vintagelex

So as winter is coming, it's definitely time for a new battery. This one is about 7 years old and if the car sits more than a day the battery becomes obviously weak. I had a load test done at Autozone yesterday and it came up as fully charged but a "bad battery". I'm not surprised, since it's this old.

Now, I was looking through the FSM and nowhere is there a mention of what CCA (cold cranking amps) a replacement battery needs to have. I was thinking of buying something with at least 800 (not sure what the battery that's in there now is rated at) but I have kind of a dumb question: Can a battery with too high a capacity overload the alternator? If the original battery was rated at 600CCA for example, and I put in one that's rated at 800-900, won't it put too much of a strain on the alternator to keep it charged? It's a relatively inexpensive rebuilt alternator and it's been working well for years but I really don't wanna kill it right now. What's the general wisdom on this, I can't seem to find any definitive answers on google?

Fritz330

I put in a 800 CCA from Auto Zone a couple of months ago. So far so good.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

it won't kill the alternator at all, I put an 850 into my 01 during the winter, worked like a dream in the below 0 weather... and it was parked outside all the time.

Oro

Slightly off your question, but...

Since you live in IL and it get's frosty there sometimes (I know, my brother lives in Crystal Lake), I want to put in a word for Interstate batteries. I used to live in New England and a short while in northern VT. I had to have a battery that would fire at -30F regardless. Interstate always worked for me where others failed. You can get them at fair prices at Firestones, often on good coupon/discounts.

Living in a mild climate now, I think I am going on 15 years on the current Interstate battery in one car; I recall having it installed in Vermont in '00 or '01.

vintagelex

Wowwwwwwww batteries are expensive. At least the brand name ones that I was looking at. But I found one at NAPA Auto Parts on sale for $102 with 725CCA and a two year warranty. It says it's an "84 month battery". I think I might buy this one, since I can't spend close to $200 on a battery right now, and this seems like it would work decently well.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...424_0398858244

Oro

That sounds odd. I just looked at my local Firestone and they had the top Interstate for a 2000 ES300 for $120. And you can always find a coupon for them to knock that down $20 or so. That was the 800CCA Interstate Megatron Plus - 6 year warranty. A 450CCA was 4 year warranty and $80. Much rather have either one of those in my opinion than a house brand 2-year battery from Napa.

vintagelex

You're right, the Firestone here had that as well. I was mainly looking at places like Autozone and Harbor Freight before, but this makes much more sense. I went and bought the battery at Firestone this morning, it was the higher rater Megatron with a 5 year warranty. I swapped it out in the parking lot and they even gave me new battery cable ends for free when I asked if they had any, because mine were pretty bad. So overall I'm very happy and the car starts much better

Oro

Cool, glad I could help. I discovered years ago through careful shopping Firestone was the go-to place for batteries and it seems to still stay true.

INNOUTFAN

I have had nothing but issues in the last few years with Interstate batteries. Had to replace one in truck within 16 months and one in wife's van in 18 months in Colorado. I was an absolute Interstate fan until these two. Won't buy another one.

chadlex

I decided to get away from the factory Lexus battery about 2 months ago. I went with a size 24 Bosch battery from Pep Boys, 3 yr free replacement, 700 cold cranking amps & $127.00 with a PBoys 25% off coupon & I walked out for about $100.00 I'll have let everyone know in a couple years how it goes. So far so good!

artbuc

I used Interstate exclusively for 25+ years based on a CR review a long time ago. I installed them on my cars plus several other cars I maintain for friends and family. I got 3 bad ones in a row and converted to Deka (EastPenn). A couple years ago my local Sears changed battery suppliers. Their Diehards used to be made by JC but they changed to Deka. I got one and it has been great. I first discovered Deka when my local Ariens dealer said Deka was the only battery that could hold-up under the extreme heat and vibration on a garden tractor. They cost a lot more than Diehards or Interstate (both made by JC at the time) but both Diehard and Interstate failed after just a year. I installed a Deka in my tractor and it lasted 5 years. I believe both Carquest and NAPA batteris are made by Deka.

I am not sure what has happened to JC but I believe their batteries are not very good these days whereas EastPenn is still making a fantastic product.