PSA: Heat kills batteries

That's why it depends on how the alternator died.



If the alternator output drops low enough or goes high enough, the voltage on the sensor circuit will sag to meet the battery's voltage under load, which will trigger the light if there is enough of a difference. You just got particularly unlucky and had it fail in such a way that the sensor didn't hit the threshhold before the battery could no longer run the car.

 

I've been running a Yellow top for about 3 years and it's still going strong. I don't know much about how heat affects the battery, but just after putting a second Blue top I went on a 8 hour trip. I would stop from time to time to check to make sure everything was tight on my installation and both batteries were very hot to the touch.

I've done that trip from NorCal to SoCal with the yellow top more times than I can count in those three years. I do have a battery charger that I plug in every 3-4 months to make sure the battery is good.

Another way to see if your alt is going bad is to have a voltage monitor. The truck off should read one voltage and with the truck running it should be a bit higher. If not you might want to check it out.

 

I overheated one with mud and the other was covered in oil from a juffylube hack job...

 

Optima battery's are not what they used to be. Odyssey batteries if you want a quality battery. You get what you pay for and I run them in all my vehicles. Will be getting one for the new truck soon.

 

Would the ecm tsb flash I had done be erased when I changed the battery?

 

Nope. Flash memory is non volatile, the new firmware image is permanent.

 

Thanks!

 

I wonder how many people mistakenly think their batteries are maintenance free? If there are removable caps on top of the battery, then you need to periodically check the fluid levels in each chamber and if low, carefully add distilled water. These fluid levels can get quite low over time especially in hot conditions and battery failure will ensue.

 

http://www.sears.com/diehard-platinum-marine-battery-group-size-31m-price/p-02850131000P