I recently changed my OEM battery after it seemed to be getting sluggish. What I sort of found amazing was the battery was a couple months short of being 6 years old. It was a Motorcraft in a Ford and while I don't buy a new vehicle but once every ten years or so, my previous experience was about at the 2 year mark. I was sort of impressed. So what's the longest service you got out of an original equipment battery?

My 01 Malibu, bought in July of 01, with 128,000 miles still has the oem battery in it. I probably should replace it soon since my wife is driving it now.

That's why I bit the bullet. I could see myself stranded at the camp after everyone else went home. But you got me beat. My truck was built in 11/02.

i dad have a f150 going on 8 years oem battery

I have an Optima yellow top that was put in back Dec 2002.

We sell both Ford and GM and I can tell you hands down the best battery on the market is the Motorcraft BXT series batteries. We changed batteries today on a 1996 Power Stroke because the guy was getting nervous they'd leave him stranded. Yes, as you may have been thinking, they were original batteries! Easy to tell on Motorcraft as the OEMs are the only ones to come with the little sight window on the top.

GM's Delco batteries are far and away inferior in comparison. However they are also about 20-30% cheaper. I personally like the 36 month free replacement warranty Motorcraft offers, 100 month overall.

All that said I just changed the battery in my old F150. I've owned the truck almost 6 years and it's had the same battery since I owned it. The little knock out circle shows it was installed in 2001. It was an Interstate. I normally have poor luck with those so I was surprised and pleased with this one.

I just replaced my OE Motorcrafts in my 05 F250 @ 92K miles. The passenger side went bad. I bought the Vatozone Duralast Gold for numerous locations and warranty. My other choice was the Motorcraft BXT65 with the 100 month warranty. It cranks faster than it ever did now. My 01 F150 Lightning had a great stock Motorcraft. I blew the engine the left it setting for 9 months. It took a charge and was still in service when I sold it in 2005. I have had to replace every single AC Delco I have owned. The most recent was the Delco in the 08 Z06. I didn't have it a week and it would not crank one morning. Apparently the Vette body modules and fancy gadgets draw power all the time... Anyway, I put a Braille battery in it for weight savings and performance. The Delco's in my C5 body 98,99, and 01 vettes were notorious for leaking acid down onto the PCM. I had one red top Optima in my Tahoe with off road lights and 9K lb winch. It died in only two years. I have a yellow in a jeep that just sets all year and it still holds a charge after 6 years. I have Wal Mart batteries in my RV trailer and they have been great with a solar battery tender.

So I have owned about every battery out there. There are only a handful of manufacturers out there. Batteries are built to the retailers specifications. That is the hardest thing to know. I had good luck with Wal Mart batteries by JCI. I chose them because Wal Mart is nationwide and open 24/7 364... I know batteries usually die at night and when Sears, Firestone, Interstate etc is NOT open. So I buy Wal Mart for warranty coverage.

I work in a Ford parts dept. and as Duck says, the Motorcraft BXT series can't be beat. Beware that there are some Ford dealers and other retailers (Auto Zone) that will try to sell you Motorcraft BXL series batteries. The warranty is not as good and they are far inferior compared to the BXT series. Batteries, no matter the make, are like the saying "you get what you pay for". The more you pay, the better the battery. Also, the better the warranty, the better the battery.

An interesting tidbit. Motorcraft batteries and Wally Marts Everstarts are the same exact battery in a different housing. The yellow Everstart Max is the BXT Motorcraft counterpart. I once bought Wally's marine battery and compared it to the marine batteries we had in stock. The engraved numbers on the cases were identical as were the cases. The difference was the Wally battery had a longer free replacement period and was a couple bucks cheaper retail than my cost on the Motorcrafts.

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Originally posted by DUCK_SNORT:
An interesting tidbit. Motorcraft batteries and Wally Marts Everstarts are the same exact battery in a different housing. The yellow Everstart Max is the BXT Motorcraft counterpart. I once bought Wally's marine battery and compared it to the marine batteries we had in stock. The engraved numbers on the cases were identical as were the cases. The difference was the Wally battery had a longer free replacement period and was a couple bucks cheaper retail than my cost on the Motorcrafts.

