Best battery (amperage)

I ran Interstate Mega-Tron / Mega-Tron Plus batteries for many years in all of our vehicles. Never had any problems and was always happy with them.

A recent Group Buy inspired me to step-up to a Northstar AGM27F.

 

Did some googling and what @cliffyk said above seems to be true, interstate, the Walmart Maxx and many other batteries are manufactured by Johnson controls and branded by these companies for retail.

 

I am one of those fools who believe the hype. Down the road when I need to replace my OEM battery it will be replaced with an Optima red top. I have had nothing but stellar experience with them. My Jeep YJ had a single red top for starting and winching. I could leave that for 12 months and it started no issues. So when it is -29C and your Jeep has sat for 12 months and it starts with a small amount of cranking I take that as a decent result for a 6-7 year old battery.

My convertible has an optima and sits for 5-6 months at a time and starts no issues (provided I disconnect the battery as the alarm will drain it).

 

Sorry, I was lazy. I bought one of the AntiGravity Personal Power Supply lithium jump starters ( Micro XP-10 ).

 

Get the , use it every 4 to 6 months (or whenever you suspect there may be an issue) to track battery health, and you won't need the lithium jump starter thingy...

 

Unless you leave your headlights on overnight...

 

I'll check into it. I like having the starter so I can help people out.

 

No its just your ECU Relearning, it will go away after 20 miles or so.

 

So my stock battery is almost dead from taking infrequent very short trips. Resting voltage 12.2v, when I crank starter it drops to 10.5v per my scanguage. Can this be bad for my truck? It still starts with no problem. Should I squeeze the last life out of the battery? I carry 2 LIPO jumpers so having the battery die away from home is ok ...

Resting


Cranking

 

They ARE NOT.

The old Kirkland batteries were much better than the junk Costco is peddling these days.

 

Can anyone chime in , is it OK to continue to use my battery even though it is at <50% capacity? Can this damage my truck? Or should I try and use up the last of its life? I have 2 lithium battery jumpers with me so getting stranded because the battery dies is not a problem. So far it still starts the truck normally.

 

New battery means relearn, it speeds things up to clean the throttle body

 

@cliffyk , do you know the answer to my question? anyone else?

 

I would replace that battery as continuing to ask the ECM and other electronic components to boot up at 10.5 V could/may cause them to degrade. Just go to Wally World and buy a battery for $94--a bit over $100 with sales tax...

 

So I tested my resting voltage again today after 24hrs sitting and it is 12.55v , but still drops to 10.5v while cranking. I have an appointment at the dealer to have the battery tested and they said since under 3yrs/36k they would replace it if faulty. Neither walmart or costco carry the 27f, only 24f. All 3rd Gen come with 24f but I am hoping the dealer gives me a brand new 27f. Wondering if trip to the dealer is a waste of time because > 12.5v...? Or is the cranking voltage a good indicator of battery health/failing ?

Recently after short trips my resting voltage has been as low as 12.2v.

Resting


Cranking

 

The no-load resting voltage of a flooded cell lead-acid battery is a nearly meaningless value, it's not until a load (any load really, even 1 or 2 A) is applied that voltage readings as a measure of condition have any relevance; that said 12.55 V is lower than I would like to see it.

A (battery should hold 11.4 to 12+ V), or preferably rating (battery should hold 10.5+ V, will tell the real story. A (most reputable shops and FLAPS use these) can be very reliable, when a battery falls off to 80% or less of it's CCA rating it's time to start shopping.

10.02 V while cranking If tells it all--the battery is toast. If all the dealer does is measure the no-load voltage and say all if fine tell them they are full of crap; and demand to see the service manager, or owner if necessary--or give them my number and I'll chew them a new butt hole...

 

Great thanks for your answer it confirms what I thought. With the key in the on position , stereo/headlights/climate control/dashcam /overhead light OFF, the voltage drops to 11.95v, so even the smallest of loads drops the voltage significantly

Also while cranking I saw 9.50v, but was unable to capture it with my camera, even with rapid fire

 

I just charged the battery for 3 hrs from the above resting voltage of 12.55v with my 3a battery tender. Unhooked the charger, turned key to ON position with headlights ON. Voltage immediately dropped to 11.78v.. this is still within the parameters of a healthy battery but I think the cranking voltage and that I have seen 12.2V resting on several occasions tells me that it's time for a new battery. Hopefully the dealer agrees and this is pain free wallet wise..

 

Here is a great battery:
http://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli27fagmdp

 

I have in the past purchased, several times, high end AGM Batteries. They served me well but my thinking has changed. Batteries are like brakes they need replacing a few times during the life of the vehicle. Taking @cliffyk and @Crom advice and opting for a less expensive battery. This time the dealer is hopefully replacing it but in the future I plan to buy the Walmart Maxx battery. Also I carry 2 LiPo jumpers with me, (about the size of a deck of cards) so getting stranded because of a dead battery is unlikely. I used the smaller of the 2 jumpers to start a Tundra and a 7.3 diesel ford that had been left with the headlights on and parked for a month. Cranked for a total of 2 minutes before starting the Ford so I have high confidence in these little jumpers.

From @Crom thread

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-and-adventures.362772/page-75#post-11845629

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-and-adventures.362772/page-20#post-10867995