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Replacing 1 battery on a diesel with 2?

YotaAtieToo

YotaAtieToo

Thick skull
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
142
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12,648
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Bonners Ferry, ID
Have a pair of maintenance free napa batteries in my 97 7.3 diesel. They're not bad/not great batteries, but they were pretty affordable. 3 years later, they won't hold a charge. Napa said there is a decent amount of the prorated warranty left, new pair for $130. But they want to charge and test them first :confused: guy wanted them for a whole day. Kinda a pain, but whatever, I don't want to spend the $400-600 on a pair of nice batteries right now.



So of course, 1 tests good, 1 tests bad. He's saying the it will be fine to have 1 new and 1 old. I've always heard the opposite, to replace both at the same time with the same type since there is no isolator on a diesel.

Seems like it's going to start me into a battery leap frog. Plus also potentially shorting the life of the new battery by relying on it more.

It's on $65 for the one with the prorate, so I guess it's not a huge loss.
 
Go to another napa if you have to get a napa battery or an independent battery seller.

Run from that guy as he is an idiot newb it seems.

Yeah its recommended that diesel batteries be replaced in pairs.
 
PAE said:
Go to another napa if you have to get a napa battery or an independent battery seller.

Run from that guy as he is an idiot newb it seems.

Yeah its recommended that diesel batteries be replaced in pairs.
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Should have brought them to paradise a few weeks ago. The whole reason I bought napa, was because I got to know most of those guys pretty well.

These are actually my 2nd pair, the first went out a month after the fire and the napa in willows wouldn't do anything for me. :homer:
 
do both
ask counter monkey if he would put one failing battery back in his only link to safety in an "apocalypse de Zombie"
 
Yeah Gary and Jason are my favorite parts dudes, the other skinny short guy is a good runner up as well.


YotaAtieToo said:
Should have brought them to paradise a few weeks ago. The whole reason I bought napa, was because I got to know most of those guys pretty well.

These are actually my 2nd pair, the first went out a month after the fire and the napa in willows wouldn't do anything for me. :homer:
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Well I cheaped out and just did the one, oh well.

One thing that was nice is they reupped the warranty like I bought a new battery.
 
PAE said:
Yeah Gary and Jason are my favorite parts dudes, the other skinny short guy is a good runner up as well.
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Is Gary the bald dude with the old porches? He's always been really cool.

I like Tonya to, she got bumped to Chico, but always cracks me up.

The old dude with the pony tail is a douche though. I got in a big argument with him over a warranty on a part, and Gary came over and took over. :laughing:
 
Clb said:
do both
ask counter monkey if he would put one failing battery back in his only link to safety in an "apocalypse de Zombie"
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It's not failing, they said it passed the test great. It's just 3 yrs old.

I figured for $70, it gets me going. I'd like to put some really good batteries in it and a bigger alternator at some point.

Also, it's 1 of 4 or 5 (counting my dirt bike) vehicles, and its not driven all that much, so it should be OK.
 
I'd just replace them as they go bad. But lucky for me #2 died 2 months after #1 did. 🙄

How about just replacing the 2 with 1 larger battery?

Also CAT has good batteries at reasonable costs.
 
Gary is older than you by like 10-15 yrs, a clamper and an alcoholic, kinna drags one leg.
 
Weasel said:
I'd just replace them as they go bad. But lucky for me #2 died 2 months after #1 did. 🙄

How about just replacing the 2 with 1 larger battery?

Also CAT has good batteries at reasonable costs.
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There isn't a whole lot of room under the hood to re configure, I'd rather have 2 batteries than 1 anyway. Plus it's already all set up for it.

Cat is an interesting idea. I also wonder about Motorcraft? My wife stock battery lasted 7 years 🤷

I wish the die hard platinum line was still around, basically get a $350 battery for $200.

PAE said:
Gary is older than you by like 10-15 yrs, a clamper and an alcoholic, kinna drags one leg.
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Probably more like 20-25 yrs, but ya that's him. Also, you don't need to be redundant, alcoholic is interchangeable with clamper :flipoff2:
 
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I used to be on board with replacing both, but then I stopped and saw no ill effects.

Only one ever goes bad anyway, they don't both give up at the same time.

If you think about it, one battery is a piggy back to the other, no matter how you look at it.
One is closer to the alternator.
They will never charge and discharge at the same rate in the truck, so they will never be equal unless you are rotating batteries every 6 months.

Just replace one, but same size and type.
 
Wizzle said:
Am I the only one getting good results out of Walmart everstart batteries? I’ve used them in every diesel I’ve own for 10 years and demanded a lot out of them with no issues at all. They’re the cheapest out there every time as well.

Local generac generator deal buys his batteries there as well
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I've got my second set of WM Everstart batteries in my '00 CTD - I think I got ~7 years out of the first set of them & now that I'm thinking about it the current WM batteries are ~7 y/o...... My OEM batteries were good for ~7 years as well.
 
Most batteries are made by a handful of manufacturers then they put whatever goofy brand sticker on them.

I bought the napas hoping that they would have the best support when traveling. I guess I was wrong.

Autozone or O'Reillys is probably a better bet, as they're everywhere and open late 7 days a week.
 
Wizzle said:
Am I the only one getting good results out of Walmart everstart batteries? I’ve used them in every diesel I’ve own for 10 years and demanded a lot out of them with no issues at all. They’re the cheapest out there every time as well.

Local generac generator deal buys his batteries there as well
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Nope I've had 2 and they both crapped out before warranty was up and Walmart was a PIA to get them replaced. Took 5 days.

YotaAtieToo said:
Most batteries are made by a handful of manufacturers then they put whatever goofy brand sticker on them.

I bought the napas hoping that they would have the best support when traveling. I guess I was wrong.

Autozone or O'Reillys is probably a better bet, as they're everywhere and open late 7 days a week.
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CAT does make their own. I was going to remote mount a single 4d either in the bed or maybe where the spare tire goes.
 
Weasel said:
Nope I've had 2 and they both crapped out before warranty was up and Walmart was a PIA to get them replaced. Took 5 days.



CAT does make their own. I was going to remote mount a single 4d either in the bed or maybe where the spare tire goes.
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Where is/are CAT's battery mfg plant? Quick search shows East Penn is a Certified CAT Supplier.
 
Looks like it's made by Northstar.

The new Diehard Platinum is the Batteries+ X2Power AGM. It's made by Northstar, who made the Diehards after Odyssey stopped (confirmed to me by tech reps at both Odyssey and a Northstar distributor here). I had a 2014 Diehard/Northstar in my Tacoma that was still going strong when I traded it in in Nov ’20.
Very similar specs to Odysseys, vibration proof, pure lead, etc. Rock-solid. The Batteries+ version comes with a 60month warranty and a national network of stores, just in case.
 
Weasel said:
I'll look on the few I have. I thought I read it o their product brochure but maybe it was something the parts guys said.
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I doubt you’ll find any other name besides “CAT” on the batteries- they are pretty good about their marketing based on my experience as a turbo supplier to CAT.
 
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