I was told (don't know if it's true ) there is only 2 companies that manufacture batteries, Exide and Johnson Controls. Motorcraft and Delco is made by Johnson controls. That is what I was told one time, and if it's not correct, please correct me and put me back in line. LOL

Yeah, not positive about that at all. I know Deka is a HUGE battery producing facility. My brother got to take a tour of it not long ago. I believe he said they make batteries for all sorts of brands as well including (I think) Interstate. Like oil there are far fewer producers than there are brands. But also keep in mind not all will be created with equal standards regardless of where they are made.

I turned a job down at a Deka plant here in Pa. That place was BIG! Exide also has a big plant in the area.

I was told years ago it's not so much the name, but the number of plates inside that matters. brain cells with that magic number of plates stored have been fried.

I did email my nephew-inlaw, he worked at Deka for years. I'll let you know when I get a reply.

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny:
I turned a job down at a Deka plant here in Pa. That place was BIG! Exide also has a big plant in the area.

I was told years ago it's not so much the name, but the number of plates inside that matters. brain cells with that magic number of plates stored have been fried.

I did email my nephew-inlaw, he worked at Deka for years. I'll let you know when I get a reply.

I like to know, just to set the records straight.

Guess i haven't been so lucky. My '02 F350, I had just put the 3rd battery in it this July. Stock lasted about 3 yrs. Replaced with a Deka that went 3 yrs and a month on the V10 with 92K miles. Now have an '04 F350 diesel that I am fairly sure needs the stock batteries replaced. Ugh!!

I haven't talked to my nephew inlaw yet, but I did talk to a co-worker that worked @ Deka as well. He confirmed there are only 2 manufactures here in the USA that he is aware of. Exide and Deka. He wasn't aware or knew that magic number of plates, but did say a lot depends on the paste used.

I applied at Deka, and turned down a job running a machine which applies the paste to the plates. I wanted to see the job before I took it, and after spending 15 minutes inside that building I turned it down. I'll probably live 15 years longer with that decision.

Assuming there must be different types of this paste. As he mentioned the performance of the battery depends on the paste reacting with the lead and water/acid inside.

Co-worked said the names they ended up being was decided in packaging. Also said Exide had contracts with the Big 3, and Deka had the contract for Harley Davidson.

He wasn't sure if Optima had there own plant or if Exide did those too. And after a quick google search, the manufacture of Optima is Exide.

In 05, our 93 F-350 Diesel started having slow turn over problems so I pulled the batteries and realized they were also the batteries that came with the truck. Now I got to asking myself, "Self, why are these battereis still working?" I am a former Submarine Electrician who did extensive work with Gould when it came time to replace our ships battery and learned lots of good theory and oeprations of Lead Acid batteries and what causes them to "go bad". I am looking at these battereis with date stamps of 2/94 and thinking "Holy Cow, now these need to go to a museum at 12 years old." Changed out the batteries and the problem is still there. The problem was actually the soldered connections in the starter coming undone little by little creating a high resistance connection. Well crimeny, guess the batteries weren't the cultprit but at least I didn't have to worry about them.

I purchased new a 1987 Chev pick-up. I replaced the battery when the truck was 9 years old in 1996. I sold the truck 2 weeks ago with the battery I purchased in 1996. Wow - 12 years old. I guess not too bad using 2 batteries in 21 years.

At the risk of being stoned-I had to replace the battery in my 04 chev pu, went to BI-Mart and got one with more cca's for $64s + sales tax.

Wait and see I guess!! The Delco repalcement wae twice as much!

While on this subject it seems like for me anyway battery replacement goes in streaks. Really haven't had much battery replacement issues for quite awhile. Now they will probably all go gunnybag at once. Jeez sitting here thinking about it, that amounts to almost 40 batteries. Guess I'll quit thinking about it!!

Seven years on my 2000 Ford F-150!

Ford rocks!

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My 01 Malibu, bought in July of 01, with 128,000 miles still has the oem battery in it.

16 below this morning and it cranked right up!
Probably jinxed myself now and it won't start today.