what is the best battery for our cars?

im currently using a duralast.

It doesn't really matter. All car batteries are made by the same few companies, usually either Johnson Controls or Exide, and private labeled for the retailer.

So pick whichever Group 49 battery is on sale and/or has the best warranty. MB's batteries aren't that expensive either.

(12-14-2009 12:13 AM)W116Lorinser Wrote:  what is the best battery for our cars?

The answer is going to be subjective - are you deep cycling your battery? Are you running in freezing weather?. Sealed batteries are pretty nice - Optima or Odyssey are often thought to be best. The Odyssey especially can handle lots of abuse and will keep kicking. But I think it needs a 14.7V regulator in order to fully charge.
Both of these are expensive batteries and may be overbuilt for your needs.

The MB factory battery appears to be pretty good - I've had one for a long time and it seems to work great but I'm in a moderate climate and don't run many accessories (yet).

i mean its geting cold here in ny and the morning starts are not as smooth as a couple months back.


this is my first winter in a mb diesel.

ive got a new sound system and viper alarm as the only accessories.

Winters here can get down to -15*f, even colder in the mountains. I have been considering using double group 49 batteries in parallel for more cranking power, but after seeing the 1500amps@0*f 130lb beasts used in the RTD buses, I'm considering sticking one of those in the spare tire well or where passenger seat used to be.

   

Before worrying about the battery, get the glowplugs in top shape with Bosch plugs and make sure you're using good winterized fuel (not corner gas station crap).

I'd say size matters more than brand - if you're going to go cheap, get it from AutoZone or another national chain and give them your info - my boss swapped out a battery that was a year past warranty (something like four years old) and saved almost half vs buying a new battery (AZ pro-rates a replacement past the warranty.) That way no matter where you are, if the battery starts giving you problems, you can get it swapped out for free.

Get a full sized battery that takes up your whole tray for winter - depending on who owned your car previously, you might have a 'regular' sized (about a foot wide) battery, which is fine during the summer but won't have the CCA you need for the winter.

I'm convinced that a lightwight, Honda Civic/Mazda Miata replacement battery would be perfectly adequate during the summer for our cars, but during the winter I wouldn't screw around. But I live in the desert, and since the environment itself can kill you, I try to take extra precautions.

A friend of mine's advice, whether you want to follow it yourself is up to you:

Buy a battery from Wal Mart with at least a year warranty. Sock the receipt away and/or give them some kind of information so that you can reference the warranty.

Every year, say, in December, you drain the battery by leaving your lights on overnight, take the 'dead' battery to Wal Mart, and replace it with a new one. Your battery will never be more than a year old, and you're only fucking over Wal Mart - when they give back what they've taken from this country, I'll worry about the morality of it, but to me it seems to be like robbing a thief. This would apply to any chain selling warrantied batteries. Don't do this to your local mom and pop shop, besides which it won't do you any good 500 miles from home.

If you're really worried about having enough CCA to get your car started, get a booster pack. If you see the power start fading, get the pack out and hook it up instead of hoping that it finally catches. I also agree with Forced, the glow plugs should at least be looked at. If you're running the old, slow style plugs, now's a good time to upgrade to the newer style units.

I vote Autozone since as as been said they are all made by the same one or two companies. Autozone is really good about their warranty, and I've used it on occasion.

(12-14-2009 12:29 AM)ForcedInduction Wrote:  MB's batteries aren't that expensive either.

Not for the AGM used in my CDI!! It's something like $275 list!!!!

I use the mercedes AGM in both of mine, never had a problem even when I lived in Wisconsin and parked outside in the winter, however yes they are a bit expensive. You get what you pay for I guess.

Panasonic, BOSCH, Varta, Yuasa.

Ihave a "Batteriesplus" "Werkwer" battery group 49. been in there close to 5 yrs.
Had a Craftsman Diehard. after about a year started giving me trouble. wife had to call AAA for a jump, left her stranded at the mall.

I charged it back up, had the charging checked at Sears, Batteriespluss and one other place. all told me the alternator wasn`t putting out enough.
My Indy said told me the out put was right in the ball park.

The straw that broke the camels back was, one morning we went out to eat breakfast. drove 13 miles to our favorite eaterie. went to leave, dead battery. . AAA was driving by, flagged him down for a jump and drove to Batteriespluss for a new one.

Amazing, no more problems until last summer when a bearing in the alternator was complaining. replaced with a 115amp al-120-x. Haven`t had a bit of trouble since the new battery, been keeping a good charge.

Screw Sears.

Charlie

That alternator change was the right thing to do, I am looking forward to replacing my 65amp OEM BOSCH to a 135amp BOSCH.

Optima yellow top. There is none better.

Here's my project for this month. I got an amazing deal on a couple of Odyssey batteries (almost 1/2 off). They are denser than the Optimas so I can pack them in better.

This is going to power a fridge, other auxiliary stuff and fuel heaters.
   

I'm still working on it so the isolator isn't installed and the second battery isn't hooked up yet.

I should add that glow plug heat time is way quicker with these - about a second or two now instead of 5 ish (with monark plugs and relay)

monark plugs are garbage. after installing them thinking they were better then the bosch ones.. BOY WAS I WRONG. My car started having bad problems starting and it took forever to crank over. i made so many threads trying to figure it out until i removed the plugs and tested them. They all burned out in 2 months. and the only one that was wrking was glowing at the back of the plug not even on the tip.

replaced ith new bosch plugs and she starts like a dream

(02-03-2010 10:21 AM)W116Lorinser Wrote:  monark plugs are garbage.

Not exactly. Me and several others I know have been talking with Kaia at Mercedes Source about the issues.
1. some Monark GP's might be faulty out of the box (not confirmed). Check the ohm reading before you install them. I think I got a shorted one in my first set of 5.
2. They are larger in diameter so if you have ANY carbon build up, you run a significant risk of shorting out the GP. The insulation will melt and you will likely burn out the relay fusible link. Mercedes Source now recommends you ream before installation.

But once you've done all that, they perform beautifully.

(02-03-2010 11:11 AM)Syncro_G Wrote:  talking with Kaia at Mercedes Source about the issues.

Thats the problem. MS doesn't have a clue what the hell they're doing. They're crooks.

had orginal bosh plugs before the monarks that were in the car for 50k miles from orginal owner. Not a problem to the car started right up like my regular gas car.

tried to do preventative maintence and change to the monarks since " they were made in germany and better then the bosch plugs" LOL yea right. all 5 plugs were crap so it wasnt just a random one or two. I reamed and brused and used air compressor to get the carbon out before the monarks and two months or proboably even less then that they were toast. cant be happier with the Bosch plugs, there great.


and i just had another buddy of mine buy the monark plugs a month back and has had the same problem... he just changed back to his orginal bosch plugs and cars back to running great also.