What is battery size / group code for 300m ???

I need to buy a battery to temporarily start and move a car so I might
as well buy one that will fit my 300m.

The battery that is currently in my '00 300m is the original battery
(8 years old now) and although it seems fine now, it may not last
through the winter.

Anyways, I plan to hit a few auto parts stores , and will have to deal
with the typical battery issues (like shelf-life or date code
decoding, and battery type).

I'm thinking of an AGM battery - but not the spiral type.

It's said that there are basically only 3 battery plants in north
america, and they make all the batteries sold by the various
retailers.

So, what is the size or group code I'm looking for, and any brands in
particular I need to stay away from?

 

Group 34

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

I've had excellent results with Interstate and poor results with Exide.
Some years ago, Consumer Reports did exhaustive tests on many brands.
Interstate was at the top; Exide was at the bottom.
Bryan

 

I have had really good luck with the "Duralast" Gold from AutoZone.
They hold up very well in the temperature extremes here in the desert
southwest. Summer temps range from 115° in the daytime, 85° at night
for days on end. Winter temps get to 30°, and even lower when we head
up into the mountains.

 

Here in Canada, our choices are somewhat limited as we don't have as
many car-parts chain stores.

The major retailer being Canadian Tire, and some smaller players like
PartSource.

Partsource carries about 3 or 4 lines of Exide (but not the top-end
lines Orbital and Nascar) but Canadain tire carries only the Nascar
and I think Orbital (and their own house brands).

Since I'm looking for a group 34 (or group 78) battery, the absolute
low-end for those (Canadian tire house brand) sell for about $50 (450
CCA) while the high end batteries (750 - 850 CCA) can go for $140.

I was looking for an AGM battery, but really couldn't find one (at
retail) that wasn't also a spiral battery - so that sucks.

I didn't look at what was available from a Chrysler dealer - is it
worth it?

Anyone know who made the OEM batteries for a '00 300m?

 

PartsSource IS Canadian Tire...

 

Forgot to mention that I've had good luck with kirkland's batteries from
Costco. Sould be able to get a 800 CCA for about 100 bucks or less there.

 

Interstate is not a manufacturer!!!!

Mopar is Chrysler's brand which could be made by either Exide or Johnson
Controls!!!

 

hmmm thats not what interstate have told us when they deliver the batteries
to the shop i work at
i'll have to ask them again

 

It amazes me the number of myths that propagate regarding how
many and who are the players in the battery market, starting with
the one you're responding to...

 

based upon my battery business experience, I propose the following:

for the discriminating buyer: Buy a BCI Group OE replacement Mopar branded
battery that has engineering ratings that Chrysler warranted through their
Dealer network!

for the cheap skate buyer: Buy at a swap meet, AutoZone or Advance Auto or
Interstate Battery or Exide Battery with marketing ratings or used unbranded
warranted 3 feet or 3 seconds by some sidewalk vendor at a swap meet.

 

I'm not sure what of that that you meant seriously and what you meant
sarcastically and/or tongue in cheek, but it's a minor PITA to get to
the batteries in the LH cars. That would bias the decision to more of a
premium battery whose construction and design actually match the
warranty that it comes with.

What you don't want is a battery that you'll get replaced for free under
its warranty every 2 years even though it's guaranteed for 4 or 5 or 6
or whatever years whether it's you doing the R&R (hassle factor) or the
battery vendor (minimum wage people going into the mechanicals of my car
is an absolute no-no).

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Update:

We're almost done with this brutal winter, and I still have the
factory original battery in my '00 300M (8.3 years so far).

Car has been garaged almost every night which probably helps increase
it's life.

 

Amazingly, even though Interstate manufacturers NOTHING, they are, I'm 99%
sure, the current source for Mopar "dealer" (repalcement, not OEM)
batteries. I believe that their distribution, delivery, and core-pickup
expertise made the difference.

Rick E.

 

When I had our car serviced a couple days ago, I asked about battery
life. They said 2-3 years, BUT our '96 Stratus went at least 5 years
(first in Michigan, then in NY) on its original battery. Our '02 300M
(first in NY, now in Michigan) is close to 6 years on its original battery.

Perce

 

Which, in my experience, makes an OEM battery the LAST thing you'd want.
Maybe its changed in recent years, but OEM batteries used to be one of
the worst things on a new car. A high-end name brand aftermarket battery
would greatly outlast a sourced-from-the-lowest-bidder-who-minimally-met
specifications battery from a dealer.

Amen.

 

Winters are EASY on batteries. Its hot summers that eat the life out of
them.

I've never gotten more than 2.5 years out of an OEM battery in any
car, and about 5 years is the record even with high-end batteries.
That's the difference when you have ~100 degrees F ambient every
afternoon every summer, and on the order of 200 degrees under the hood
in traffic.

 

Very true, but a battery can also be farther from optimal condition
down here and still start the car -- when it's -20F out, a marginal
battery won't be good enough.

When I lived in Seattle, it was battery heaven. It seemed like they
lasted forever.

 

My understanding is that heat is hard on the battery on a long-term
basis (longevity), but cold weather will cause acute (short term, but
recoverable) problems (on a weak battery).

Apparently they put good batteries in at the factory on the LH cars (2nd
gen anyway. People on the 300M Club routinely get 6 to 8 years out of
them. It's commented on every once in a while out of the blue.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

.... and that means that the replacement battery on our '96 Stratus
(vehicle purchased 11/95) is also 5 or 6 years old. The replacement
battery came from Costco, IIRC.

Perce