Odyssey doesn't make batteries. Like I said a few up, Odysseys are made by EnerSys. I believe in Montana somewhere. Hit their site.

Diehard Plat or an Odyssey seems to be the way to go. I've read here and there that the Diehard Platinum and Odyssey are the same and they look it on the outside. Doesn't make sense, the price difference between the two is fairly substantial. With the Odyssey costing more, I have to believe they're different inside. The confusing part I guess, for me anyway.
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Oh yea, -It is disgusting, I agree.

 

I hear yuh. I never wanted to skimp with a battery. I recall buying the biggest and baddest I could find. Then returning it, -it didn't fit and I couldn't force it without some somewhat major fabrication.

Totally serious.

Eventually settled on the correct size, but wasn't happy about it. I was kid! Thunk like one then and still suffer from relapse, every now and again.

But yea, Great choice! Nice Battery for sure. I settled with the Diehard Platinum after receiving a quick internet education awhile ago.

 

Gentlemen, Newbie here, have been reading the forum for a month to get a wealth of information, it is time to give some information back that may be helpful. I was always told an altanator is good makes voltage or not no voltage not so. I had a 77 F350 400 and worked the evening shift. Start to notice at night was slow to crank, the weather was cold middle of winter. Thought I needed Battery as in daytime would start good.would not start one night need boost. Had battery tested was good even was older battery. Had alt checked showed good on voltage, alt was checked for amp output was down. Took awhile to find a good tester to test AC in a DC circuit. Verdict bad diao. AC in a DC circuit will kill a battery. Had to replace the alt then a month later had to replace the battery the ac had killed it. Later I read an artical by napa on the same subject. A bad diao will in some cases will let AC leak into the DC circuit. This will kill even a new battery. I have seen it drain a good battery over night. Have put my hand on alt that has set over night and it would be warm to the touch. Thank, will be watching from the sideline.

 

finally found a "load tester" brought the battery in and left it...came back and they said it passed but I dont really trust the idiot that tested it because its sopposed to take awhile, when I came back it was on the floor, she said it had been ran but then went ahead and put it back on the tester and tried to say it was good after 5 min so Im not sure if I got a true test. Called another place and he said they have the same deal but its not a real "load test" just that it charges before testing...so my question is where the heck should I go to get a real load test done and KNOW if the battery is good or not?

 

If you got a battery charger, turn the head light on bright for 2 hours, if it starts you got a good one. Typically a good battery will crank start a motor 10 times with immediate shut offs, no problem. Go past 2 minutes total cranking time, over an extended test time frame so as not to damage the starter with overheating and you got a great battery.

 

A battery can be load tested in 10-15 seconds with a carbon pile load tester and about ther same with a conductance tester but must be charged 1st for an accurate test but a CP will absolutely give you a test that you can take to the bank. ALL dealers and shops that did any electrical at all had CP load testers. Now the conductance tester is the industry standard and as I have stated many times, though I own and use one quite a bit, it's still a p*** poor replacement for a CP. I use it as much to test CCA's as anything. I do get the CP out when I want to do serious load testing. The poster who suggested the 2 hour high beam test or cranking test had a decent alternative if you can't find someone who knows what they're doing and has true load test equipment. The battery should be fully charged with a charger to test though.

 

If you mean the battery was disconnected from the truck over night and would not start it, no need to find a tester of any kind, the battery is not holding a charge.

You can test it again by fully charging it, checking the VDC reading right after charging and 2, 4 and over night to see what the readings are when compared to just charged ( and not hooked up to the truck ), but from the sounds of it the battery is shot. It should be able to hold a charge standing alone over night.

I would say your post from 2-OCT you had the answer to your question.

As for Ford not wanting crap batteries, think again.
Ford is not going to pay the same amount for a junk battery as the good ones of years past.

Don't kid yourself, Ford is loosening up on the specs to lower the cost of each battery in a vehicle.
If they get 40% of the battery replacements, this gives them a more frequent battery sale vs if they kept building them like my '06 has.
I still have not gotten around to changing my factory battery, and it is 6 years 8 months since I took delivery of the truck, and it still works.
I need to replace it to keep Murphy from showing up.

In 15 years would Ford rather sell me 2 batteries or 3 ( 1st one came with the vehicle ) ?
Even if a Motorcraft battery only lasts 4 to 5 years, it is still out performing the junk you get at Walmart or BatteriesPlus .

 

I agree and posted in the same direction. The manufactures build to customer spec (Ford/Motorcraft or whomever). It's only the manufacturers fault if,- the battery's are continuously failing specifications.

 

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Steve, do you know of ANYONE (new car manufacturer or aftermarket) who uses a JC battery that has it made to high standards? Do you actually think they ALL lowered their spec's at the same time? Ford didn't lower their standards to the very day that GNB sold to Exide. I firmly believe the problem lies with JC, not the people that contract with them for battery manufacture. Optima was a good battery until JC bought them out, from then on, in the toilet. Did all the retailers who buy Optima batteries all of a sudden tell JC that they wanted the battery lobotomized (dumbed down)? That battery is expensive, I seriously doubt it. Anything Toyota/Lexus sells that is made in Japan usually gets a Panasonic battery, one of the best ever made. Whatever is made in the states gets a battery made by JC and I can tell you from experience, THERE IS SIMPLY NO COMPARISON! I don't buy that the manufacturers are requesting junk standards now to save $2.-$3. a battery (auto manufacturers cost) and taking all the bad press for it. I also doubt that the dealer gets 40% of those replacement sales. Been wrong before, I do respect your opinion but this time I disagree, I don't think they can even get anything better, sadly, no matter what the snake oil salesman from "Batteries R Us" (JC) tell them.

