FWIW, I use a CTEK Multi US 3300 charger. Works great.

 

If the battery is over 3 years old and gives any hint of questionability then replace it

but also test the alternator just because

 

I'm surprised the op got 6 years out of the OEM. I got two years (twice) then I just replaced it with a the Autozone Duralast Gold which seems to do pretty well int eh AZ heat. Wife has had one for 4 years and Daughter has had one for 2 summers without any problems.

 

I must have really gotten lucky...I'm going to charge the battery and make sure that the alternator is working properly and then place an order for a optima yellow top. Thanks for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

 

why yellow top?
I'd only get a yellow top if you have some powerfull stereo system

otherwise I'd get a red top for higher cold cranking amps

 

The newer AUTOMATIC AC/DC inverter battery chargers
nowdays sork badly on completely dead batteries.
They wont even apply a charge to a battery thats below lets say
below 10 volts. They dont even see the battery. So they sork badly.
The old iron core transformer battery chargers dont have brains
and will bring more dead batteries back to life if not fully discharged.

You can trick the carpy AUTOMATICS by hooking a dead battery to
a fully charged battery with jumper cables and them applying the
sorky AUTOMATIC charger. It will be fooled into thinking the battery
is present and start the charging. Maybe.

I bought one once and ended updragging it behind the vehicle until it disappeared. Good riddence.

Yellow tops are for long duration low amperage draws like
trolling motors, car stereos and the like.
Red tops are for the short high amperage draws like motor starting.
The Yellow tops dont like that high starting amperage draws and
the life is cut in half.


BTW, my 2007 MotorCraft OEM is still going strong.

 

Ok, I guess the red top is the better option for my application, lol...I am pretty much clueless when it comes to batteries.

 

Charged the old battery with an old Sears unit...car started right up. I"m still going to replace the battery but I'm just glad it's not an alternator or starter issue (which I was almost certain it wouldn't be).

 

Batteries are funky creatures. And not all batteries from 1 company are made the same. One lot of batteries that come out of a factory can be great and the next lot can be a bust. Typically and without fancy test equipment, a battery that has sat overnite without a charge (optmally 12-24 hours) that has a terminal voltage of 12.6 volts can be considered relatively fully charged. The wife's '06 had a teerminal voltage of 12.3v from short distance driving. After moving to where she puts more mileage on the car each commute, her 6 y/o OE MotorCrap battery is hangin' in there (Yeah, I keep an eye on BOTH of our OE MotorCrap batteries).

But lead-acid batteries can fail catastrophically while driving such that you start the car and drive just fine, then try to restart minutes later and she's dead as a doornail.

 

You ain't gonna get 6 years out of you battery down here in FL Nuke.
4 years is the most I got here with any brand...