I always buy a better battery than the minimum recommended. I'm originally from Chicago. Up there your battery will almost always die in the winter. Her in Atlanta its the heat that kills them. ALWAYS in about 4 years no matter what the month rating on the battery is.sleddriver wrote:I dug into this issue many years ago when my alt failed, I installed a new Bosch and it was Tango Uniform, straight out-of-the-box. I was a bit surprised at the low Voltage "headroom". Then remembered reading somewhere that it was a characteristic of Bosch alts.
The other issue I also figured out was that the Interstate batteries recommended by one indy & on I.S.'s site were TOO SMALL, both physically and ratings wise. I'd go through a new battery every 3 or 4 years. That's just nuts. I was also puzzled why the batteries were also about 75% of the battery tray size. Then another Volvo guy noticed the same thing and also investigated.
Down here, we don't start cars during the "Winter" at -15°F on a regular basis. We're lucky if it even freezes, much less we get a HARD freeze. Down here we need a battery with a higher amp-hour rating. So I bought a full-size battery in the next class size up that completely fills the battery tray. It was about another $20 or so, but it also has a longer warranty, more capacity, better construction, etc. and I don't have to worry if I play the car radio while working on the car. It may also help the alt to last longer. Time will tell.
I figure after nearly 20 years my alternator needs to be rebuilt regardless of my mileage. I've just started looking into it. Apparently there are different regulators. I can see my alternator part number but I don't know whats in it.