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Battery Replacement-Ugh

CounterMeasure

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truckguy82 Senior Enthusiast

truckguy82

Posted
Posted

I would not let anyone else change out my battery, after doing it myself, i found it would be extremely easy to accidentally touch the wires together. Too many connections and too tight of space to work in.

 

DIY job for the sake of your truck

 

also wasn’t happy when I lost my “best” mpg stats lol

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diyer2 Senior Enthusiast

diyer2

Posted
Posted

When I bought my truck used it still had the OEM battery, about 4 years old.

First thing I did was put in a new one.

The old front mount battery was easier for sure but servicing the trans really sucked.

 

:)

 

 

Grumpy Bear Senior Enthusiast

Grumpy Bear

Posted
Posted

There was a new Walmart battery in my low mile 09 Buick when I bought it and from day one I would get random alarms on the display, like low oil pressure, parking brake on and so on. We don't drive it much and it sits on a Battery Tender most of the time. Of course one day it croaks. I replace it with an Interstate Battery then have the Walmart battery tested. Dead Cell. Evidently dead from birth. So it sat just above the 9.5 volt threshold and would trip alarms. Hasn't had an alarm since. Jason, my head wrench tells me that he has replaced dozens of Walmart Batteries  with dead cells under a year old. The Interstate was $20 cheaper. I've been using Interstate since Sears Diehard became Sears DOA. 

diyer2 Senior Enthusiast

diyer2

Posted
Posted

Checking battery voltage is a good way to evaluate battery condition IMO.

If the vehicle sits for a while, say a week the voltage will tell how the battery is doing.

I used to use a Fluke DVM to check battery voltage until I found this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EVWDU0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Works good, easier and faster.

 

:)

jagabom (Esquire) Enthusiast

jagabom (Esquire)

Posted
Posted

Had a 99 GMC.  Battery lasted 13 years in Manitoba Canada.  Does get to +90F here in the summer but not a lot.  Gets to -30 or 35F in the winter.  Had 160,000 miles on it.  Used a battery blanket in the winter and a small piece of plywood under the battery. 

Jim

CYWG

Hozer Enthusiast

Hozer

Posted
Posted

The battery in my '14 just died this week.  I've owned the truck for 3 years, 2 months but the truck hit the lot a full 4 years ago so I'm surprised to see an OEM battery dead during winter.  Will be replacing with an Interstate MegaTron Plus. I've put one of those in every vehicle I've owned and never had one fail before 6 years. Some were actually transferred to the next vehicle and just kept kicking.

WesternMike Enthusiast

WesternMike

Posted
Posted

I’m at 109,000 on my 14 and I’ve left light bars on enough where I drained the batter roughly 10-15 times over they life time and still haven’t killed my battery.

I’m in Alberta, Canada. This truck spent a lot of time in Fort McMurray in extreme cold(even killed the battery there a lot).

In my opinion, fantastic battery.


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