Is Motorcraft Replacement Battery A Good Choice?

[itzbinnice]

My 1995 Explorer XLT has 121K miles. and still runs and looks good.
I replaced the battery in it in May of 2004 with a Motorcraft BXT65-650 battery purchased at my local Ford dealer. This battery has served me well for almost 10 years. With the cold weather setting in It did not turn over quite as fast so decided it was time for a replacement.

I went to the local Ford dealer and was advised I could buy the same battery BXT65-650 for 108.00. I asked how much the BXT65-750 was, it too was 108.00. I said that's a no brainer and bought the 750 CCA model.
Now I'm not so sure I made the right choice. Both batteries come with a 3 year full replacement and 100 month pro rated.

I read on a forum after my purchase that the 650 CCA will last longer since it has thicker plates than the 750 CCA since they both have the same battery dimensions. They said the 750's plates would be thinner so they could squeeze the additional plates into the same size space. The weight on the 650 CCA is 42 lbs as opposed to 49 lbs on the 750 CCA.
I'm skeptical in believing that theory, can anybody verify if that is true?

I now have second thoughts about this replacement battery, since the Motorcraft batteries are now manufactured by Johnson Controls. Reading some threads some say these batteries are a hit and miss situation of their durability. Some say to buy the Motorcraft batteries at Walmart instead of the dealer. I refuse to shop at Walmart even if that means paying more, I also wonder if their batteries have different specifications (inferior) to batteries purchased from a Ford dealer.

Any thoughts on this assumption?

 

[koda2000]

one of my trucks had a 1 year old Motorcraft battery in it when I bought it. it turned out to be no good. i'd buy a NAPA group 65 battery, $90 w/5 year warranty. I've had a NAPA battery in one of my cars for 12 years. it still works, but I plan to replace it soon.

 

[itzbinnice]

one of my trucks had a 1 year old Motorcraft battery in it when I bought it. it turned out to be no good. i'd buy a NAPA group 65 battery, $90 w/5 year warranty. I've had a NAPA battery in one of my cars for 12 years. it still works, but I plan to replace it soon.

That's good to know about Napa batteries but it's too late now since the new Motorcraft battery has been installed.

I'd still like to know the answer in my original post if having higher CCA means those plates are thinner.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

I delivered and sold batteries for 9 years. You bought the right battery, given they were the same price. The 750 CCA battery will start your Explorer much easier and faster, especially in the cold. Faster starts = less strain on the battery which should mean longer life. If you were in Arizona, the 650 CCA battery might have been a better choice since it would have slightly more space between the plates allowing for better heat dissipation. I think the total surface area is the key, not the thickness of the plates. More plates = more surface area.

Johnson Controls has been making Motorcraft replacement batteries since at least the mid-eighties. They also make (or used to make) Sears Diehard and Interstate batteries among others. There are only a handful of battery manufacturers who make all the different brands. That's not saying all batteries built by a manufacturer are equal as they are probably made to different specs, but the workmanship should be the same.
You will occasionally get a bad battery no matter who built it or who's name is on it.

 

[429CJ-3X2]

I've been asked where I buy my batteries.

I buy my batteries, which I think are made by Johnson Controls, at Walmart, largely because I'm never far away from a Walmart wherever I go, and most of them are now open 24 hours. We've had a few we had to warranty, and we've never had a problem getting them to honor the warranty. That includes the time we had my father-in-law's van in St Louis (350 miles from home) and the battery failed without warning, and we had no receipt.

When I was delivering and selling batteries in the late 1980s through mid '90s, the car batteries we got from Johnson Controls for our private labels were consistently the most reliable batteries we sold. I know that was a long time ago, but the technology hasn't changed much in car batteries. When I first started that job, we got about half of our batteries from Exide. We had to warranty a high % of the Exide batteries, so we found other suppliers. Around that time, Exide's own engineers admitted in court that their batteries were designed to last only a year, regardless of the warranty. I'm not saying that's the case now, but I still won't knowingly buy an Exide built battery.

I have a friend, now retired, who owned a car repair shop. He swore by Interstate batteries, and wouldn't have a Diehard if you gave it to him. In fact, if you drove into his shop with a Diehard, you probably left with an Interstate. Both were made by Johnson Controls at their plant in St Joseph, Mo.

 

[itzbinnice]

I delivered and sold batteries for 9 years. You bought the right battery, given they were the same price. The 750 CCA battery will start your Explorer much easier and faster, especially in the cold. Faster starts = less strain on the battery which should mean longer life. If you were in Arizona, the 650 CCA battery might have been a better choice since it would have slightly more space between the plates allowing for better heat dissipation. I think the total surface area is the key, not the thickness of the plates. More plates = more surface area.

