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Car Forum / Chrysler Cars / March 2008What is battery size / group code for 300m ???
I need to buy a battery to temporarily start and move a car so I might as well buy one that will fit my 300m. The battery that is currently in my '00 300m is the original battery (8 years old now) and although it seems fine now, it may not last through the winter. Anyways, I plan to hit a few auto parts stores , and will have to deal with the typical battery issues (like shelf-life or date code decoding, and battery type). I'm thinking of an AGM battery - but not the spiral type. It's said that there are basically only 3 battery plants in north america, and they make all the batteries sold by the various retailers. So, what is the size or group code I'm looking for, and any brands in particular I need to stay away from? > I need to buy a battery to temporarily start and move a car so I might > as well buy one that will fit my 300m. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > So, what is the size or group code I'm looking for, and any brands in > particular I need to stay away from? Group 34 Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x') > I need to buy a battery to temporarily start and move a car so I might > as well buy one that will fit my 300m. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > So, what is the size or group code I'm looking for, and any brands in > particular I need to stay away from? I've had excellent results with Interstate and poor results with Exide. Some years ago, Consumer Reports did exhaustive tests on many brands. Interstate was at the top; Exide was at the bottom. Bryan Interstate is not a manufacturer!!!! Mopar is Chrysler's brand which could be made by either Exide or Johnson Controls!!! >> I need to buy a battery to temporarily start and move a car so I might >> as well buy one that will fit my 300m. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > Interstate was at the top; Exide was at the bottom. > Bryan hmmm thats not what interstate have told us when they deliver the batteries to the shop i work at i'll have to ask them again > Interstate is not a manufacturer!!!! > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Interstate was at the top; Exide was at the bottom. > > Bryan > hmmm thats not what interstate have told us when they deliver the batteries > to the shop i work at > i'll have to ask them again It amazes me the number of myths that propagate regarding how many and who are the players in the battery market, starting with the one you're responding to... Amazingly, even though Interstate manufacturers NOTHING, they are, I'm 99% sure, the current source for Mopar "dealer" (repalcement, not OEM) batteries. I believe that their distribution, delivery, and core-pickup expertise made the difference. Rick E. > > hmmm thats not what interstate have told us when they deliver the batteries > > to the shop i work at [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > many and who are the players in the battery market, starting with > the one you're responding to... >I need to buy a battery to temporarily start and move a car so I might >as well buy one that will fit my 300m. > >So, what is the size or group code I'm looking for, and any brands in >particular I need to stay away from? I have had really good luck with the "Duralast" Gold from AutoZone. They hold up very well in the temperature extremes here in the desert southwest. Summer temps range from 115° in the daytime, 85° at night for days on end. Winter temps get to 30°, and even lower when we head up into the mountains. > I have had really good luck with the "Duralast" Gold from > AutoZone. Bryan wrote: > I've had excellent results with Interstate and poor results > with Exide. Here in Canada, our choices are somewhat limited as we don't have as many car-parts chain stores. The major retailer being Canadian Tire, and some smaller players like PartSource. Partsource carries about 3 or 4 lines of Exide (but not the top-end lines Orbital and Nascar) but Canadain tire carries only the Nascar and I think Orbital (and their own house brands). Since I'm looking for a group 34 (or group 78) battery, the absolute low-end for those (Canadian tire house brand) sell for about $50 (450 CCA) while the high end batteries (750 - 850 CCA) can go for $140. I was looking for an AGM battery, but really couldn't find one (at retail) that wasn't also a spiral battery - so that sucks. I didn't look at what was available from a Chrysler dealer - is it worth it? Anyone know who made the OEM batteries for a '00 300m? >> I have had really good luck with the "Duralast" Gold from >> AutoZone. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Here in Canada, our choices are somewhat limited as we don't have as > many car-parts chain stores. PartsSource IS Canadian Tire... :) >> I have had really good luck with the "Duralast" Gold from >> AutoZone. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > low-end for those (Canadian tire house brand) sell for about $50 (450 > CCA) while the high end batteries (750 - 850 CCA) can go for $140. Forgot to mention that I've had good luck with kirkland's batteries from Costco. Sould be able to get a 800 CCA for about 100 bucks or less there. based upon my battery business experience, I propose the following: for the discriminating buyer: Buy a BCI Group OE replacement Mopar branded battery that has engineering ratings that Chrysler warranted through their Dealer network! for the cheap skate buyer: Buy at a swap meet, AutoZone or Advance Auto or Interstate Battery or Exide Battery with marketing ratings or used unbranded warranted 3 feet or 3 seconds by some sidewalk vendor at a swap meet. >>> I have had really good luck with the "Duralast" Gold from >>> AutoZone. [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > Costco. Sould be able to get a 800 CCA for about 100 bucks or less > there. > based upon my battery business experience, I propose the following: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > unbranded warranted 3 feet or 3 seconds by some sidewalk vendor at a > swap meet. I'm not sure what of that that you meant seriously and what you meant sarcastically and/or tongue in cheek, but it's a minor PITA to get to the batteries in the LH cars. That would bias the decision to more of a premium battery whose construction and design actually match the warranty that it comes with. What you don't want is a battery that you'll get replaced for free under its warranty every 2 years even though it's guaranteed for 4 or 5 or 6 or whatever years whether it's you doing the R&R (hassle factor) or the battery vendor (minimum wage people going into the mechanicals of my car is an absolute no-no). Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x') > What you don't want is a battery that you'll get replaced for > free under its warranty every 2 years even though it's guaranteed > for 4 or 5 or 6 or whatever years whether it's you doing the R&R > (hassle factor) ... Update: We're almost done with this brutal winter, and I still have the factory original battery in my '00 300M (8.3 years so far). Car has been garaged almost every night which probably helps increase it's life. > We're almost done with this brutal winter, and I still have the > factory original battery in my '00 300M (8.3 years so far). Winters are EASY on batteries. Its hot summers that eat the life out of them. I've never gotten more than 2.5 years out of an OEM battery in any car, and about 5 years is the record even with high-end batteries. That's the difference when you have ~100 degrees F ambient every afternoon every summer, and on the order of 200 degrees under the hood in traffic. > I've never gotten more than 2.5 years out of an OEM battery in any car, > and about 5 years is the record even with high-end batteries. That's > the difference when you have ~100 degrees F ambient every afternoon > every summer, and on the order of 200 degrees under the hood in traffic. When I had our car serviced a couple days ago, I asked about battery life. They said 2-3 years, BUT our '96 Stratus went at least 5 years (first in Michigan, then in NY) on its original battery. Our '02 300M (first in NY, now in Michigan) is close to 6 years on its original battery. Perce >> I've never gotten more than 2.5 years out of an OEM battery in any >> car, and about 5 years is the record even with high-end batteries. >> That's the difference when you have ~100 degrees F ambient every >> afternoon every summer, and on the order of 200 degrees under the hood >> in traffic. > When I had our car serviced a couple days ago, I asked about battery > life. They said 2-3 years, BUT our '96 Stratus went at least 5 years > (first in Michigan, then in NY) on its original battery. Our '02 300M > (first in NY, now in Michigan) is close to 6 years on its original battery. ... and that means that the replacement battery on our '96 Stratus (vehicle purchased 11/95) is also 5 or 6 years old. The replacement battery came from Costco, IIRC. Perce > > We're almost done with this brutal winter, and I still have the > > factory original battery in my '00 300M (8.3 years so far). [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > every afternoon every summer, and on the order of 200 degrees under > the hood in traffic. Very true, but a battery can also be farther from optimal condition down here and still start the car -- when it's -20F out, a marginal battery won't be good enough. When I lived in Seattle, it was battery heaven. It seemed like they lasted forever. >> I've never gotten more than 2.5 years out of an OEM battery in any >> car, and about 5 years is the record even with high-end [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > down here and still start the car -- when it's -20F out, a marginal > battery won't be good enough. When its -20F out, I wouldn't be going out to start the car anyway. I'd be loading the truck to move south... :-p > When I lived in Seattle, it was battery heaven. It seemed like they > lasted forever. When I was in Seattle (Keyport/Poulsbo/Bremerton, actually) last year, it seemed to be old car heaven in general. I've never seen so many older vehicles in daily use. The one that took the prize was a (formerly) white '69 Charger covered in green moss and tree sap humming happily down the road. It passed me in about the same spot several days in a row. Same for a circa-1955 International pickup truck- except it was a little (ok, a lot) cleaner. >> We're almost done with this brutal winter, and I still have the >> factory original battery in my '00 300M (8.3 years so far). > > Winters are EASY on batteries. Its hot summers that eat the life out of > them. My understanding is that heat is hard on the battery on a long-term basis (longevity), but cold weather will cause acute (short term, but recoverable) problems (on a weak battery). > I've never gotten more than 2.5 years out of an OEM battery in any car, > and about 5 years is the record even with high-end batteries. That's > the difference when you have ~100 degrees F ambient every afternoon > every summer, and on the order of 200 degrees under the hood in traffic. Apparently they put good batteries in at the factory on the LH cars (2nd gen anyway. People on the 300M Club routinely get 6 to 8 years out of them. It's commented on every once in a while out of the blue. Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x') >>> We're almost done with this brutal winter, and I still have the >>> factory original battery in my '00 300M (8.3 years so far). [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > basis (longevity), but cold weather will cause acute (short term, but > recoverable) problems (on a weak battery). Correct. Which means that batteries last much longer in cold climates than in hot climates, but people erroneously get the impression that cold weather does them in because the final failure *usually* shows up on a blistering-cold night. In a hot climate, the battery can show up dead as a post any time of year and often without the slightest warning. > Apparently they put good batteries in at the factory on the LH cars (2nd > gen anyway. People on the 300M Club routinely get 6 to 8 years out of > them. It's commented on every once in a while out of the blue. I give more credit to the comparatively cool (though painful to get at) location on that vehicle. That location has to knock at least 50 degrees F off the average temperature of the battery compared to putting it up in the top of the engine compartment as usual. > > My understanding is that heat is hard on the battery > > but people erroneously get the impression that cold weather > does them Heat, vibration and deep-cycling kills batteries. In summer you have heat. In winter you have deep cycling, and you have way more vibration if you drive on hard-packed snow that doesn't get cleared, and you also have more pot holes. You generally also have more use of electrical accessories in winter (glass defoggers, seat heaters, etc) and more use of headlights (because of reduced daylight in the winter). All that extra use promotes deep cycling. I've already replaced my front sway bar bushings once, and they need to be done again. That tells you how much vibration I've experienced in 8 years of driving my 300M. I live in a climate where the daytime temp doesn't go above 40f for 4 months of the year. I doubt that's the primary reason my battery has lasted 8.3 years. >> based upon my battery business experience, I propose the following: >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > premium battery whose construction and design actually match the > warranty that it comes with. Which, in my experience, makes an OEM battery the LAST thing you'd want. Maybe its changed in recent years, but OEM batteries used to be one of the worst things on a new car. A high-end name brand aftermarket battery would greatly outlast a sourced-from-the-lowest-bidder-who-minimally-met specifications battery from a dealer. > What you don't want is a battery that you'll get replaced for free under > its warranty every 2 years even though it's guaranteed for 4 or 5 or 6 > or whatever years Amen. |
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