What happens when you leave your key in the ACC position ?

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Grand Mesa

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As I've been told by a battery guru- the hot weather is the culprit that does the damage to the battery. However it shows up in the cold/winter weather due to the increased demand for amps on cold start. I thought this was a line of houie, but I had a Buick Riviera that had the battery under the backseat, not in the hot ass engine compartment. That OEM battery lasted right at 6 years!! The best I have gotten with batteries under the hood is 2-3-1/2 at best. So based on this experience I figure he was right.

The batteries in the HDs (not sure about the Hemis) have a "blanket" around them to try to insulate them from some of the under hood heat. I'd bet good money theyre trying to make em last to 36,001 miles or 37 months to avoid having to replace them under warranty!

Be Safe out there folks!!

The field mice here ate away my battery "blanket" on my 2016 immediately after I purchased it. They haven't eaten anything else under the hood since. I've got 76,000 miles on my 2016 OEM. It gets around 100 degrees in the summer with a 45 to 50 degree Fahrenheit change in daily temperature, then in mid-September it quickly changes to freezing temperatures followed by far below the "operation not recommended" battery recommendations.

Some stupidly low arctic cold mornings of below minus 20 to 40 sometimes must be the reason for the preservation of my RV, marine, and vehicle batteries. Never had any last less than 5 years under the hood, except for some Optima AGMs.
 

Quyonmob

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Your battery should still be fine.

I still have my OEM battery in my 2016 and it should/might/could still start the truck in cold weather even at the "operation not recommended" temperatures.

Come winter that's when you'll know for certain.

Lead-acid batteries...

View attachment 228335

:lol:

I guess those of us in the north shouldn’t operate our batteries in winter. -20’C is a nice day in winter here!
 

Grand Mesa

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So is it here. Fools you. I've skied here at our local area in minus 32 Celsius (negative 26 Fahrenheit). It's clear, the snow is powder, and it's beautiful.
 

62Blazer

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Regarding battery age I found you can't rely on the build date of the vehicle to match that of the battery. We have a '19 MY car that was bought new from a dealership the fall of '18 and recently had issues with the battery. After I pulled it I found a 2016 date code on the battery!
 

No Tyme

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Being retired and with winter coming I may not drive my truck for a week at a time. It does sit in a garage but accaionally it gets below freezing in the garage. Following a lesson learned with my Harleys I installed a connector for a battery tender to keep batter in a charged state. My 2012 Harley is still on its orginal battery. I'm convinced a battery tender extends battery life. JMO
 

JS4024

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Low battery voltage or high current draw from the alternator while charging will give u the check engine light. Tow haul vs non tow haul. No idea what U have if a 2500 and you are pulling 8k on fairly level interstate you are fine with no tow/haul.If you have the 8 speed ZF transmission it will be perfectly fine. These guys saying manual shift and keep it in 4th for longevity are snake oil guys. You wind up doing more damage than leaving the computer so it’s thing. It monitors something like 36 different items to make sure the transmission is not hurting itself. The ZF is designed to be a 300,000 mile transmission. Let it do it’s thing.
 

Ed F

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Need to carry one of the battery booster/jump start like NOCO, Schmacher, etc. They're pretty handy and hold a charge for some time. I had a NOCO and the damn thing went tango uniform for some reason. I had left in the truck and I assume the temp spikes between summer and winter killed it. Now I don't leave it in truck unless I'm in it, otherwise I keep it house where temps are fairly steady.

I tried the same system but my vehicles like to die when I’m not home.
 

Ed F

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Low battery voltage or high current draw from the alternator while charging will give u the check engine light. Tow haul vs non tow haul. No idea what U have if a 2500 and you are pulling 8k on fairly level interstate you are fine with no tow/haul.If you have the 8 speed ZF transmission it will be perfectly fine. These guys saying manual shift and keep it in 4th for longevity are snake oil guys. You wind up doing more damage than leaving the computer so it’s thing. It monitors something like 36 different items to make sure the transmission is not hurting itself. The ZF is designed to be a 300,000 mile transmission. Let it do it’s thing.

Know anybody who will give you a 300,000 mile warranty on the ZF? Sign me up
 

Jesse Lackman

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These guys saying manual shift and keep it in 4th for longevity are snake oil guys. You wind up doing more damage than leaving the computer so it’s thing. It monitors something like 36 different items to make sure the transmission is not hurting itself. The ZF is designed to be a 300,000 mile transmission. Let it do it’s thing.

We took our new PW on a little 200+ mile road trip yesterday and I was surprised to see the transmission oil temperature never got higher than 170.
 

Jesse Lackman

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As I've been told by a battery guru- the hot weather is the culprit that does the damage to the battery. However it shows up in the cold/winter weather due to the increased demand for amps on cold start. I thought this was a line of houie, but I had a Buick Riviera that had the battery under the backseat, not in the hot ass engine compartment. That OEM battery lasted right at 6 years!! The best I have gotten with batteries under the hood is 2-3-1/2 at best. So based on this experience I figure he was right.

The batteries in the HDs (not sure about the Hemis) have a "blanket" around them to try to insulate them from some of the under hood heat. I'd bet good money theyre trying to make em last to 36,001 miles or 37 months to avoid having to replace them under warranty!

Be Safe out there folks!!

Just replaced batteries in our Massey 275 tractor, the ones we replaced were DieHard that lasted 11 years. The tractor sat outside, and the battery location is in front of the radiator. I've had great luck with DieHard batteries.
 

Quyonmob

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Being retired and with winter coming I may not drive my truck for a week at a time. It does sit in a garage but accaionally it gets below freezing in the garage. Following a lesson learned with my Harleys I installed a connector for a battery tender to keep batter in a charged state. My 2012 Harley is still on its orginal battery. I'm convinced a battery tender extends battery life. JMO

wow, I don’t start half the fleet that sits outside for weeks at temps dramatically below freezing. Most on decade old batteries. No trouble.
 

BigWhiteSnake

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An acquaintance of mine owns a dealership. Says the trucks have a power management system that prevents the vehicle from discharging the battery completely. Though it won’t stop in time to start the truck, it stops in time to not kill your battery.

:33:
 
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