Battery amp/hour rating--pass/fail question
 

Just got the car back from taking off the Blizzaks (in time for 1" of snow) and an oil change. The service manager mentioned that the battery failed the standard test ( it tested at 450 amp hours) and suggested a replacement.

Mind you, we replaced the OE battery with this unit in Jan. of '06' on our own nickle.

IIRC, the battery is rated at 650ampr/hr.; anyone have a feel what the acceptable charge rating is for this battery? Going through a few old receipts, the old battery tested ok at 380.

Wonder if this dealership has changed it's criterion for a "good" battery just to shake the money tree. If so, too bad--these guys have been good to work with over the past 3 years.

Sounds to me like they are trying to sell you something you don't need. If you haven't had any problems starting or with the electrical system tell them thanks, but no thanks. If you do a lot of short distance driving, you might want to put a trickle charger on the battery overnight occasionally.

What brand and model battery is this? Are you aware of the sevice bulletin dealing with battery, spark plug and starter motor replacement? The early model year cars were delivered with an inadequate battery and starter motor. I'll post a link to the service bulletin below.

If your dealer is the least bit customer friendly, a mention of hard starting should prompt him to do this service. Print out the service bulletin and take it in with you just in case they play dumb.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...48-06-1691.pdf

Did the dealer say "amp hours"? The numbers you're talking about would be CCA (cold cranking amps), not amp hours. Amp hours would be in the range of 80-100. But since car batteries are meant for starting, not deep discharge, they usually don't even give the AH rating.

Since the battery is just over a year old, it would have most of its warranty left. Go to the place you bought it, tell them the dealer said it was bad, and ask them to test it. If it's bad, you'll get a new one for the fraction of the original cost.

Ken

Yup, it was CCA--tested at 450. BTW, this replacement battery was installed by the dealer a month after the tech bulletin was issued; what a bunch of sweethearts.

This particular week we haven't driven it much so that may have contributed to a low number but on further inspection of the last service write up we did last fall, the battery tested at 460 CCA and passed. I guess they were just trying to get more income for the service department. My old Ford dealership did the same thing with my explorer and I haven't been back to them since.

A battery has to be at full charge to test it.

Recharge it then bring it in to an Auto store for a free check.

Just get a second opinion as prescribed in the above posts.