What battery ?

Good morning. Here is a question. What battery people use in their 2nd gen and what, if any, upsides to AGM one ?

 

I just use whatever they sell at Autozone or Advance Auto. I generally buy the 800 cold cranking amps one.

 

Welcome!
Find a good, freshly dated one and keep the terminals clean.

 

Here is a great video with actual testing. The Wal-Mart Everstart compares very well unless you just feel better spending more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7rTcBanpMk

 

Costco Interstates for me, they are priced right, great warranty and last forever. They sell so many they usually are dated only one month old.
The video above shows Johnson Controls manufacturers most of the lead/acid batteries on the market.

 

I've used Exide batteries for years.
All battery costs have risen, while their warranty periods have decreased. I recently needed to replace the battery on my 2021 4Runner and shopped around. AGM was too high of a price point for what I needed, so I looked at conventional "flooded" batteries.

I found that prices in my area (SoCal) were pretty much the same from store to store on comparable batteries, so I looked at what the Auto Club had to offer through their roadside battery service. Much to my surprise, I found the Auto Club's price to be within a few dollars of the average store price, plus they install it.

I made the call on a Sunday morning and the technician was at my driveway within 20 minuets. He installed an Auto Club branded Interstate battery and took away the old one. Three year warranty. I didn't have to deal with a "core" charge and going back and forth to the auto parts store and waiting in line, nor did I get my hands dirty. Auto Club has a good reputation for standing behind their products and services.

 

If price is not an issue, Redarc came out with a new battery (ALPHA150 12V 150AH LITHIUM BATTERY). I personally will not spend that much on a battery. I use Diehard batteries from AutoZone for my dual batt set up.

 

Not sure about 2nd gen but I'm sure I cannot run AGM on my 5th gen as my charge rate is 13.4v idle with full load vs stock size AGM needs 13.8v minimum charge rate.

I'm not interested adding a diode and send more current (14.5v) to sensitive components vs what factory designed for (max I've seen is 14.1v).



Edit -
I was thinking to change my battery on my 2019 5th gen even though it doesn't show any sign of weakness or nothing said at the dealer service which a battery test is part of the service. Thinking about Everstart Max (per the famous test above) or Duracell from Sams club since Duracell name for regular home use batteries. Duracell rechargeable working for years and don't see any weakness. May be regular lead-acid batteries would be good as well?

 

My mistake, it was Duralast battery. These battery's have a 2 year warranty.

 

I go to the Toyota dealer. Every battery from them has lasted 10 years in NC.

 

Just did a little test today and realized that in regular driving conditions (no lights, no headunit use, pretty much nothing,..) the stock alternator provide current no where near the charging needs of a stock size AGM battery on a 5th Gen.

 

kmeeg, did you mean Voltage or Current?

You can't determine an alternator's current capacity when it's hooked up to a charged battery.

 

Voltage, Sorry.

Didn't thought about that. But at cold start it was hovering over 13.8V which is bare minimum per Duracell AGM label. I know for sure my battery was below 12V because my dashcam on parking mode was off when I enter the vehicle since it was sitting since Saturday.

 

Sorry, I know it is confusing. What I meant was "Current" as in "amps" capacity can't be determined with a charged battery. When talking electricity the word "current" = "amps". Based on your pics I assumed you meant "voltage" but with electricity I like to be very clear.

Voltage from the Alt, indeed does not get affected (much) by a charged battery. Unless the voltage regulator shuts off the alternator if it is fancy enough to detect that the battery is already fully charged.

Current (Amps) from the Alt, will nearly cease to flow into a completely full battery. If you have a near dead battery that takes a charge, it will have a high flow of current (amps).

 

No worries, I understand what you are saying Voltage vs Current since Electronics and Electrical was subjects I chose for my high school. However alternators in cars was not part of our syllabus, so no idea how alternator works in detail.
Electrical part it was more of household and commercial electricals that includes ac dc motors and different transformers. Electronic part was basic electronics radios, tvs, amplifiers, etc.. There were friends in our batch who elected "Motor mechanism" which is the pathway for Automobile engineering. Maybe I should ask my buddy when it's day time for him (Australia)