Hello,
Son has a 4 year old Accord; 6 cyl. Live in New England; get's really cold here in the winter.
Know nothing re batteries, frankly.
Present battery is original equipment, apparently, and has a label on it that say 440 cold cranking amps.
Is this the size he should go for in the replacement, or does bigger make more sense ?
Is Interstate a good battery brand ? Which should he stay away from ?
Much thanks, Bob
Bob wrote in news:hrhudn$arp$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal- september.org:
Why are you replacing the battery?
For cold weather, I believe the biggest heavy duty/most cranking amps battery which will fit into the battery compartment is best.Be sure the hood doesn't touch the battery and battery cables when the hood is closed down.
Johnson Controls batteries available at Autozone are good batteries, in my opinion. cuhulin
Not disagreeing, and in the old days I gave similar advice to many. But with modern battery construction, size doesn't matter nearly as much, physically at least. A battery with the same CCA as one that used to fill the battery tray to overflowing, can now be had in what looks to be the same case size as the OEM battery.
Bob wrote in news:hrhudn$arp$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:
Just make sure it *keeps* a full charge. A while back the local bus company drivers and mechanics went on strike in December for a couple months and no one higher up thought to remove the batteries from the busses. They *all* had to be replaced with new ones. That's *without* any drain on them from electronics like you'd find in the above car.
Right. So my strategy today is to buy the battery with the highest CCA rating that fits into the same case as the original.
If you happen to have a GM product with side terminals that are impossible to get at, you might want a smaller battery (with a CCA rating no lower than the OEM) to make maintenance easier.
If you live in a really, really cold place or you have crazy accessory loads, and you have a lot of extra space in the compartment you might consider a new battery holder and a larger battery.
But for the most part, use the highest current battery that fits.
--scott
Sounds like a good plan. cuhulin
Get the battery (even if the same size) with the highest CCA and Reserve Capacity (RC). These normally have more plates.
For example, Autozone lists 2006 Accord LX V6:
35-DLG 640 CCA, 100 RC, vs 35-DL's 500 CCA and 80 RC.440 CCA sounds wimpy. Must be from the lowest bidder.
Yes, Interstate is made by Johnson Controls. They also make Autozone batteries, and I believe WalMart's too. They're very good batteries. I personally would stay away from Exide batteries.
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