Redline 75K service, new battery - higher CCA is that a problem?

[Paul Cordingley]

Why did I change it? Out of paranoia and nothing more to be honest.

My previous car was a Mitsubishi 380. I loved that car. However, it developed a severe problem with the automatic transmission. It would violently slam into gear when taking off, to the point where I was scared of hitting the car in front of me when taking off at light. I do mean violently slam, it was terrifying.

Took it to a mechanic who told me that the transmission needed a re-build, and it would cost around $4K.

I changed the battery instead - I can’t remember the circumstances around why - but there was no problem at all with cranking the car, no obvious problems. One $200 battery later and the transmission was back to buttery smooth and went for years until we sold it, still working perfectly at that time.

I also know of other cars which went screwy, but again otherwise cranked perfectly. I know a good battery is critical in a modern car, and 4 years seems like a decent life to swap it out and keep the Redline purring.

 

[abuch47]

Had similar issues with our subbie. was ex-demo so they probably chucked in what ever battery. Had no issues for three years then started to have some minor electrical issues and then all of a sudden not starting, taking for ever to charge and then losing all the juice within a day. Went to auto elec and they said it was a fair way under what it was supposed to have. Got a new battery which died next day as well and was replaced and been perfect since.

 

[TTubrag]

Why did I change it? Out of paranoia and nothing more to be honest.

Heat, cold and insufficient charging is what kills car batteries. They get heat in the engine bay, cold if parked outside over winter and insufficient charging if not driven for at least 20 to 30 minutes after an engine start. They typically die slowly and you may not even be aware of it. One cell can be dead and the battery still 'appears' to operate as normal. But voltage and CCA can be low and that's when cars can start to do strange/unexplainable things.
In the boot, a battery will last longer, if only because it's not exposed to engine heat. They'll last longer again if well maintained.

 

[stooge]

I have had bad batteries in brand new vehicles from the dealer because they were not maintained properly on the lot or were defective to start with so i replace them in all vehicles as soon as i get them with century batteries.

 

[losh1971]

I had a dodge battery a few years ago. Alarm started going off in the middle of the night. Was told it was the ECU and was $1000 plus to get it sorted. For some reason i switched the battery to the aux using the overide switch and the issue went away while the alarm was going off. Funny thing was battery load tested as fine, just a few days earlier. I then just run the aux for a week or two before buying a new battery. 100% agree modern cars and batteries are funny things. I recently also had an issue with the VR ute. Was running rough on initial start up, for first start of the day. Turns out battery again was just lowish on charge. Online diagnosis told me several options none of which were the battery. 6hrs on the trickle charger and never had the problem since.

 

[[paradox]]

Why change it yet? VE/VF batteries last more than 6 years in the boot.

i was lucky to get much more than 3 or 4 years in my VE. and that was parked in a garage overnight, and undercover during the day.
i guess brand probably plays into that as well.

 

[Anthony121]

i was lucky to get much more than 3 or 4 years in my VE. and that was parked in a garage overnight, and undercover during the day.
i guess brand probably plays into that as well.

My VE was over 6 years old when I sold it with original battery. 1st was over 4 years when that sold. Overnight garage stays but the occasional bush trip left out in the cold. I use the radio a lot too sitting in the car without engine running.

 

[ChRiDDa]

Nothing to be concerned about at all

The S57220 is higher capacity battery usually fitted to police vehicles

I’ve just fitted one to my VE V8