How Long Did Your Factory Batteries Last? I Got 17yrs, 4months

[Zoomschwortz]

I am 2nd owner of 2006 Ram 2500, 5.9 and I got a low voltage code for my anti lock brakes.
I put both batteries on the chargers overnight, cleared the code and drove the truck around a big country block, scanned the truck and code was back.
Voltage on both batteries were just under 12.8v, so I went to Walmart and bought their Maxx 850 cca batteries with 36 month free replacement and had them install the batteries which saves me 30 some miles of round trip to return the cores.

When they pulled the old Mopar batteries I asked them what the date of manufacture was on the old ones and he flipped them on the side and read the bottoms and both were 05/06, so, today being 09/16/2023 makes these original batteries 17 years and 4 months old.
Now the truck only has 45,740 original miles, but, That has to be some kind of record.

How many years have you gotten out of your factory original batteries?

 

[Yo Hoot]

I think I got 10 years. Owned this truck since new.. 2004. Just installed my third set. 204k

 

[brucejohnson]

I am 2nd owner of 2006 Ram 2500, 5.9 and I got a low voltage code for my anti lock brakes.
I put both batteries on the chargers overnight, cleared the code and drove the truck around a big country block, scanned the truck and code was back.
Voltage on both batteries were just under 12.8v, so I went to Walmart and bought their Maxx 850 cca batteries with 36 month free replacement and had them install the batteries which saves me 30 some miles of round trip to return the cores.

When they pulled the old Mopar batteries I asked them what the date of manufacture was on the old ones and he flipped them on the side and read the bottoms and both were 05/06, so, today being 09/16/2023 makes these original batteries 17 years and 4 months old.
Now the truck only has 45,740 original miles, but, That has to be some kind of record.

How many years have you gotten out of your factory original batteries?

You got me beat.
Looking back on my spreadsheet I changed the batteries out on my 2002 on 09/17/2016 (14 years, 10 months) @ 176,405 miles. I thought the truck was starting OK but was intermittently experiencing some annoying electrical gremlins. My favorite mechanic at the dealership suggested I change the batteries. Went with OEM due to the outstanding service from the original set. Interesting how much more energetic the old girl started, and the gremlins disappeared.

 

[GrantP]

Four years on the originals, quality replacements of various brands including optima/interstate/NAPA etc die in 3 years like clockwork. I blame Phoenix heat.

 

[AH64ID]

I am 2nd owner of 2006 Ram 2500, 5.9 and I got a low voltage code for my anti lock brakes.
I put both batteries on the chargers overnight, cleared the code and drove the truck around a big country block, scanned the truck and code was back.
Voltage on both batteries were just under 12.8v, so I went to Walmart and bought their Maxx 850 cca batteries with 36 month free replacement and had them install the batteries which saves me 30 some miles of round trip to return the cores.

When they pulled the old Mopar batteries I asked them what the date of manufacture was on the old ones and he flipped them on the side and read the bottoms and both were 05/06, so, today being 09/16/2023 makes these original batteries 17 years and 4 months old.
Now the truck only has 45,740 original miles, but, That has to be some kind of record.

How many years have you gotten out of your factory original batteries?

OEM batteries were much better back then.

You need to drive that thing more. Too few of miles isn’t good for equipment.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

I think I got 10 years. Owned this truck since new.. 2004. Just installed my third set. 204k

I always thought that 8-10 years was the lucky max life a person could get out of a battery.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

You got me beat.
Looking back on my spreadsheet I changed the batteries out on my 2002 on 09/17/2016 (14 years, 10 months) @ 176,405 miles. I thought the truck was starting OK but was intermittently experiencing some annoying electrical gremlins. My favorite mechanic at the dealership suggested I change the batteries. Went with OEM due to the outstanding service from the original set. Interesting how much more energetic the old girl started, and the gremlins disappeared.

Until yesterday, I would have believed that your 14 years 10 months would have been some kind of world record for 12v batteries. I would be more inclined to think that 6v with thicker plates and wider gaps between plates would much more easily get 10 + years.
I am simply amazed that these could have lasted so long.

I bought the truck from the original owner's Estate Sale in 2020.
The original owner bought the truck when he was in his 70's and passed when he was in his 90's.

The truck has always started the same since I have owned it, Grid Heater and all.
Had I not purchased an Innova 5160RS Code Reader to diagnose a widows car, I probably wouldn't have known there was a battery problem until I was 50 miles in the mountains with a travel trailer in tow.

