New Odyssey AGM installed.

[StevieC]

So a while back I was having some challenges with what I thought was a charging system problem. Ended up replacing the thermistor on the battery in my Dodge Journey after replacing a faulty battery and it appeared the problem went away. Low and behold a few weeks later the battery voltage shortly after shut down would be about 11.8V despite showing 14.4v charging just before shut-down after a long trip. I thought perhaps while the volts were high from the charging system there wasn't enough current being pushed into the battery because the battery although showing low volts of 11.8V would have no problem with a stress test. Turns out that the new battery was in-fact faulty. So I had to take the wheel off again, remove the stupid cover in the wheel well and then fight with the darn battery clamp system Dodge in their infinite wisdom decided to use. I thought since I didn't want to go through this ordeal again I would rather just put a high quality battery in there that I know will last until I junk the vehicle so I spent the money and put in an Odyssey Extreme AGM battery instead and donate my other lead-acid new battery that is under warranty to my dad who needs one for his R.V. anyway. I have to say I'm impressed with the build quality of the battery and it has got to weigh almost double what the lead acid one does. I was surprised at how heavy it was. I like the brass posts it has. That's really great especially for terminals that are non-accessible without taking the wheel / wheel well cover off to get at them. (Stupid design)

 

[bbhero]

Yeah the Northstar battery weighs 57 pounds vs the flooded battery that only weighs 42 lbs for a group 24 battery. That is quite a difference. I bet the Odyssey battery is similar in it being that much heavier as well. I think you are well reasoned in getting a very good battery given the gymnastics you had to go through just to get the old one out. What world champion thought of that ??

 

[StevieC]

Thanks I thought so... This isn't their first vehicle with this infinate wisdom and I think they did it because this vehicle also comes in a V6 and it would be a tight fit in the engine bay with the battery so I think this is why they put it in the wheel well instead of making the vehicle a bit bigger. Nevertheless I'm done with what's involved and with a bad back it's not easy doing this in the driveway. Knowing my luck the next lead acid would have failed in February when temperatures are really cold and I'm not about to mess around with it in this complicated manner at this time.

 

[UncleDave]

Good choice. I run these exclusively in my offshore boats and anything I consider critical. I sell a ton of them to my clients - all happy. On the water Im brutal to them - I basically carry 2 pc 2150's I'll float at anchor on a big lake while run radar on alert mode, a plotter sounder/ a 6 channel 1000 watt stereo, ARB ice chest and even a peltier based Air conditioner - until I kill it completely not even a click on the starter. Then switch the perko to dual - fire up and SLAM amps back in with a 200 AMP alternator while you ru at 3K plus RPM back to the ramp/ dock I got 7 years out of the first set beating them up like this alternating between deep cycle and starting each time out- about double what I get out of anything else. I have an 8 year old one in my titan I regularly subject to severe depletion when dry camping and its going strong. As far as Im concerned there is only one thing not to like about Odyssey batteries. UD

 

[StevieC]

What is the one thing not to like? Price?

 

[wrcsixeight]

AGMs are lead acid battery too. To differentiate them call regular batteries flooded or wet. While I have not owned an Odyssey, I have owned Northstar which are also thin plate pure lead and their specs as to CCA and capacity in the same size ranges are almost exactly thee same. The first one being an older model they reduced in price to move. While my batteries get deep cycled, and start engines when most depleted, these thin plate pure lead AGMS are best suited for my needs. While I decided to return the older model and spend the extra for a new one, I noticed the same behavior on both of them. When first put into service, I could not get them charged to the point where they would rest at 13+ volts, until I cycled them deeper and applied 25+ amps until they were fully charged. Once I did that one deep cycle and then 25 amps until 14.7 and hold until amps tapered to 0.45 or less, then they would hold 13.06v, and have that almost violently fast starter cranking ability. AGMs, when deeply cycled love high amp reharges, and in my experience these TPPL AGMS need the cycle and high amp recharge to maximize their potential. Odyssey has a pretty good writeup on how they want their batteries recharged. In regular car starting duty one need not worry about the voltages so much, but when one cycles them deeper one needs to heed their recommendations, as they want a 40% charge rate, minimum. 40 amps per 100AH of capacity until the battery reaches 14.7v, then hold 14.7v for 4 hours. No vehicle will seek and hold these voltages, even if one drives for the 6.5+ hours one would need to fully recharge a battery that was so depleted that a jumpstart was required. Those 6.5 hours assume a high amp source seeking and then holding 14.7v, which no vehicle will do. So if you cycle the battery deeply intentionally or unintentionally, know that how it is recharged will directly affect how well it performs and for how long. Being able to hold the 77f degree battery at 14.7v until amps taper to 0.5% of capacity( 0.5 amps per 100Ah of capacity) will be able to negate some of that high amperage requirement when deeply cycled, but it is not as effective as feeding it high amps from its most depleted state until amps taper to 0.5% of capacity or less. The battery determines how many amps it will accept at a given voltage, and these TPPL AGMs can accept huge numbers when well depleted, and are better off for it, as long as they are not allowed to get too hot doing so. All lead acid batteries require full recharges for maximum longevity, but AGMS are even more finicky in this department, and since they are a premium priced battery, it makes more sense to heed their recommendations, as their greater price does not make them immune from chronic undercharging, it just mnakes them more likely to respond to an attempt to restore capacity with a charging source capable of doing so. http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents/US-ODY-TM.pdf

