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Battery replacement? Bigger better batteries?

15K views 19 replies 11 participants last post by  Four_Eyes 
#1 ·
Battery died. I want to replace it with a better battery (as in larger capacity, more CCA, etc) but the only 40R batteries I can find, all have the same specs, prolly cause they are all made by Johnson Controls. Just wondering if anyone else has used anything other than a 40R battery, like a 36R or something. I know the 65 series in my truck, I can get in all kinds of CCA ratings and larger CCAs have larger reserve capacities.
 
#2 ·
Any battery will do, regardless of what group it belongs to, as long as it offers the minimum CCA required and can fit into the battery tray.Higher CCA batteries for the Escape are quite a few around.Some of them may have reverse polarity positioning but that is an issue easily taken care off.
 
#3 ·
Not true, a 65 series will not fit due to length and width, after measuring, some others, I believe it was the 36R is too tall and hood won't close.

And I do not want to mess with the cables cutting, splicing, or replacing to put a standard terminal battery in, so it would have to stay in the reversed polarity family.

And I didn't have much time, wife goes back to work tomorrow, So I had the Ford dealer I used to work for drop me off a stock BXL40R battery. (I'd much rather had the BXT40R, but they didn't have any)
 
#5 ·
Optima Battery or any Glass Mat battery instead of the submerged plate battery will provide more CA/CCA in the same battery size. Get an Optima Red-Top and never worry about your battery again.
 
#6 ·
The tested tough max motocraft batteries (not the original stock ones) believe it or not i have had the most luck with. The first car i ever owned was a (to date) 10 year old ford taurus who's original owners replaced the original motorcraft battery with a motorcraft tested tough max one when they first got the car back in 2000. Just a few months before i traded it in for the escape, the battery finally went out...after almost 11 years. That sold me on them. So i bought one of those batteries and switched the original battery from the escape and put it in the taurus :D . never had a problem..yet.

My dad had an old 2000 Mitsubishi montero sport (the jap landrover, i loved it, it was the ultimate go-anywhere SUV with excellent build quality and it also looked like an SUV, recently sold it to a postmaster who drives it like he stole it) he put one of those batteries in it 8 years ago, still runs.
some motorcraft products are good, like their batteries, oil and oil filters.
 
#7 ·
I'm still on my OEM battery (BXT-40R) after 6.5 years. Never had a problem, so far.

Motorcraft Tested Tough Max (BXT-40R)
590 CCA @ 0 degrees F.
735 CCA @ 32 degrees F.
Reserve Capacity - 105 Minutes
Weight - 37 Pounds

Motorcraft Tested Tough Plus (BXL-40R)
650 CCA @ 0 degrees F.
810 CCA @ 32 degrees F.
Reserve Capacity - 120 Minutes
Weight - 38 Pounds
 
#9 ·
If you want the best battery, consider the Odyssey PC1200LMJT, but be prepared to pay a lot. It has 500 CCA, but it is not really comparable to standard car batteries. It is an Absorbed Glass Mat design and puts out 1200 cranking amps for five seconds. Do you spend more than 5 seconds cranking your Escape?
 
#10 ·
A battery is a battery.
A $500 battery will easily fail as $100 battery.It all depends on climate and road conditions.
Heat and vibrations are the baterries worst enemies.
A cheaper battery is always more affordable.What expensive battery manufacturers claim, unfortunately, it does not hold true in the real world, unless the car is used for a daily commuter and supermarket duties.
More than thirty years ago I stopped being robbed by the so called special batteries.
I change my "normal battery" every two years and that's it, and at less money.
 
#11 ·
I change my "normal battery" every two years and that's it, and at less money.
The Odyssey is about $250, not $500, and has a 4 year replacement warranty and a 12 year design life. So even if you replace it when the warranty runs out, you would break even. If you keep the battery for the design life, then you would save a lot of money.

Heat and vibrations are the baterries worst enemies.
The PC1200LMJT has a metal heat shield on it to protect it from engine heat. The AGM design that compresses the pure lead plates together makes damage from vibration almost non-existent.
 
#12 ·
I have had the same AutoCraft battery from Advance Auto Parts in my 2002 Cavalier since November of 2006 and it works perfectly. Total cost for their top of the line "Titanium" battery was $80.00 and they installed it for free. It has lasted through 4 Western Pennsylvania winters and until recently the car had never been garage kept and has always started. As far as I am concerned, a battery is a battery...no need to spend major bucks on it. As long as it meets the specs for the car, there is no need to go above and beyond...save your money!
 
