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I am told the Calcium batteries handle the engine bay temps the best. I have been monitoring my engine bay temps with a thermo-couple for the last few months, and will see temps ranging from 55 C to 65 C or even 70 C when nearer the turbo. It varies quite a bit from place to place actually, and a lot seems to depend on the ability of the air to escape out of the engine bay, which is usually downwards and under the car. The more air you can get flowing through the engine bay, the lower the air pressure, which in turn assists airflow through the radiator and front grill.
All advice I have read indicates that batteries simply can't handle those sorts of temperatures for long periods of time. Some will last better than others, but it gets to them all eventually.
Collyn Rivers has written a bit about it, and has an excellent table in one of his books describing the expected life reduction of a battery with given heat ranges.
What sort of time frame are you talking about in between each battery?
I should clarify that I am in Nth Qld and those engine bay temps were normal hot days and taken in locations both beside and above the engine itself, plus on the battery. Temps are often down in the 40's along the firewall on cooler days.
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The first lasted nearly a year and the next one only 7 months. It was just a basic Century yellow top though
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Not good. Is your engine overheating? Are there any other indicators of heat issues?
They aren't just trying to dodge a warranty claim are they?
Maybe get it load tested at Battery World or some other place and see what they say?
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I had to send it to Mt Isa as it is a long drive to go for just that. They said that the volts are going up but the cranking amps are not.
A lot of my driving is open highway for 5-30 hours at a time. I know that I can push it a bit and when I sit on 110ish my EGT are around the mid to high 300s.
(at the dump pipe.)
They also said that there is a slight swell in the casing so they are bot going to warranty it.
The battery before "split", but I wasn't in town to see it.
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I know that air temps up here are consistently pretty high. We are currently mid to high 30's all day long. Gotta love winter up here ☺
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As far as I know, swelling is caused by over charging. Overcharging create excess hydrogen gas in the battery faster than what the battery can expel it.
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sealed batteries have explosion caps on the top, My battery guy will sell any battery I want
,but will not fit it, I have since fitted a turbo beanie to keep temps down on the Aux battery side.
I have noticed that I need to top up the battery less,
my AUX is a Trojan wet cell 115ah more bang for your buck IMO.
My start is an AC delco sealed. If worried about under bonnet temps fit some vents.
but I think its a charging problem.
what condition are the bushes in the alternator like.
from past experience if they are only touching on their edges it can cause
over charging resulting in boiling the battery not something you'd want
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All sealed batteries need a vent. As when they are charging they create the gas which needs to go somewhere...
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Maybe get your alternator checked out as something seems wrong. I take it that your starter is OK?
I am running an AGM (DEKA) battery under the bonnet of my 3 litre. I am charging it via a Redarc BC:DC 1220 charger and it has been fine for the last 2.5 years in a variety of temps. It's cool in Adelaide at the moment but gets pretty hot in summer. My alternator starts charging above 14 volt when it starts up but after a while drops off to 13.8 - 13.6 volts as the batteries charge up. Is yours constantly above 14 volts regardless of time? Maybe that's the problem.
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When you have your headlights on at night, can you see a slight flare (brightening) when you rev the engine. If so you may have a regulator problem in the alternator. As has been suggested by many of us, myself included, 14+ volts is accemtable but shouldn't be at that all the time.