 

[StevieC]

The manual that came with my AGM said what you prescribed but it also said if the battery was at 12.8v then it is fully charged and to go ahead an install it. (Mine was). If it wasn't but not deeply discharged then to go ahead and use an AGM rated charger that would hold the voltage between 14.1 - 14.7 volts and recharge until holding voltage was 12.8 or higher. Never exceeding 15 volts or the vents would open and cause purging. Only if it was deeply discharged (below 12 volts) would it need a boost charging. I have a NOCO Genius AGM battery charger and although mine was at 12.8V when I installed it, and I drove home 1/2 hour from my dad's place. I plugged it in when I got home to top it off and then let it do the maintenance float charge mode it goes into afterward. I checked it before going to bed some hours later and it was sitting at 12.89 volts with the charger in maintenance mode.

 

[StevieC]

Here is a video as to why I chose the AGM battery. Imagine doing this replacement in the drive-way. Yeah no thanks.

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted By: StevieC

What is the one thing not to like? Price?

Yup. UD

 

[carviewsonic]

What a nuisance, just to access the battery. I've heard that the headlight bulbs on some newer vehicles are a real pain as well, accessed in a similar way to that battery. I have Motomaster AGMs in my '05 PA and '01 Lesabre, for two years now each. Canadian Tire had a sale on, so the price wasn't too much more than their best flooded battery. Hoping for maybe 9 years service, instead of the 5 years I usually get from flooded batteries.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

That replacement looks awful. What a weird design. So you'd have to do that to disconnect the battery? People on the Jeep forums love the Odysseys, great battery for sure.

 

[StevieC]

No they give you a point up by the shock tower to disconnect both the negative and positive and for boosting but yeah it's a real PITA to change it. I wish you could see how tough the stupid bracket on the top of the battery is to get off (Twisting it) so you can even remove the battery. All told this took 2.5 hours in the driveway. INSANE! Let along in February or broken down on the side of a road.

 

[bbhero]

Uncle Dave I thought you were going to say weight because those beasts are HEAVY

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Originally Posted By: StevieC

No they give you a point up by the shock tower to disconnect both the negative and positive and for boosting but yeah it's a real PITA to change it. I wish you could see how tough the stupid bracket on the top of the battery is to get off (Twisting it) so you can even remove the battery. All told this took 2.5 hours in the driveway. INSANE! Let along in February or broken down on the side of a road.

Makes having a battery in a trunk/inside look like child's play. Bet you're getting good at removing the clips without breaking any. I probably would've ran over the fender liner in anger already.

 

[StevieC]

I have been removing those clips for decades on various repairs my dad and I have done. On the tough ones I find 10 minutes with a heat gun makes them a lot more negotiable without snapping. Especially here in the frigid winter temps. Many Canadians curse plastic in the winter because it always seems to want to break.

 

[StevieC]

I should update... I bought one of these today. Got it for a steal. Figured if I'm converting to Odyssey and other AGM batteries from here on out I should have a proper charger to deep charge and condition them properly.

 

[Colt45ws]

I love the Odyssey in my 2002. I can crank the stereo, engine off, and listen for hours and hours while I tinker with the car. Then when I finally do start the car, it does not struggle at all and accepts everything my 130A alternator can output. I actually modified the charging circuit on that car so it would seek 14.6V nominal instead of 14.2V by putting a hand picked Schottky diode in the voltage sense line of the alternator. Eventually Ill get one in the 2003 as well, after I get tuning capability on that car too. Since the alt is ECM controlled on the newer car, I can do the same thing without permanent physical modification.

 

[StevieC]

I would like to ramp up my voltage from the 14.1 - 14.3 it does but I'm not sure how to do that with it's double field wires and battery temperature sensor that also affects charging amperage without affecting the voltage. (How I understand it).