Starter Battery Replacement

[larrie]

Well after six years it is time to replace my AGM starter battery on my 2002 E350 EB 5.4. Am not really sure that the added cost of an AGM is worth it. All my other vehicles have standard lead acid batteries and they seem to last just as long.

What are your thoughts?

[SheepShagger]

As a starter battery on old vehicle, I see no point. All the advantages are taken away by their finikey charging compared to std lead acid. The charging system on a E series is not as precisely controlled as most modern vehicles, where as lead acid are quite resilient to less than efficient charging systems. As a battery itself, it far superior in many ways, but linked to the charging system of an econoline, I personally don’t think you will see any of those benefits.

[Scalf77]

So the reason to go to a AGM starter, was for the sharing of your house side charging devices. Many people either leave their vans plugged in or have their solar charging the starter via a separator or ACR. So the prime reason was keep the battery types the same.

-greg

[larrie]

I switched to a lithium house battery with a Kisae ABSO charge controller for it. So I guess going back to standard lead acid will be no big deal.

[daveb]

I would agree with that Larry. I wasn't getting two years out of my wet cell batteries on my brand new SMB and feel the solar was the problem. Switched to AGM and no more issues. If I didn't have solar continually charging my starting batteries I'd probably switch back.