Ive noticed that my truck has been taking a little longer to crank lately. It seems like the battery is beginning to go out. on my Edge, i have been getting a voltage reading of around 13.9. but today, it jumped up to 14.2.. the battery gauge on the cluster is slightly above the equilibrium.

im away at school, so i would prefer not to have my battery totally die. whats yalls opinion? should i go ahead and replace it, or wait a little while. or are these normal voltages anyway

thanks

 

Normal running voltage can be anywhere from 13.6 to 14.4 volts, which easily puts you in the charge range. On the high side, batteries can last up to 8 years but most begin to fail after five, depending on use. You may have just a bad battery. They seem to be more common that most would think. Have O'reilly's or Autozone check out your charging system...alternator and battery.

 

alright. i also need to check the voltage when the truck is off i guess. thanks

 

well my battery died today lol. anyone recommend a good battery type

 

Well, Wal-Mart has its MAXX battery that has a long replacement warranty and doesn't cost too much....I'm running one in my '97 XLT...
..replaced an Interstate that had died.

BTW: ....had an old Chevy 6.2L diesel with two batteries. They failed together after about three years...figure both going out simultaneously. I thought the starter had gone south, but it needed a rebuild anyway. I wound up with two new batteries (Wal-Mart standard series on warranty) and a nearly new starter.
I really miss the old 6.2L Chev diesel. It was dirt simple to maintain compared to the XLT which is a major PIA for even simple maintenance work.

 

yeah i was looking at walmarts. they run about $90 which isnt too bad.. i would love an optima, but can justify 180 on a battery.

is that the 6.2 detroit?

 

walmart was out so i had to settel with duralast. only the one i got is 640 CCA instead of the factory 650.. therefore its smaller and doesnt fill up the tray. should i take it back or will it not matter

 

as long as it mounts into the tray nice and tight so it doesn't bounce around it will be fine. The cca rating has nothing to do with the size of the battery thats has to do with the series, like a size 34, 75, 78, etc.. actually 650 is a pretty low rating for good batteries now. I just put in a new Motorcraft and its 850 cca. But down in the southland there 640 will be perfectly fine, its just where it actually gets cold like here is where you need the high CCA.

 

I returned the small one and got a factory sized 750. Which is all I need. Thanks for the help

 

I am a big fan of Die Hard batteries. My dad had one in his K-Car many many years ago and it performed flawlessly. In my 2000 XL I had a Die Hard battery and could listen to my aftermarket stereo system for over 4 hours without being scared at all that the truck would start when I wanted it to.