2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission OOOOO the humility of it

[BSowers]

I went on a camping trip with my 97 2500 with an 8 foot cab over camper on its back this last week. I had an opportunity to test out the 4wal brakes... . THEY WORK!Oo. I was on 205 in Ca. , a two lane 65mph freeway that has a tendency to come to a sudden stop..... welllll I had to dive to the center divide and with two wheels in the gravel It still didn't skid nor did it go squirrelly. PHEEEEEWWWWWW oooooh the look on the persons face whose car I could have had as a hood ornament!! :--) when I pulled up along side them while I was on the shoulder.



ANYWAY on to the topic. While I was packing up at the camp ground I went to start the CTD and wellllll buzzzzzzz click click click. grumble grumble bad words ... . (I know, I know... . BATTERY ISOLATOR),

After I dug out the jumper cables, (intended for other souls in dire straights of course), I received an attempt at a jump start from one person in a F150..... his amp meter wire started smoking... ... NOT a good thing.

Needless to say I went to find a REAL truck. What I found and had to succor to was a charge from an F350 power stroke... . oh the humility ..... How much current DOES that heater take anyway?



Evidently the sellers of my truck put in what barely qualifies as a battery. There currently are a pair of NAPA batteries that look about the size of a group 24. What would be a good/best battery for the CTD?

 

[greyghost]

Be good to the Batteries

I had mine go dead on a hunting trip. Got a jump and drove the truck most of the day to insure the batteries were charged up. Didn't have any problems for the rest of the trip.

However, about 2 months later I started having trouble starting the truck, the lift pump started running longer. Thought I was going through the dread lift pump problem again. It turned out to be a bad battery. The Dealer and another shop told me I should have gotten a battery charge on both batteries as soon as I could (charge one battery at a time). This to insure both batteries were equally charged. They also recommended swapping the batteries around once in awhile due to the difference in the impedance of the cables. I replaced my first set of batteries with the Checker Brand, they began to weep after a few months getting acid all over the place, arrrrgh. Went back to the Dealer and bought Mopar sealed batteries, no more problems.



My . 02



Garrett

 

[Bigramguy]

Interstate Group 31 batteries will give you lots more reserve capacity,so the batteries will not get drained in the first place. You will need to slightly modify the battery tray,and the hold down assy. Slight grinding on the top edge of the battery terminals may be neccesary to prevent chaffing the hod insulation.

 

[EricBu12]

Did this from Mr. Bob dist. Bought the Odessey battery DRY cell 1700. Not GEll Cel, DRY as in Energizer type, or Recharge type.



Anyway, the battery has a CCA rating of 850 but it is not afected by the cold as reg ones are. The warmer the temps, the better obv. but this battery acts as a deep cycle and a crank battery. No mod to the tray was required in my 01. Just turned the battery so the posts were on the same side..... Just need the one to start now...



<img src=https://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=5420&width=2/src img>



http://www13.inetba.com/mrbobsdistributing/ODYSSEYbattery.ivnu

 

[JohnE]

Which heater, fuel or the intake manifold? The fuel heater is relatively small, but the intake or grid heaters are killers.



Batteries really depend on you usage and environment. I live in Minnesota and it gets a bit chilly in the winter. I have an Espar. that thing really eats the battery power on undersized POS such as the Exide group 78 dual terminal I first tried. I finally went to Sears and got a nice set of group 27 (semi-deep cycle) batteries and have never been happier. I really thought about the Optima, but the small RC number scared me off.

If you go to Sears for batteries, DO NOT buy the top of the line. They are not a group 27 which is the recommended battery for the diesel.



Don't get misled by CCA. The group 78 has a higher CCA than the group 27. There is no comparison to the starting capacity.



I looked at group 31's, but went to the Sear's brand for less money.



This is not criticizing anyone's battery choice. Just letting you know what I learned based on my usage and climate.