Battery Life Expectancy For 6.2 Diesel Vehicles?

[cornemuse]

I replaced the batts in my Blazer, dont remember when, cant find reciept. Bought 'Enterprise' batts at Costco. Didnt punch out date/year 'chads'. Has a small round yellow circle 9/14 on both batts. I did not think it was that long ago, but I could be wrong.
Locally mild winter lows have not been below the low 40's since purchase, so not a huge amount of stress (discharge/recharge) on the batterys.
A new alternator bought last March died on me in the last week. Supposed to rain like the dickens here today & tomorrow, (west coast), (Thanksgiving), so I will wait till Friday/weekend to take alt out & get it tested.

How have your batteries treated you?
How long they last you?

 

[schiker]

I usually get a contributing factor like an alternator or corrosion so not sure if battery always is to blame. Seems like about 4-5 years for regular lead acid type Interstate or store brand O'riely's etc.

 

[Will L.]

Extreme heat or cold always shortens battery life. Proper charging alternator and no key off battery draw is important also.

In Vegas, fleet trucks would get 3 years, maybe 3.5 years at best out of the best lead acid which seemed to be Delco and Interstate. Once we swapped to optima either red or yellow- the batteries out lasted the truck in fleet life. Ignore the Mexico optima= bad stuff- I personally had mexico ones break a decade, then they got used by a local guy a couple more years. I think that was retaliation for keeping the mexico production and closing the US plant. Stupid EPA killed so many US battery plants and drove cost through the roof.

Odyssey batteries seem to have a good following here now also, I have a few friends that are in Jeep clubs and they are saying 8 years is a minimum run. gasser and only 1 battery, but lights galore and winches- so... yeah a good draw.

AGM just seems to be the way to go, unless you have sick money and feel the desire for lithium-haha

 

[Rockabillyrat]

Napa legend series are what I sell all my customers. Average about 5-7 years out of them here in NE Ohio.

 

[cornemuse]

The dead alternator from March, what happened was, the 'v'belt broke & I was out running around, car starting kept getting weaker & weaker so I drove straight home, walked up to mailbox, coming back I saw something dangling under car, was the belt. Drove other car to store & bought (all) new belts, while replacing belts I connected my {300 amp?} car starter charger. The batts were really low. Left charger on & started/left engine running for more charging. & then the (last March) alternator died. Maybe I screwed up with double charging before, but I didnt do that this time, , , , , ,

 

[Will L.]

The alternator of a rig CAN charge up dead battery(s) if you have to. But it is really designed to just maintain them.

It’s like hooking a monster trailer to the truck and towing with foot to the floor to only get 30 mph because the load is so heavy. It will do it, but isn’t really designed to.
Not as many complexities, but overheating is there- Infact it happens much worse.

So while it MAY do it, it is shortening the alternator life.
Many people have batteries go bad, but while they are dying the alternator starts working it’s tail off trying to keep them up for a couple months. Then one or two full charge events like this. Shortly after the alternator dies and people go “OH, maybe the alternator was going bad and that’s why the batteries did.” Very often the Exactly opposite.

I love digital read out, like the ones that plug in a cigarette lighter. Simple but exact number. Watching it you learn what is normal. Once things look different, take the time to undo the battery cables and load test each battery. A good random cleaning between the normal cleaning schedule (which most neglect) is a good thing- electrical components can’t be too clean and properly tightened.

When the batteries are low and you own a battery charger- use it instead. A descent one will outlast you, so don’t worry about wearing it out. Keep it clean and dry for decades of use. Don’t forget to open and clean them once in a while too...

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

This isn't in a truck butttttttt

Our forklift quit cranking at work last week, the seat never gets raised to check anything, I looked at the battery, it had a inch of dust on it, I removed it and cleaned it up, found a install date tag, it had also been branded with the install date.... 2004...... I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself....

 

[cornemuse]

I took the alternator in to where I bought it (O'Reillys), They tested it as good. They have allus been good about things 'I trust them'. The '2 wires' plug (to the alternator) was quite dirty, I have three 6.2 junker vehicles & the same plug is as bad or worse than on my Blazer. Its been raining a lot, 'nother 1 3/4", and as my workshop is the driveway, I'm waiting for things to dry up a little, & try cleaning that plug, , , , ,

 

[cornemuse]

A bit late, but, it turns out, the alternator is good, the plug was very dirty, the batteries were BAD.
All is well, , , ,
Local auto parts here (O'Reillys) sell that same alternator plug with ± 12" leads, hmmm, , , ,

 

[MrMarty51]

Always nice when getting the failed components replaced and the unit then starts like never before. LOL

 

[emmott]

I get about a year out of no name batteries in northern Alberta. Seems like they last just long enough to be outside of warranty.
2-3 with interstate, I believe theirs are 5 year pro rated for the new ones.
My last fix was to put two large tractor batteries (group 4-D's) in the box in front of the wheel wells and run 0000 gauge power / ground straight to the starter solenoid / mounting bolt and that's lasted me ~4 years so far.

 

[cornemuse]

My 2 'interstate' batts were 6± years old. My mercedes 617 diesel lasted 13 + years '+' however long since the previous owners bought it.