Art161

Nuke, I've been a member of AARP for twenty years, so that gives you a sense of my age bracket. Yeah, I'm diluted.

I never have found a place in my 2007 Warranty Guide that says that the battery is not covered. Specific maintenance/wear items that are not covered are:

oil changes
oils, lubricants, other fluids
oil/air filters
tire rotation
cleaning/polishing
clutch linings
wiper blades
wheel alignments and tire balancing
brake pad/lining

There is, of course, a separate Tire Warranty Guide. As a matter of policy, Ford will replace certain items listed above. One example is that brake pads/linings are covered for 12 months or 18,000 miles, whichever comes first. I'm not clear as to whether this is just parts, or parts and labor.

I don't know if coverage is the same for years other than 2007, since I don't have the various guides for other years.

I have no idea where the notion that the battery is not covered originated.

BTW, I wasn't trying to make fun of your using "diluted" instead of "deluded" in my earlier post. I was attempting to ignore it. I guess I wasn't successful.

Joenpb

Once 3 years & 36K miles were surpassed.

For me it's not worth putting in a warranty junk battery that is only going to fail in 2-3 years either. I prefer to get a good battery, & its once & done. That's the real moral of the story, something that took me a while to learn, after replacing many batteries over the years. Good batteries last twice as long as the cheapies. Unfortunately the OEM battery has the good battery price, but is probably much closer to being a cheapie.....

Nuke

Art; no sweat, my friend!

Batteries are odd beasts. I've worked in an industry that uses various types of batteries and have spoken to engineers from most of the major battery manufacturers. In many cases different lots are manufactured at different locations and the quality and design controls vary greatly. The OE battery in my wife's '06 just died a few months ago (6 years) and the OE battery in my '07 is still hangin' in there, although Ive been keeping an eye on it's sorry azz the past 6 months. I feel quite confident that the larger percentage of forum members have had reasonable life from their OE batteries but it's that unusually high lower-percent with the problems that really stand out.

What I'm saying here is that not all batteries, even those under the same label, are equal although you stand a better chance with a company that uses shops that perform well versus shops that are cheap. Brands that tend to use the better shops also tend to find customer loyalty (i.e. Interstate, Diehard, Delco) and brands that use cheap labor over good performers get bad names (i.e. EverStart, MotorCrap).

Derf00

Nuke, need to disagree with you on this one. FoMoCo batteries have a free replacement period and are prorated for the remaining time left, just like any other battery out there.

I had one battery (would have been two if I'da let my car get towed to them the second time) replaced under the 2 year free replacement period.

If a Ford service dept says NO then it's a dealer issue, not FoMoCo. Ford stands behind their batteries. But you are correct in that they will nto replace it for free after that free replacement period is up, regardless of whether or not the car is under its factory warranty.

Batteries are like brakes, wear/tear item.

Derf00

Battery mfgs are cutting corners these days.

I just replaced my wifes Duralast Gold battery on her Escape that was less than 10 months old. Got it in Sept of last year and it croaked this past week. Thankfully it had a 3 yr free replacement. New that sucker was $100 . Alternator, cables and ground points are all good.

Up until recently I've relied on their batteries (Autozone/Duralast) because I've had good luck with them. With the exception of Gel Cell batteries, I have not found a battery mfg that is as reliable as they used to be meaning even the interestate/diehard and Napa batteries have been crap the last few years.

Art161

Maybe the batteries today are not made as well as in the past, and maybe they are just being asked to do too much.

There is a parasitic drain on the battery even when the car is not running. The engine compartment is crowded, and it gets HOT!

I don't know why more manufacturers don't put the battery in a compartment in the trunk, along with a readily accessible hatch to get to the battery. There would be room for a larger battery, and it would be in a cooler environment.

Joenpb

Because putting a battery in the trunk would entail using an expensive dry cell, longer cables, more cost etc, and in the case of the Mustang take up valuable trunk space.

Batteries used to be mounted up front next to the radiator, an area that is further from the engine. In the Mustang's case, I think it was moved to where it is because they didn't want the PCM closer to the heat coming from the header. Perhaps also for improved handling.

Joenpb

There's still some good battery manufacturers. You just have to be willing to pay for one. Based on the $150 cost of the OEM battery, the Odyssey's price of $260 doesn't sound so bad. Especially if you have an amp & sub for your stereo.