The factory original battery in my '00 300m is now 11 years old...

So 11 years ago today I drove my '00 300m home from the dealer.

I think the original battery might be showing it's age. It's been a
little on the cold side here the past few days, and it doesn't seem to
have the same pep turning over when starting, and in fact a couple times
after the engine started the CD player kinda did a light-show (all the
led's flashing) for a few seconds.

Maybe I'll have to start thinking about putting in a new battery.

 

Haha, that's some great battery life. I'd start thinking about it too,
but I gave in at about 7 years and replaced mine then. Have you ever
cleaned the contacts and battery tray? A lot of stuff builds up there.

My preference is Johnson Controls batteries based on personal
experience. The Sears Diehard Gold is the best they make and the Costco
Kirkland battery (group 34, 795 CCA) is the same model, at least for the
(north) version. The Kirkland is a lot less expensive than the Sears!

 

I replaced the battery in our 00 3ooM with 30,000 this past summer just
before our vacation,
not because the battery was showing signs of age, just to be sure it
would not act up during our vacation trips.
Old battery is still in my garage as a bench power source.

Steve

 

These past few days, my 11 year old battery is not liking this mid-20 F
weather.

Massive snow yesterday and today, coming off Lake Huron. Like a dagger
right at us.

Put my snow tires on yesterday. I have Cooper Discoverer M+S on the
front:

http://www.coopertire.com/html/products/tires_lighttruck.aspx?page=discoverer_ms

And blizzak's on the back. Blizzacks are on 15" rims (205-70-15).
Coopers are 215-70-16. The Coopers barely fit on this car (300m). Nice
and tall - tried to get the narrowest tires I could for front and back.

As a snow tire, the Coopers pull me through snow like a sonofabitch.
This is I think the fourth winter I'm using them. Technically it's an
SUV/light truck tire.

So at some point I'm really going to have to change the battery...

 

I changed the battery on my '02 300M just before the real winter set in
last year.

I replaced the original tires just before the snow hit two years ago. I
put on Michelin Primacy MX44, but yesterday I found myself sliding out
at fairly low speed on a bend and was glad there was nothing in the lane
next to me.

TireRack doesn't sell Cooper tires (are they a store brand?. They
recommend 16" winter tires and wheels for this vehicle (OEM is 17", but
their 17" wheels are far more expensive) and suggest the Blizzak, even
though they rank them #3, behind Continental Extreme Winter Contact and
Michelin X-Ice XI2.

Comments?

Perce

 

I wonder who made these factory batteries that they put in the 300m's.

Cooper Tire has been around a long time. They are not a subsidiary
model of one of the big brands, and they are not a store brand.

I have no idea why Tirerack doesn't sell them.

You don't want a winter tire that's wide, so you don't want a 17" snow
tire, and you'd be nuts to put a snow tire on the chrome-finish original
wheels that the 300m came with. I tried to put 15" rims on the front of
my 300m, but the brake caliper was about 1/4" too large for the 15" rims
to fit. So I went with black 16" steel wheels and looked for the
narrowest, tallest tire I could find, and the size 215-70-16 was it.

I honestly don't remember how I found out about the Cooper Discoverer,
but I'm telling you that you won't find a better snow tire for the 300m.

And like I said, I went with 15" steel wheels for the back, and put
blizzaks on them (205-70-15).

We got 3 feet of snow since Sunday morning. I know what it's like to
drive with snow up to the floor-board. The coopers pull me though the
worst un-plowed back-streets and parking lots you can imagine. And
these are about 1/4 to 1/3 worn out. This is the fourth winter I've
used them.

Buy a set of plain steel rims for your snow tires, and keep your
original rims for dedicated summer performance tires.

I'm planning to replace my Yokahama Advan's with General Exclaim UHP for
my next set of summer tires.