When my battery quit its job I just called AAA and they came to my house and instaled an Interstate battery. They also give pro-rated replacements so whenever your battery dies again you just have to call AAA and they will come to wherever you are and replace the battery. I think I got the 24F also.

 

One news flash on Costco batteries followed by a few installation questions.

For the news. I am thinking about getting a new battery for my 2010 Journey model with 20,000 miles. It still has the original battery and while topping off the cells this afternoon, I noticed that some of the cell plates appear to be warped. I have always maintained the proper battery fluid levels but this is a four-year old battery in Arizona so I think that this battery has just had its full run. Since warped cell plates are usually an harbinger of impending failure, I figured to replace it before the cold weather hits. I called the local Costco to see if they have any of their Kirkland brand type 35 batteries in stock; the answer was YES BUT Costco is about to switch to Interstate batteries sometime within the next couple of weeks. I used Interstate batteries in my old cars 20 years ago but stopped when their quality seemed to nosedive. Anyway, Costco seems to be swapping battery suppliers so if you want the old Kirkland brand, act quickly.

Now, a couple of questions about swapping the battery, The 2010 service manual has a rather lengthy list of things to check following battery reconnect. Most of these steps seem to involve the heating/air conditioning (HAC) systems, with separate service manual sections regarding cars with and without the Advance Climate Control System (ACCS) that includes a subsystem called PLASMACLUSTER. I finally notice that numerous folks seem to have problems with the power windows following battery replacement.

So, my questions. (1) are all of these checks on the HAC systems necessary or are they worst-case scenarios? Anyone have experience with HAC not working properly following battery swap?

(2) how do you tell whether or not you have a PLASMACLUSTER SYSTEM? I have the original sales brochure as well as my car's window sticker and neither of them mention either ACCS or PLASMACLUSTER. Instead, they refer to a "Dual Zone Automatic Temperature Control system with Microfiltration." Is this the same as the ACCS? The underlying question is if I have to go through all of these HAC reboot steps, which set of steps do I use?

(3) how common is the window-needs-reset-problem following battery swap?

(4) can I avoid all of these additional steps by simply connecting a set of jumper wires between the old battery and the car cables so as to maintain 12 volts on the cables throughout the swap process? I'm not talking about car jumper cables, just some 20-gauge wires with alligator clips. Or perhaps a Battery Tender?

Any info will be appreciated.

 

Just put in a red top this morning. I weighed oem and 33.1 the red top is 33.4lbs. Weight vs reliability is really the topic for you. I haven't heard good things about the Braille batteries but they are like 15 lbs or so. For me I'd stick with optima or interstate personally. Amazon shipped me a red top for $160. replacing mine like others have said because it sounds like it's talking longer to crank. Also the red top for my 11 g37x sedan is smaller(35 group) so the front hook screw on the bracket that makes it not move or slide ran out of thread to tighten down so I had to put the carry handle of the battery back on and under the bracket then tighten down. Fits like a glove now

 

I got an Exide from Home Depot.

Extreme 24F Auto Battery-24FX - The Home Depot

800-cold cranking amps at 0-degree F
960-cranking amps at 32-degree F
120-minutes reserve capacity at 25-amp
40-month free warranty 24-hour emergency jump start

 

It's a car, 50 pounds one way or another won't make much difference.

 

+1 on Optima! I installed the Yellow top recently (over 2 months ago?) and it has performed like a champ...I've had the car parked outside during this weekend's blizzard (from Friday to Sunday) along with it being approx 14 degrees overnight and covered with snow...Started right up Sunday morning.

 

This is pretty common on every car that has one-touch windows or sunroof. It is easy to reset once you have the new battery installed. Just hold the window switches down for a few seconds after the windows have gone all the way down and then hold the switches up for a few seconds after the windows rolled up and you are all set.