#13 ·
BurghBeagle said:
I have had the same AutoCraft battery from Advance Auto Parts in my 2002 Cavalier since November of 2006 and it works perfectly. Total cost for their top of the line "Titanium" battery was $80.00 and they installed it for free. It has lasted through 4 Western Pennsylvania winters and until recently the car had never been garage kept and has always started. As far as I am concerned, a battery is a battery...no need to spend major bucks on it. As long as it meets the specs for the car, there is no need to go above and beyond...save your money!
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
 
#14 ·
I have had the same AutoCraft battery from Advance Auto Parts in my 2002 Cavalier since November of 2006 and it works perfectly.
Yes. I agree. The stock battery should last four or five years, maybe even longer. When it comes time to replace the battery, a regular spec battery should last another four or five years. But "IF" you want the best, the Odyssey PC1200LMJT will probably outlast your Escape.

Typical battery cost $80 - $90 and lasts 5 years. Odyssey battery cost $240 - $250 and lasts 12 years. If you plan to keep your new car for about 17 years, then the price of batteries over the life of your car will cost about the same. I probably wont keep my car for 17 years and so I probably won't get an Odyssey.

I sell Odyssey batteries for Police Cars all the time. Why? Because the police have lots of electronic equipment in the cars. Radios, lights, computers, flashlight battery chargers, fleet fuel rings, video cameras and recorders, and lots more. To handle all this equipment, they install high output alternators. But what if you turn off the car to run into the police station for just 10 minutes and you leave all the electronics turned on? Well, the battery runs down. So the police officer gets a jumpstart. Now what happens? The dead battery gets an inrush current of 140 amps from the alternator. That is too high a charge rate for a typical battery and a battery cell, on the stock battery, gets fried. The solution? Install an Odyssey that can absorb all the inrush current you can send to it, and it will not be damaged.
 
#15 ·
Wow, didn't realize this because such a hot topic. But those of you who stated 11 years on the motorcraft batteries, that seems about the average for them, another reason I went with them. My F150 had the OEM battery in it till 2007. Truck is a 96. I put a MC in it too, only I went from the BXT65-650 that was in it, and put in a BXT65-850 which was 200 CCA more. And that truck has all the off road lamps (eight 100w forward facing, two 100w rear facing) had high wattage headlamps (100w high beams, 80w lows, stock bulbs now though) so a total of 1200 watts of lighting with everything lit, plus a big amp running multiple subs, plus all the factory electronics. I only have an 85 amp alternator. I ran that for years offroading waiting for the volt gauge to get low, turn some lamps and stuff off a few minutes till it climbed back up and do it again. And it still lasted 11 years with all that abuse, plus most of my offroad adventures were in the winter, below freezing, few nights out there were sub zero, with the heater cranked, truck bouncing around like crazy, even jumping it a few times, busting through the ice at the mud holes and mudding in below freezing temps, and not 1 battery failure. Heck I still have the factory alternator in it which never failed either.
 
#16 ·
I agree a $80 battery is enough for some cars and will perform well for a few years, but a good battery will alway perform well for many years on any condition..

so the question, which you think is the best battery? not which one is good enough, (there is no pool option in this forum?)

does any one know the results or have access of the consumer report review on batteries?
 
#17 ·
Lots of good discussion here.

I don't recall seeing how you're testing the battery voltage.

I would go back and test the battery voltage at the terminals to eliminate outside errors. Also, what are you using to check the battery voltage and do you trust that tool?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but once the engine is running, DC power to the vehicle comes from the alternator/voltage regulator....not the battery (I think that's been mentioned somewhere in the thread).

Somewhere way out in left field, have you had the ECM checked? A faulty ECM can throw electrical gremlins at you.
 
#18 ·
I'm using this meter http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/EQU1/3721.oap?keyword=voltmeter
it was pretty close to the voltmeter readings that the shops used.

I'm getting no errors from the computer, no codes, but didn't know that the ECM could be check ..can that be done even if there is no error codes? who does that? the dealer?

So about good batteries the top brand I have heard of:

1-odyssey (to expensive?)
2-optima
3-interestate
4-motorcraft
5-napa
 
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