650cca vs 850cca group 65 battery

Daniel McCurdy

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there dropping to 12.3 as normal voltage after sitting overnight in the cold. I have a battery tester and even fully charged after sitting inside getting warmed up they drop to less than 200 cranking amps.
 

94turbocrewcab-lb

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I know I always get 1000 cca batteries..and winter takes its toll.

A full size truck isn’t the best thing to have if you have limited funds. From what I’ve seen it only makes the situation much worse. Perhaps snag a small truck or simple sedan until you have enough funds to not skimp on things like batteries.

Just my thought..regarding batteries you’ll have to settle with the biggest ones you can find
 

Daniel McCurdy

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whats weird is in just even a little bit warmer weather they seem to work fine but once it drops below 40-35 there useless
 

Daniel McCurdy

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I know I always get 1000 cca batteries..and winter takes its toll.

A full size truck isn’t the best thing to have if you have limited funds. From what I’ve seen it only makes the situation much worse. Perhaps snag a small truck or simple sedan until you have enough funds to not skimp on things like batteries.

Just my thought..regarding batteries you’ll have to settle with the biggest ones you can find
Well i was using a vw jetta diesel but the radiator and water pump went out at the same time and the water pump is a nightmare to change.
 

Nero

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I cna change that, it's about an 8hr job :)
 

Brian VT

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That's nuts.
I changed the timing belt on my old Nissan Pathfinder. (well, I brought in help for the smart part)
And the damned water pump is behind that! So, obviously, I changed that while I was in there.
Luckily, the 1st pump I bought was good. I was loosing sleep wondering if the pump was bad I'd have to take it all apart again.
 

Nero

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It's actually very common for timing belt engines to run the water pump off the timing belt. Helps keep them compact, instead of needing another drive pulley.
What sucks about the 4th gen vw's with tdi's is you have to support the engine and take off the engine bracket, and fishing that out can be a pita. I've done enough of them to figure it out, but doing them one off I understand the frustration.
 

Daniel McCurdy

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My jetta is model year 1985 and whatever genius that designed the engine made sure to hide some bolts behind the injection pump to make sure you have to take it off to remove the water pump. Im hoping that i can just take the bottom pump half off as long as the 7 bolts dont break i should be able to get it fixed without removing the injection pump.
 

tradergem

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First winter in Minnesota the below zero temps combined with a bad starter killed two 850 cca DieHard batteries I had in my truck. I replaced them with two 650 cca Walmart batteries, rebuilt the starter, and added battery blankets to each battery and kept them and the block heater plugged in when it got below 20*. Which was most of the time. The battery blankets and block heater make the most improvement when starting in cold weather. The Walmart 650cca batteries lasted 3.5 years.
 

Rondo

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Check at your local Volvo, rush truck parts, k3 worth or peterbuilt dealer. The usually have good prices and frequent sales.
 

94turbocrewcab-lb

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Well i was using a vw jetta diesel but the radiator and water pump went out at the same time and the water pump is a nightmare to change.

Maybe the multiple vehicles are the issue? I only speak from prior experience..even today I have two big diesel and two sprinters..I’ll tell you..it’s a lot of money to up keep them. Not worth it unless you have to have a truck. But again just my experience when I was younger and even today. Every time I start to work on one it seems like $1,000 bucks out the window! Maybe only $500 but still it gets pricey. Having extra money in the bank and security fund of no less than $1000 will help you sleep at night!
 

rreegg

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Dang, thought it was “boat” that stands for “bust out another thousand” :cry:
 

chillman88

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Check at your local Volvo, rush truck parts, k3 worth or peterbuilt dealer. The usually have good prices and frequent sales.

Yes, my local international dealer had group 31s for just under $100 in 2019 when the local auto parts stores were at $200 each! They were only 750cca but that's a significant difference.

There's an ACDelco branded parts store about 40min away from me that seems to have the best prices local to me. At the same time I got those other prices I bought my 1000cca group 31 batteries from them for $120/ea
 
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