Johnson Controls has been making Motorcraft replacement batteries since at least the mid-eighties. They also make (or used to make) Sears Diehard and Interstate batteries among others. There are only a handful of battery manufacturers who make all the different brands. That's not saying all batteries built by a manufacturer are equal as they are probably made to different specs, but the workmanship should be the same.
You will occasionally get a bad battery no matter who built it or who's name is on it.

Thank you for your knowledge on batteries and that I made the right choice.
Living in Long Isalnd NY the temperatures here don't get extreme so I'm not concerned about higher heat from the added plates. This reflects the 7 lb difference in weight between the 650 and 750 from 42 lbs to 49 lbs.

I'm pleased to hear that Johnson Controls made my original Motorcraft BXT65-650 purchased in 2004. I thought their production of Motorcraft batteries was more recent than the mid eighties. I doubt I will need to replace the battery again if the new one lasts only half as long since I doubt I'll keep the Explorer another 5 years. I do see a difference in the new battery, it starts almost immediately where as the old one even in it's prime took about 3 seconds to start.

 

[shadowless127]

Interstate FTW

 

[lobo411]

They're all the same...so I bought based on the retailer. Costco has great batteries at a great price, legendary customer service, and stores more or less everywhere. My last battery was a Die Hard and it lasted 10+ years, but who knows if Sears will be around another year, let alone another decade.

 

[koda2000]

when i worked at an auto parts store the most common battery people came in with wanting to replace was the Walmart Everstart. we used to call them Neverstarts.

 

[swetrid]

We also called the Walmart batteries Neverstarts. I would only install Motorcraft or Interstate!

 

[itzbinnice]

They're all the same...so I bought based on the retailer. Costco has great batteries at a great price, legendary customer service, and stores more or less everywhere. My last battery was a Die Hard and it lasted 10+ years, but who knows if Sears will be around another year, let alone another decade.

While researching a battery replacement I did check out both Costco and BJ's wholesale, neither showed any automotive batteries on their sites.
Perhaps they are only available at store locations which I never went to.
I like Costco products and their liberal return policy if needed. Maybe I am doing something wrong with my online search at Costco but I'm unable to find any car batteries.

OFF TOPIC
As mentioned I refuse to shop at Walmart since I had a bad experience with them. Several years I bought a curved snow shovel from them online. I received an email stating it was ready for pickup. I take the printed email and drive 10 miles to the store. When I get there I'm told they don't have the shovel. I ask them to check another store to see if I can pickup there. They say another store has it about 8 miles away and I can pick it up there in the gardening department. I drive the 8 miles to the store only to discover they don't have the shovel and don't even have a gardening department.

I then cancel the order and purchase it at a local Sears store for a few dollars more. There were also other occasions when they showed something in stock at my closest store. Upon arrival I was told they don't have it. When asked then why does it show online they reply "oh you can't rely on what it shows online, it's not accurate". What kind of answer is that, wasted more of my time and gas.

I also find their prices on electronics are always higher than competitors such as Amazon. Needless to say they will never receive one penny from me, I'll gladly pay more to avoid any future frustration dealing with them.

 

[lobo411]

While researching a battery replacement I did check out both Costco and BJ's wholesale, neither showed any automotive batteries on their sites.
Perhaps they are only available at store locations which I never went to.
I like Costco products and their liberal return policy if needed. Maybe I am doing something wrong with my online search at Costco but I'm unable to find any car batteries.

The batteries are sold in the tire shop, in store only.

And ya, I don't shop at Walmart either. I went there exactly once: the prices were the same as Target, or literally a penny or two cheaper. But the place was a war zone, full of unsavory people, long lines, demoralized staff, and dirty/broken facilities. I literally *felt* poor just being there. And I thought "all this hassle...to save a penny?"

A penny saved is a penny earned, but I could have made 5 cents looking for cans in the parking lot at Target!

 

[Dono]

The batteries are sold in the tire shop, in store only.

And ya, I don't shop at Walmart either. I went there exactly once: the prices were the same as Target, or literally a penny or two cheaper. But the place was a war zone, full of unsavory people, long lines, demoralized staff, and dirty/broken facilities. I literally *felt* poor just being there. And I thought "all this hassle...to save a penny?"

A penny saved is a penny earned, but I could have made 5 cents looking for cans in the parking lot at Target!

Agreed. Although, any experience I have had with a Walmart tire shop has been positive. I do buy all my batteries at Costco though. Maybe just habit.
I do like to spend my money at places that seem like they treat their staff well, and with the price of gas its ok to spend a little more at this place rather than having a bad experience and driving all over the place to fix the issue.

