I'm sure the Interstate battery would likely start thingts the full 85 months, but I have extraordinary expectations from my 80, just like I did when I helped send $100,000 loads of frozen meat out the gate. Thus, I typically R&R the primary battery in my personal vehicle every 4 years. That sort of hard use does cause a few more problems than say, riding around in a LandCruiser, All I can say is try putting anyone else's batteries in that sort of service and see what happens. And their batteries rarely cause any issues short of that warranty in applications other than semis. But it doesn't cover things like loss of a load, obviously, no more than if your fridge went down at home. Interstate does stand behind their warranty. BTW, I'm no expert on battery chemistry, so that's the best way I can put it from a conversation more than a decade in the past. I didnt have to and Ive changed my battery twice now (Had the original Varta H9, then I used an Interstate MTP-49/H8, and this year I put an MTP-95R-H9), and I never had to reprogram anything. Riding in the nose of a semi for 4 years extracts a cost. You should not need to reprogram anything on an 07. Yes, there are ways to generally extend it, but they all suffer from the fact that the plates in your battery are being altered to less efficiency and becoming brittle and subject to vibration damage. Why? It's the basic limitations of lead-acid battery technology. But as a management strategy, if you want near-absolute reliability from your battery, change it every 4 years. You can't just throw a new battery in every season, which we had a problem with some techs taking an easy out for things they didn't want to dig too far for - and sometimes justified to get a load out of the gate on time. Going for absolute reliability is important with reefer batteries. On the other hand, you typical reefer unit has one battery and operates unattended most of the time.
Batteries in your truck-tractors are important, but every modern diesel has several, plus a driver who's paying attention to how it's starting, etc. I used to be involved in supporting fleet maintenance for a large grocery wholesaler. And this had input from our Interstate guy, off the record, but forthright as they do stand behind their warranty on this for lengthier periods. The second point is a broader one on batteries as we tend to know them in our automotive applications, usually some form or variant of basic lead-acid battery chemistry. Just enough to satisfy customers needs, with regular restocking. I've been in their local warehouse and have enough experience to see they run a tight shop in terms of turnover and fresh stock. Since Interstate does batteries.yeah, that's it.their stock is pretty fresh in general. Your point on batteries being consumables brings two things to mind. Good service was a plus back when I used to buy a lot of batteries from my Interstate dealer. The original Mercedes battery lasted 9 years.Most Interstate Battery outfits are independently owned, but I suspect they set a pretty high standard for partners. Or I guess I could take this battery back to the shop that installed it and ask for a 900 cold cranking amps battery.Īny suggestions about this and what batteries and CCA's do you guys prefer? I guess as many CCA's as possible.
However, Advance Auto says they can't install batteries in Sprinters because it is professional install only, but I could buy it anyway and have it installed. So I was going to buy the 900 CCA Autocraft Gold, Group Size 49 from Advance Auto because I think I can get it for 30% off through Retail Me Not. The battery is fine however in the summer for starting. I also get a bunch of grey diesel smoke out of the muffler when starting in cold weather, but perhaps that's a different topic. It's a timing thing because I only have so many turns of the engine with this battery. It has only 730 cold cranking amps (CCA), so I use the battery boost switch for 2 minutes before starting and pump the accelerator 3 pumps before and 3 pumps after turning the key. The new one is the MTP-49/H8, but I noticed it barely turns the engine over in the winter. I bought an Interstate battery 2 years ago in 2015 after the factory chassis battery finally quit.