battery longevity, still going after 7 years, 3 mos.

i bought a new 2005 dodge 2500 diesel in oct. 2004, now 7 years and 3 mos. later they(2) still start as strong as day 1. i have never charged, cleaned the terminals or done anything to them. i am knocking on wood and hope im not jinxing them, knock, knock, knock.
they are marked a Mopar #.
truck has 60K.

The Mopar battery in the Grand Cherokee lasted all of 8 years....then kaput! It died suddenly and wouldn't hold a charge anymore. You're on borrowed time.

~WB

My F250 diesel batteries lasted 6 years.
You better act soon Bobby!

The last 4 batteries I've had to replace each lived between 6.5 and 7.5 years.... They were all oversized / rated for the vehicles they were used in..... 7 years is a very good life span for lead - acid technology.....

You got that right. I couldn't believe it when I saw the 2003 sticker on my old battery.
I've noticed that the red top Optima battery in the Speedster is not holding a charge like it used to. I found the receipt...it's over 6 years old! God, where does the time go?

~WB

I bought a pair of batteries for my F250 diesel last spring to cure a slow-starting problem. It really didn't improve so off-and-on during the summer I pulled and cleaned every battery, solenoid and starter connection (some of them are a bitch to get at). No improvement.

Finally, I got jealous when riding with a fellow car club member in his F250 which spun over 3 times faster than mine and took it to an auto electric repair place in town. The guy almost immediately found that one battery had 3 dead cells and was worthless. It was probably dead when I first put it in and the other battery has been doing all the starting. Took it back, got a new one on warranty and now, NOW it whips over like it's supposed to. The repair guy only tested it and pulled and replaced the batteries for me - I ran it to the store for the new one - and he only wanted to charge me $10 bucks. Damn! All I had were a pair of $20's and I thanked him very much!

Finally! It starts right!

I have a pair of Optima

Steve, What Optimas you got? YellowTop?

~WB

It must be the climate up in British Columbia, because my batteries usually last 10+ years. I just recently replaced the original battery in my 2000 Ford Ranger, and my Kubota tractor, which I bought 11 years ago, is still going strong on its original battery.

Heat is a killer of batteries. In Hawaii average life of a battery is 3-4 years. This is for modern German cars with parasitic draw from many control modules.
If you get 5 years + out of a battery here,then you are lucky. That is OK though,it was 78 out degrees yesterday,and today,and tomorrow,and the next day,........;)

No they are red, these are not the deep cycle. I have the deep cycle (yellow) in other cars and they hold up much better. The biggest issue with lead acid is they thrive on charge, every time you discharge past 60% (I have been told) the life is impacted. Heat is also a significant factor in life. If your vehicle is in good working order with no leakage you can double the life expectancy on a good quality battery. Surface area on the plates within the battery will determine the quality IE more surface area on the electrodes within the battery the better.

Steve the other half of Angela