I think you made the right choice going with the higher cca battery also. I always do. Even if you only get 8 years instead of 10 your cost per year is still low. As you also stated, that will be the last battery you ever put in to that truck.

 

[bill06447]

Agreed. Although, any experience I have had with a Walmart tire shop has been positive. I do buy all my batteries at Costco though. Maybe just habit.

I was on vacation and had two flat tires literally one after another late a Saturday night. The local Walmart manager and another employee opened the (closed) tire shop and proceeded to install four tires on my van. Gave me a 10% courtesy discount because the manager felt bad for my dilemma, and on top of that the employee wouldn't accept a tip! So yeah, I've also had a positive experience.

I'd venture to guess a lot of Neverstart batteries came back because of the sheer volume of batteries Walmart sells

Bill

 

[wifes2011xlt]

I read on a forum after my purchase that the 650 CCA will last longer since it has thicker plates than the 750 CCA since they both have the same battery dimensions. They said the 750's plates would be thinner so they could squeeze the additional plates into the same size space. The weight on the 650 CCA is 42 lbs as opposed to 49 lbs on the 750 CCA.
I'm skeptical in believing that theory, can anybody verify if that is true

This doesn't make sense to me. If the two batteries have identical dimensions, you can't create more surface area so to increase CCA then the plates must be made thicker. Am I missing something?

 

[shucker1]

Thinner plates = More of them = More surface area = more CCA available.

 

[itzbinnice]

Thinner plates = More of them = More surface area = more CCA available.

I was thinking that the spacing of the plates was narrower thus providing more room to accommodate the extra plates on the 750 CCA batteries.
Since the plates are thinner, perhaps failure of some possibly could shorten battery life. I'm only speculating here and have no evidence of that to be true.

I don't know how many extra plates there are in the 750 opposed to the 650 that add up to 7 more pounds within the same battery dimension.
This poses another question I have no answer to.
What if there were numerous plate failures resulting in lower CCA in the 750.
I still believe it would not be that drastic to go lower than 650 CCA.
What puzzled me was how the Ford dealer sold both batteries at the same 108.00 price, whereas the 850 CCA sold for 117.00.

Another interesting fact is battery weight, why from 650 to 750 is 7 more pounds and 750 to 850 only 3 pounds?
650 CCA= 42 Lbs
750 CCA= 49 Lbs
850 CCA= 52 Lbs

http://machenry.com/documents/batteryspecs.pdf

Whatever the facts are, it makes no difference to me since my hopes are I can get 5 trouble free years out of the battery since the 95 Explorer will need to be replaced.

 

[shucker1]

Just remember that CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) is a rating at 0 Degrees F and CA (Cranking Amps) is a rating at 32 Degrees F.

Not sure how cold it gets where you live in NY or if you have a V6 or a V8.

A V8 may take a little more Guts to start and the larger battery may be a better choice.

 

[koda2000]

Just remember that CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) is a rating at 0 Degrees F and CA (Cranking Amps) is a rating at 32 Degrees F.

Not sure how cold it gets where you live in NY or if you have a V6 or a V8.

A V8 may take a little more Guts to start and the larger battery may be a better choice.

you're half right. CA is measured at 25C (about 77F)

 

[SoNic67]

General considerations:

For a given cell chemistry and within the space available inside a given cell case, the cell performance can be optimized for capacity or power.
##Increasing the surface area of the electrodes increases the cell's current handling capability. Thus the cell can both deliver more power and it can be charged more quickly.
##Increasing the volume of electrolyte in the cell increases the cell's energy storage capacity.
The prime trade off is between the area of the electrodes and the volume of the electrolyte which can be contained within the volume available in the cell case.
High power cells require electrodes with a large surface area as well as enlarged current collectors which take up more of the available space within a given cell, displacing the electrolyte and reducing the cell capacity.
The effective surface area of an electrode can be increased without increasing its physical size by making its surface porous and using materials with very fine particle size. This can increase the effective surface area of the electrodes by 1000 to 100,000 times enabling higher current rates to be achieved.

The separator between plates - may be a mechanical spacer between plates, fiberglass cloth or a flexible plastic film made from nylon, polyethylene or polypropylene. It must be porous and very thin to permit the charged ions to pass without impediment and it should take up the minimum of space to allow for the maximum use of the available space for the active chemicals. At the same time it must be resistant to penetration by burrs or dendrite growths on the electrode plates or from contamination of the electrode coating to prevent the possibility of short circuits between the electrodes.