Replace that Wimpy Battery with a Real One!

I've had my 2003 Protege for a little over 4 years now. In recent months I started noticing signs that my battery, which was the original, was getting near the end of its life. These signs included dimming headlights and reduced ventilation fan speed at idle and sometimes rough idle as well. I tested the specific gravity of each cell and found that 3 cells were weak (less than full charge).

Anyhow, I started doing research on replacement batteries and lead-acid batteries in general and learned that deep cycle batteries are far more durable than regular starting batteries and in some cases can be used successfully in place of a starting battery. They also provide significantly more reserve capacity. It's true that a deep cycle battery doesn't provide as many cold cranking amps as a starting battery of similar size, but in most cases they provide more than enough to start modern fuel injected gasoline engines.

So I decided to replace my battery with a deep cycle/starting marine RV battery. Since they don't make these batteries in Group Size 35, I had to go with Group Size 24. In order to get this larger battery to fit under the hood, I replaced the battery tray and hold down hardware and performed a few modifications. I will provide details of what I did and provide pictures in a future post. I have included pictues of my original batter and its replacement for comparison purposes. I also have include a picture of the new battery's label with specifications for reference.





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You've got the beginnings of a nice write-up there protegedon!!
When you complete it (as you have indicated you will) please remember to include the specs, or general specs of a starting battery vs the deep cycle you are installing. Your owners manual might include stater amps in it too which would be good info. I think that would help ppl make up their minds if they are interested in doing this.  Also, what are the # of charging-cycles & life expectancy of the two?
'Sounds like a good idea to me!!