 

I know you didn't ask me, but. - Nope.


Haa, -Yes! Many times a company may restructure. In this case, say JC did this and part of the restructure is to improve profit. Well, that's the MAIN reason anyway. With that, they come up with a multiple choice list that the Big three had to choose from, = standards spec and the cost. A little is a lot in big business, specially when they figure savings over 5 or 10 years. The manipulation of multiple choice could of been eliminating current spec. For what reason, you don't know, but anyone could drum one up. Then offered the big three auto manufacturers and other re-sellers a battery spec slightly lower or a spec slightly higher. Either would in turn save, profit OR legitimately made it possible to continue business. I'm not sure what went down, just guessing. What I do know is how this works with the Bigs and their form of common sense. Just keep in mind, there's many scenarios. IF all were effected whom rely on the JC products at the same time, it would seem something changed enough over at Johnson Controls that forwarded change right ? Not necessarily. It could of been Safety and Health related, (OSHA law/regulations = standards) new standards to be met. That's always moving. The auto manufacturers could have all been hit by this, -at the same time! Then thrown into JC's lap. Or, the other way around. So many scenario's, -it's completely unjust or irresponsible to assume what happened without correct data. Your really just guessing here, from what I see. Nothing wrong with that, but it is what it is. Careful though, if you assume long on enough about any in-actual event, you may be forced believe. - In a historic sort of way of course. Could be harmful.

Just sayin buddy, no offense meant. If so, block me, - I don't have a care about that stuff.

So what did actually happen ? Anyone know ? I don't.

 

Got me, it is hard to tell anymore who is making what battery.
Multi segment companies contract with each other for manufacturing capacity in other segments, hard to say if they do not do the same for batteries as well.
Marshall Batteries ( part of Exide ) makes some Motorcraft batteries for JC.

Not too sure if you are taking about Great Northern Battery Systems or Gould National Battery. Gould National Battery, that had been through Japan and Australia and sold off to Exide in 2000 ( the part that did not become the train wreck as Gould here in the Chicago metro area ).
Don't know if I ever had a Gould national battery in anything, as that was 12 years ago that Exide got them, and even before that is had changed hands many times.

I was never a fan of Optimia batteries, and never used them. Can't comment myself on any quality turn.

Toyota has the Truestart line of batteries, made by JC. That would be anything made here in the US.

If Ford did not change the specification, why would they pay the same amount for an inferior battery ?
- Even if JC changes out the batteries for free and pays the tech time, it costs Ford in all the associated back office work for changing that battery.
This is a large order per year, a manufacture does not get to keep being a vendor for Ford if they fail to meet the contract requirements.

Retailers have little say in what a battery has for specifications, the owner of the brand gets to dictate that. Optimia batteries were overpriced for what they were from day 1. Know a lit that went the Odesey route with the motorcycles, and they got about the same time as I got with my Yasua battery ( but I took care of mine )

 

Found the Optima was best in high heat use, when underhood is like an oven.

 

Brew, I don't block anybody, may ignore one now and then, but no blocking, certainly not you.

 

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Steve, that would be Gould National Battery out of Georgia. It wasn't that long ago for the sale to Exide. Around 2003 from what i remember, even remember reading about the sale and cringing when I read it. I had an '02 F-150 and it had a GNB battery in it. Gould made batteries for a lot of different people and one thing in common with every battery they made, lift the battery up and on the bottom was a round circle about the size of a penny to a dime. In that circle it said "GNB". Was there on every battery I have ever seen that was made by Gould. The other thing that was common to Gould batteries was not only did they normally last a long time but they always held 12.8 V whereas most other batteries have normally held 12.6 V (in good condition).

Where do they buy a battery that meets the quality of the Motorcraft BEFORE GNB sold to Exide? My contention is that it escentially no longer exists.

 

OK, let go with 3 years later then...2003.

I'll put up the quality of the Motorcraft battery from the factory in my 2006 against a pre 2003 GNB battery. From the info floating around today, this is a JCI battery.
- I am replacing it based upon Murphy's law, not any issues, so the quality is out there since GNB was sold. I am not the only person on the face of the earth to get this type of time.
Mine is worst yet, most of the 6+ years of its life have been with 80% city driving.
A lot of house to ORD trips at 4.5 miles one way on ground streets and < 10 mile trips. Each weekend it sees a round trip that is 66 miles, with ~ 10 miles of that on a freeway, else it is ground streets ( and one bypass segment of ~ 8 miles ).

The ability to have a battery made to any specification is out there, just a matter if the company is willing to pay for it.
Ford saved ~ $ 2.00 on the oil sending unit for decades. How many millions of dollars in profits did this equate to ? If it was noted on the balance sheet or used to cover increase in cost of doing business is another question.

Ford has to keep the same profit margins on vehicles, and if they can save $ 0.50 here and 1.27 there, it all adds up. Every year the cost of doing business goes up for them, at a pace higher than the wholesale price of the vehicles.

If someone offered higher margin business to JCI, do you think they would turn it away, and we are talking about ~ 3M+ batteries / year.
Doubt JCI has the reply of "No thank you Ford, I'd rather figure out another ( more difficult ) route to increase company revenues this year".

If JCI did this, Ford could easily go to EnerSys ( owner and manufacture of the Odyssey line ) and have the Motorcraft line of batteries made. This is the company that makes the Diehard line of batteries ( and some by Delphi ).