder to test without special equipment.

If you do need a new battery, get a name brand (Delco, Diehard, Interstate, etc.) that matches OEM size and terminals (so it will fit) and whose CCA rating is at least OEM spec.

Watch out for people who will recommend very expensive small batteries whose capacity isn't even rated in CCA.

Ken

 

First, I wouldn't get anything other than an AGM type battery. "Absortive Glass Mat". They are sealed, zero-maintenance, no gassing in normal service, and absolutely leak-proof. This means, to begin with, there is NO CORROSION. That in itself is enough reason to consider them.

But wait, there's more!

They're leakproof because they contain only enough concentrated electrolyte to wet the fiberglass mats in between the plates. That means they have less liquid and better power-to weight characteristics than a "flooded" battery.

There are a number of manufacturers. One well-known is Optima. They make 2 types - a regular "starter" battery (red-top) and a "deep cycle" version (yellow-top). I opted for Yellow-top. Others have been happy with the Red Top. Red Top has more CCA, while Yellow-top can withstand deep discharge ( a good feature with a flood-prone vehicle, imo).

Another brand of AGM batteries is "Odyssey". I've read good things about them and may get that for a replacement when it's time. They have a video on their site where they cut one of their batteries in HALF with a bandsaw -- No Leaks!

 

Make sure to get one with good CCA.

Keep all accesories off like the A/C when starting.

In Vegas the heat is so bad that leaving accesories on like this have a tendency
to cause battery failure.

 

Thanks guys. I had a Auto Zone battery in there. I just charged it, and it shows good, but I was wondering since it died so soon (only a year after I bought it) if it wasn't a great battery. Because of my job I'm only home about 2 to 3 days a week, so I only get to drive the car about twice a week...I'm thinking the battery just sucks. This year it hasn't been all that hot so the heat really isn't a issue. I had the battery checked, and it was completely dead. If it goes dead again here soon, I'll just tell them to give the money back (has a 3 year on it).

 

Conventional car "starter" batteries really do not like being fully drained, even past 50% depth-of-discharge. Much less, to a completely dead state. It's quite likely that even IF the battery was fairly healthy before, the deep discharge weakened it.

You can get a better idea of its health by having someone do a load-test, where they hook up the battery to a fairly high current load (50 amps or more), for a period of time, before measuring the voltage. A battery might read normal voltage with no load, but make it work hard and you find out if there is anything behind those volts. Can it go 15 rounds or will it be winded after 2?

The nice feature about deep-cycle batteries is they bounce back from deep discharges.