How to Find the Best Dodge Journey Battery
You know that when you buy a vehicle, you want to know that it will provide you with solid, reliable service. Part of this process is making sure you have a good battery to start your Dodge Journey’s engine. But knowing that you may need a new battery and knowing which one to take are two different problems.
What is the best battery for a Dodge Journey?
Still, in its first generation, the Dodge Journey includes a size 86 battery bank. These provide a minimum of 525 cold cranking amps to keep you going on a cold morning, for both its 2.4-liter gasoline engine and your 3.6-liter FlexFuel engine. .
But what does all this information mean? Battery group: lead-acid, OEM, aftermarket? Don’t worry; the experts at Vehicle History has put together everything you need to know.
Battery Bank Sizes Explained
Let’s start by discussing battery bank sizes. This is a reference to its power rating, exterior size, and terminal location (such as side screws, top screws, or top posts). But why is this information important to ensure a good match for your Dodge Journey?
Your Dodge Journey’s battery must produce a minimum amount of power to start efficiently, as well as have a reserve capacity that can run the lights, audio, and other electronic devices for a limited time without your engine running. This means that the easiest way to replace your battery is with another from the same group.
The size of each battery bank is given an alphanumeric code assigned by the Battery Council International (BCI). It is essential to use batteries approved for your vehicle. Still, your Journey can accommodate groups of various sizes, so the replacement guides help you find the right one.
Battery banks are used because the frame, brackets, and hood of your Journey are sheet metal. Installing a battery too high in the space can cause the bottom of the range hood to come into contact with both terminals. This can create a brief and dangerous situation.
Maintaining your Journey’s battery is another issue when changing battery bank sizes. If the battery is too wide, tall, or short, the holder may not hold the battery securely in place and allow it to move. This can cause safety issues, damage moving parts, and cause starting problems.
That said, with careful thought and measurement, you can change the size of the battery banks for your journey. For example, adding a larger deep-cycle battery increases ground capacity for construction or emergency response vehicles, although adding a second battery also works well.
Lead-acid, lithium-ion, SLI, or deep cycle?
Now that you know how important group size is, let’s talk about the type of battery, which is based on the chemicals used to store the electrical current. These typically fall into two categories. The first is traditional lead acid. The second is lithium-ion, which is rapidly gaining popularity.
As the oldest and most widely used rechargeable battery, lead acid is standard. Invented in 1859, they have a high power density, meaning they release a lot of power quickly when starting. It has multiple cells with positive and negative plates, separators, and an electrolyte.
Lead-acid batteries are of various types, such as wet, calcium-calcium, gel, AGM and AGM coil batteries. The use of lead makes them heavy, 30 to 50 pounds. Depletion of the lead-acid battery to zero charge causes premature wear and premature failure.
Because? Due to the chemical change in the battery, When fully discharged, lead sulfate accumulates on the plates. Regular full charges prevent this problem from occurring and improve battery performance. For this reason, these batteries must be stored and charged.
High-energy-density lithium-ion batteries were commercialized in the 1970s, but falling prices made them available for automotive use. They weigh one-third of comparable lead-acid batteries with the same performance, making them ideal when weight is an issue.
In this type of battery, lithium ions move from the negative electrodes to the positive electrodes during discharge. They then move backward during charging cycles. They can discharge 80% of their energy, much more than lead-acid’s 30-50%, before burning. However, production falls faster as temperatures drop.
Because of their differences in chemistry and performance profiles, lithium-ion batteries can last the life of your vehicle, rather than requiring periodic replacement of lead-acid batteries. That said, improper charging can cause individual battery cells to fail.
What about deep-cycle or SLI batteries? Generally referred to as lead-acid batteries, deep cycles allow the battery to discharge more deeply before recharging, while SLI focuses on starting, lighting, and ignition. If you use your vehicle a lot with the engine off, deep cycles prevent wear and tear on the battery.
OEM vs Aftermarket: What’s the Difference?
The final aspect to consider is whether to use an original equipment battery from the OEM or aftermarket. What is the difference between these battery types, and how will this affect the performance and reliability of your Journey?
In short, yes. Beyond other aspects that affect battery quality, there are many differences in manufacturing processes. One plant has water with different electrolytes, while a second has more variation in the electrodes, among other problems. Here’s a quick overview of the two types:
OEM batteries tend to be of higher quality because the manufacturer wants to maintain its reputation as a supplier of high-quality vehicles that provide years of reliable operation without changing batteries. This is why manufacturers have a higher battery rejection rate.
But why do manufacturers reject batteries? The battery may have too high or too low levels of specific compounds in the electrolyte; there may be small differences in the plates that affect capacity; and many other small differences that affect the life of the battery.
This is one of the reasons we recommend OEM batteries, due to their higher quality and greater value. However, these batteries can also cost up to half the price of aftermarket batteries for these reasons.
In comparison, available replacement batteries will meet the basic specifications of your OEM battery. However, they may not meet the same rigorous standard that the manufacturer uses to accept or reject batteries, so it will work fine at first but may have problems later.
These problems can include not starting as many times, not holding a charge, or faulty battery cells. These issues can affect its reliability, so be sure to check reviews carefully before purchasing. That being said, the lower price is a good motivation for many.
If you are going to secondary school, this is what we suggest
The aftermarket is very temptingly priced, so if you decide to purchase a replacement battery, here are three we can recommend. Duracell AGM Platinum receives some of the highest ratings from consumers.
However, for optimal starting power, life, and performance, the Extreme Odyssey Series gives absolutely amazing results.
