Motorcraft Batteries

[CarbonSteel]

In the 1980's it was Delco-Remy batteries, now it seems to be Motorcraft. The battery in my 2014 Explorer went belly up today, it was almost 3 years old. The same thing happened to my 2010 FX4 at nearly 3 years old. I bought an AAP Autocraft Gold for the 2010 when it happened and I bought another AAP battery today for the Explorer. I have to say I love those AAP coupons. It reduced the price from $159 to $111 for a 850 CCA battery (the MC was only 650). The other thing I noticed (not sure of the significance) is the AAP battery was substantially heavier than the MC. I believe that Johnson Controls makes the batteries for AAP, not sure who is making MC these days. I do hope the two MC batteries in my PSD last longer than 2.8 years though...

 

[Kira]

I like the Johnson Controls product. I have no experience with Motorcraft batteries

ONCE a JC battery in my sister's Jeep "failed to hold a charge" and did so on month 35 of a 36 month free replacement period.
1) I had my receipt and they listened to my concise 2 sentence explanation (with voltages) and instantly gave me a new battery.
2) The counter girl who did the typing told me I didn't even need to have the receipt because they have it in their computer.
....She said most people don't keep their receipts.
....I recommend always keeping your receipts for this kind of thing.
3) The alternator had died (which she had replaced all without my knowledge) so I have no measure of the abuse that poor battery endured.
4) We're just glad it died when it did.

Since 1995 I select JC. Once they didn't have my size so I had to buy some brand with a stupid NASCAR on it. YUK!

 

[bioburner]

Wow if your having issues with a battery in Tx, MN winter would kill it for sure. I have been lucky in that seem to get 6 years or so on diesel sytems and ten on gas except for cycle batteries. When the battery hatched on the 97 Jeep I went to the salvage yard and found another less than year old battery for $35 and sold the Jeep two years latter. 3 Batteries in 19 years total.

 

[Billbert]

Originally Posted By: bioburner
Wow if your having issues with a battery in Tx, MN winter would kill it for sure. I have been lucky in that seem to get 6 years or so on diesel sytems and ten on gas except for cycle batteries. When the battery hatched on the 97 Jeep I went to the salvage yard and found another less than year old battery for $35 and sold the Jeep two years latter. 3 Batteries in 19 years total.

Heat kills batterys, not cold. Heat speeds up the sulfation process

 

[jimbrewer]

I'm experimenting with a float charger, since I garage the car every night. Past the 4.5 year mark.

It's not like the olden days where you would pay $85 for a good battery and half the time get a $20 discount the next time on the pro-rata warranty.

 

[Donald]

The heat in TX is killing your batteries. Move to the north like MN.

JCI batteries have the corners of the cell covers cut at 45 degrees, not rounded or cut at 90 degrees.

 

[tmorris1]

I live in MN and have always had good luck with Motorcraft batteries. It gets hot and cold here.

 

[tig1]

The MC battery in my Fusion lasted 7 years, but the after market battery lasted 2 months past the 3 year warranty.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Billbert

Heat kills batterys, not cold. Heat speeds up the sulfation process
here in the desert agm batteries usually last 3x as long as a wet battery

 

[maximus]

I'm in SE TX as well. Can't manage to get to more than 3 years out of a battery. My Sonata also has some kind of goofy alternator clutch that only charges when the vehicle is coasting or decelerating.

 

[exranger06]

I still have the factory original Motorcraft battery in my Ranger. 11 years old now and it still works fine.

 

[njohnson]

Our dad bought his 2006 Tundra brand new from the dealer. He hasn't changed his battery yet. I have told him several times in the last couple of years he should go ahead and replace it before it fails on him. I guess he is waiting for the day he goes out to start his truck and it doesn't.

He travels around as a contractor, so, he was in Burlington, WI for a couple of winters, and had days before 0 degrees. Last year, over the summer and fall, he was in Ruston, LA, and there were days of over 95+ and 100 degrees.

I am really amazed the battery has lasted this long.

 

[MNgopher]

Appears the heat is your killer. Motorcraft batteries have been some of the best for long life in my experience, but then again I live in Minnesota. Worst I've done on a Motorcraft oem has been 6 years.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: Billbert
Heat kills batterys, not cold. Heat speeds up the sulfation process
here in the desert agm batteries usually last 3x as long as a wet battery
I almost bought the AAP Platinum which is AGM, but it was about $60 more. I have had good luck with the AAP Gold (wet batteries). It has a 3 year full replacement warranty so I will have to wait and see

 

[CarbonSteel]

Originally Posted By: Donald
The heat in TX is killing your batteries. Move to the north like MN. JCI batteries have the corners of the cell covers cut at 45 degrees, not rounded or cut at 90 degrees.
CO, MT, WY would be more to my liking, but I get your point. The cell cover corners (say that 3x really fast) are 45° (thanks for that bit of inside information):

 

[nthach]

They don't make batteries like they used to - I recall swapping out the batteries in then newish cars for friends and family. My parents had the OEM JCI battery die in their Sienna in 2011, the van was built in 2004. The Costco replacement lived for almost 5 years. However, I've seen a 2012-vintage Panasonic almost die 3 years later in a Subaru.

I had good luck with Delco replacements, until Delphi stopped making them.

 

[bdcardinal]

The Motorcraft batteries are usually really good. They do go bad however, fairly quick failures are pretty common on the 6.0L diesels. At least they cover them under the NVLW.