Put simply, our F-250 needed more power. No, not more horsepower--its V10 makes plenty of horsepower--but more electricity. A new battery is all it took to fix it.
How to Test a Battery
Batteries are annoying, right? They work perfectly for four, five, six or more years, then one day they just stop and leave you stranded.
Except, well, that’s not …
Be advised that should your Optima need to be recharged it is a more complicated procedure than just plugging in your charger & turning it on. Several years back I worked at a FLAPS that sold Optimas & we could never get them to take a charge when they came in flat. We were all idiots but that wasn't the reason. IIRC, it has been a while it needs to be charged in series through a conventional battery but if you have a flat Optima go to their website.
Ha! I threw away a battery from my challenge CRX because I couldn't get it to charge. @purplepeopleeater is correct-you can fool a regular charger into charging an AGM by using another battery, or by buying a specific charger.
I have owned a SuperDuty pickup since 2002. I have gone though several sets of batteries. I bought a couple sets of Motorcraft batteries and decided to find something better. I researched the Optima yellow tops and decided to buy a set. Autozone only had one in stock and I needed them that day so they suggested that I try their new line of AGM batteries. I bought a pair of the new Duralast Platinum AGM batteries and I have had fantastic luck with them. I am on my second set now and will continue to replace all my batteries with them. Plus they sell for about $169 apiece and usually if you ask for a discount they give you 5 or 10 percent off at the register.
You may want to replace the battery cables while you are at it as well. Those bolt on style terminals usually just end up spelling trouble.
Time for the one-year update here: So far so good. I leave the truck sitting for 2-3 weeks at a time with zero prep or charging, and the Optima hasn't let me down yet.
Another update at the three-year mark: Still leave the truck sitting for 2-3 weeks at a time, and it still starts every time.
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