How long Battery last

[Anupam Routh]

Greetings! Merry X-mas to all of you. I have a 2003 XLT Premium ST. It will be four years old in March 2007. I have done about 27,000 miles. I drive less than 7,500 miles per year. I have no problems with ST uptill now. [Touch wood].



How long the battery lasts? Shall I replace the battery now? Secondly I have not changed my anti-freeze yet. Shall I do it this year? I have one of the modern antifreeze solution.



With thanks in anticipation.

 

[Tim Turner]

My battery died two summers ago (2005) and was about 5 years old at that point. My ST is a Job 1 2001. Someone suggested that you buy the battery now and keep it in the truck, so that when the battery finally does die, you'll be ready with a new one on the spot.

 

[Judd Quarles]

When I had my Explorer, I changed the original battery after 5 years. It still seemed to work good, but my dad had previously owned two Ford vehicles where the batteries died right after they were 5 years old.



As for the antifreeze, I believe the manual for my 05 recommends every 5 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first.

 

[Craig Keller]

Hey Arouth,



Merry Christmas to you and yours. We had our Trac in the shop 2 weeks ago for the normal oil change and checkup. They did the battery check and told us that our battery had at least 90% of its life left. We also have a 2003 XLT Premium Trac with 47,000 miles on it. We have been thinking about changing our battery as well but the dealer says don't bother for now.



Craig & Deby

 

[Tom Schindler]

For me, I usually don't wait until the battery goes bad. I replace it after 4 to 5 years. I replaced my 2002 battery sooner because I discharged it down a few too many times and wanted to have a fresh battery.



As for the antifreeze, I swap it out every other year. It is cheap insurance from an expensive problem.





Tom

 

[Chris Crawford]

Your battery life depends on many things: how often you drive it, how long you drive it and the weather. Cold weather is tough on batterys but the heat is even worse. In your situation, because you don't drive much I would say it would be your worst enemy. I just recently replaced my battery because it was leaking around the negative terminal. Ironically, my trac was turning over many more times before it would fire off and I thought it was the fuel pump. Replacing the battery fixed the problem. Ford has a 875 cranking amp battery that is a direct replacement for the factory one.



Chris

 

[Anupam Routh]

Many thanks for your replies. Happy New Year to all of you.