By the way, while exploring everything on the Innova 5160RS, I found an option to turn on the High Idle Option for my truck, so that was also a bonus for me.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

Four years on the originals, quality replacements of various brands including optima/interstate/NAPA etc die in 3 years like clockwork. I blame Phoenix heat.

3 - 4 years does seem to be the new normal for batteries now and it is getting harder to find 3 year free battery replacement. I was going to buy my new batteries at Costco until I discovered they are now prorated only with no free period.
Walmart worked out to be the best deal for me with 36 month free replacement, free installation, 850 cca for $139 ea

 

[Zoomschwortz]

OEM batteries were much better back then.

You need to drive that thing more. Too few of miles isn’t good for equipment.

I believe that you are right.
I bought the truck in 2020 with less than 30,000 miles and I seem to be averaging 5,000 mile a year now, which is pretty good considering I'm retired and have 2 trucks and 2 cars for my wife and I.

 

[Regcabguy]

You got me beat.
Looking back on my spreadsheet I changed the batteries out on my 2002 on 09/17/2016 (14 years, 10 months) @ 176,405 miles. I thought the truck was starting OK but was intermittently experiencing some annoying electrical gremlins. My favorite mechanic at the dealership suggested I change the batteries. Went with OEM due to the outstanding service from the original set. Interesting how much more energetic the old girl started, and the gremlins disappeared.

My old batteries from my '07 still live in a 12v. That was 2011 I think. I don't know why I swapped them out. Lunacy.

 

[BigPapa]

There's something about an OE battery. Back in my powersports days at the motorcycle shop, the OE battery that came in a Honda ATV would last sometimes 10+ years. Same ATV, same owner, you could replace the battery with the same Yuasa battery with the Honda wing on it and it would only last a couple years. I thought for a while that the difference might be the way we were filling and charging them, but then realized we were filling and charging the OE batteries on new ones the same way. It's freaky.....

 

[06 Dodge]

I got 12.5 years out of the OEM batteries in my 2006, they may have gone a lot longer but I was going on a 1800 mile trip an thought a new set was a good idea...

 

[Zoomschwortz]

I got 12.5 years out of the OEM batteries in my 2006, they may have gone a lot longer but I was going on a 1800 mile trip an thought a new set was a good idea...

I am just amazed that these batteries could work so well for so long.

 

[Ozymandias]

They had probably the greatest batteries of history 20 years back. When I got my truck in 2012 it also came with Mopar branded batteries which have been factory installed.
Unbelievable quality back then.

 

[Cummins12V98]

On my DR walk behind mower it had a "LONG" brand sealed battery, it lasted 20 years without disconnecting it for the winter.

 

[Rowdy Dalton]

Mine didn't last but 4 yrs in my 06. The heat is brutal on batteries, in Houston

 

[xcc_rider]

4 years on my 07.5.
I'm on my 3rd replacement set right now.

 

[Zoomschwortz]

Mine didn't last but 4 yrs in my 06. The heat is brutal on batteries, in Houston

Living on the wet side of Washington State we will get some days of summer in the 90's and an occasional day or two into the 100 deg F. territory, but nothing like you get in Texas. I was there a couple years ago, end of June-early July, when the African dust cloud hit Texas. The heat was bad enough, but the humidity created by the dust cloud had life long Texan's I talked with complaining about the humidity. Not that the humidity was unusual for Texas, but that it was a couple months early. Didn't help me that my friend kept his ac at 80 deg. From the distance from his bathroom to his living room, I needed to turn around and take another shower

 

[Rowdy Dalton]

Living on the wet side of Washington State we will get some days of summer in the 90's and an occasional day or two into the 100 deg F. territory, but nothing like you get in Texas. I was there a couple years ago, end of June-early July, when the African dust cloud hit Texas. The heat was bad enough, but the humidity created by the dust cloud had life long Texan's I talked with complaining about the humidity. Not that the humidity was unusual for Texas, but that it was a couple months early. Didn't help me that my friend kept his ac at 80 deg. From the distance from his bathroom to his living room, I needed to turn around and take another shower

It's been brutal this year, with the high heat, and humidity. Many days you can't make it from the house, to the door of your vehicle, before you are flop sweating. The sad thing is, the water pipes run through the attic, and even a cold shower is hard to get, it comes out luke warm. At least the temps have cooled off to the upper and mid 90's now. 95 feels like a cool spring breeze to us now. Roll the windows down in the truck, and enjoy.