Replacing OEM Batteries in a 2003 vehicle?

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I would be interested in finding another vented ION battery while there still ARE saturn dealers. Though I imagine you could get a sealed marine box that could splice into the existing vent hose and put an ordinary battery in there. My mother in law's 01 lesabre has an under-rear-seat battery; wonder how it's vented.

Heard about some dud AC delco batteries at the start of the new milennium, 00-02 ish. Might be worth doing the poncho too. Walmart has the best hassle free warranty system IMO, having cashed in a time or two myself.
 
Originally Posted By: brianl703
Originally Posted By: hemitom
Why not load test the batteries to find out their capacity, why waste good money if the batteries are still capable of performing. i just had a test done on the battery from my 2002 ranger original battery, under load it holds at 500 cca, plenty of power to start my truck this winter.


A load test doesn't tell you much about the battery's reserve capacity. A battery can lose a lot of reserve capacity but still pass a load test. Reserve capacity determines how long you can run loads with the engine off before the battery cannot start the engine.


A load test or any other test just tells you how the battery is that day,hour and second...I did all that and came back with flying colors...Less then a month later the battery died in a parking garage in Miami Beach at 3AM.
 
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I don't know how many years you will get out of the OEM battery, but I get 10+ all the time out of my Interstate batteries. When it is getting close I find my local Interstate dealer and get ready for it to happen. Ususally it's about 10.5 - 11 years that it gives up. If it hasn't given up by the 11th year I just replace it anyways because at that point it has only cost me $10/yr.
grin2.gif



10+ years out of a battery is something I never heard of...I did at one time get 7 years out of a AC Delco...But that was when I lived in NYC...Down here in Miami 3-4 years if you are lucky no matter what make the battery is...Interstate is the most popular one down here...All batteries down here seem to run around 120 bucks now.
 
Originally Posted By: rpn453
Originally Posted By: PT1
Replace them both and save a freezing cold, snow blowing,snow plows blasting past your unlit car sitting on the side of the road in a -20F wind whipping dark stormy winter night breakdown.


Why would you park there in the first place?!!!

I carry booster cables and have never worried about my battery, but if you're concerned about it you might as well change them. They're approaching the end of their life anyway.


On many cars if the battery dies...you won't travel far on the alternator....besides I hate jumping starting a car.
 
I like to change parts on my terms with the parts I choose. A dead car doesn't allow either of those to happen. A battery is cheap enough to replace after a fair amount of time or at the first sign it's getting weak.
My '04 truck had a dead battery in '07, my '02 car had a weak battery by '06.
 
I replaced the Delco in my '03 VUE last fall just in case.

Even though I have seen them live much longer, the sealed, side terminal Delcos from the late 90's-on have a bad habit of leaking acid from around the positive terminal as they start to fail.

Particularly in the ION the cost of replacing a damaged cable is rather costly (over $100 for part alone IIRC).

the JCI-made batteries are good replacements. the regular 6yr and 7yr Delcos are actually JCI instead of the sealed variety these days.

The ION battery will require a group 75V or 78V (V = uses a vent tube) depending on year. A parts store may have a replacement by now for those.
 
I'd say replace yours since it's a battery you can't buy off the shelf and probably a PITA to replace. With your wife's car replace it you don't want her stranded.. that would scare me more than anything. I replace our Escapes at 5 years (03 build date) since it was the family ride the truck's will be in there till no longer can be jumped.
 
Originally Posted By: tom slick
I like to change parts on my terms with the parts I choose. A dead car doesn't allow either of those to happen. A battery is cheap enough to replace after a fair amount of time or at the first sign it's getting weak.
My '04 truck had a dead battery in '07, my '02 car had a weak battery by '06.


+1 When the OEM in my 92 Grand Am died, it couldn't even be jumped. I took the battery home and left it on a charger overnight and it was still dead the next morning, dead, dead, dead.
 
Originally Posted By: lenjack
Change now. Failure will occur at the worst possible time, in the worst possible place.


Ain't that the tuth!...My friends battery just died this morning with about 200 bucks of frozen food in it..It took AAA [2] hours to get over to him...Its in the 90's here and heat index over 100...His battery was 3 years old...He bought a Interstate battery from AAA for 130 bucks...He has a 98 Grand Marquis...The battery has a 5 year guarantee with a free 3 year repalcement if it goes bad during that time.
 
My wife had a 1992 Buick Skylark (built in 1991), the original AC Delco battery died in August of 2001 (never thought of replacing it until it died). From what I've read on the net and in magazines "heat" is harder on batteries than the cold, it just happens that batteries die in the winter after being beaten up in the summer. Has anyone else heard this?
 
I got 13 years from my OEM Nissan. I just replaced it the very day when it started to crank slowly.
 
Originally Posted By: PT1
On many cars if the battery dies...you won't travel far on the alternator....besides I hate jumping starting a car.


I did not know that! I've only personally replaced three batteries, and the cars had no problem running with just the alternator. I thought that was always true. Well, unless there was an internal short. Is that possible, and is that more likely to happen due to age on an old battery than due to a defect on a new one?. Anyway, in two cases, the batteries completely died and were useless. In the other, it was just really weak.

I don't mind jump starts. It's a simple task and I find some pleasure in bringing the beast back to life. I'm always willing to volunteer for it.
 
It IS true that with today's rather complex alternators that if you run on a battery that is not holding a charge properly it may put additional stress on the diodes (other electronics inside) in the alternator and eventually burn them out.

This is another reason why you are playing with fire when you try and squeeze another year out of a 6 plus yr old battery.

You might end up paying for a battery AND a new alternator as well.
 
Originally Posted By: JustinH
My saturn is a totally different animal. It is a Ion. The battery is in the trunk, and after calling 5 parts stores, no one stocks it, and the dealer has to special order it.

I did a cross reference on this battery, and AC delco says that the only car it is made for is the 2003-2004 saturn ion.

The battery is $120 from the Saturn Dealer.

Thanks,
Justin


Carquest sells AGM batteries that are made by DEKA. Or, you can buy them under the DEKA brand from a authorized DEKA battery dealer.

The AGM battery should be less than $!50 and will be an upgrade over the OE battery. Since it's AGM, acid leakage or venting will not be a problem.
 
Yup! Its not too uncommon to have a bad battery kill a alternator or vice versa. Its really hard on an alternator to recharge a battery too like if you left the lights on and got a jump start.
I put a new battery in my Vic last winter when it seemed to be cranking slow to me. I pulled it and put it on the charger/tester at work and it spit out "replace battery." So I just used my discount and threw a new one in.
 
Originally Posted By: Buick92
........From what I've read on the net and in magazines "heat" is harder on batteries than the cold, it just happens that batteries die in the winter after being beaten up in the summer. Has anyone else heard this?


Yep, I've heard the same more than once from knowledgeable mechanics. It's the heat under the hood that places the most stress on the batteries and it's the subsequent winter cold that demonstrates what little is left of the battery.
 
I'd certainly change a battery if it was weak, but I've also had a 3-year-old AC Delco battery just die suddenly. The last battery I replaced was an 8-year-old Motomaster 72, and the first replacement battery, also a Motomaster 72, was defective and never started the car once. I haven't yet come to any conclusion on how long I should expect a battery to last.
 
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