Chassis Battery for 2018 Vista 27PE

[ywgbandit]

Does anyone know what group size the engine battery is in a 2018 Vista 27PE? I can't find any identifying marks or numbers on the battery that is in the coach and nothing in the owners manual. The little eye has turned from red to clear with a battery maintainer connected, so I assume it is toast?

 

[creativepart]

Sure all Ford F53 V10 chassis motorhomes use the same battery, Ford specs a Group 65 size battery with at least 750 cold cranking amps.

If you want a flooded lead acid battery here’s one at Walmart:

EverStart Plus Lead Acid Automotive Battery, Group Size 65 12 Volt, 750 CCA - Walmart.com

Buy EverStart Plus Lead Acid Automotive Battery, Group Size 65 12 Volt, 750 CCA at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

I replaced mine with an AGM so I didn’t need to do any maintenance.

EverStart Platinum BOXED AGM Battery, Group Size 65 12 Volt, 750 CCA - Walmart.com

Buy EverStart Platinum BOXED AGM Battery, Group Size 65 12 Volt, 750 CCA at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

 

[Eagle5]

Hi ywgbandit,
If you can measure the physical dimension of your lead/acid battery, you can then look-up the group number from here:

https://www.jegs.com/Sizecharts/bcigroup.html

Thanks, Eagle5
P.S. I see that creativepart has the correct size, which is Group 65.

 

[ywgbandit]

Thank you both for your replies. Greatly appreciated.

Sure all Ford F53 V10 chassis motorhomes use the same battery, Ford specs a Group 65 size battery with at least 750 cold cranking amps.

If you want a flooded lead acid battery here’s one at Walmart:

EverStart Plus Lead Acid Automotive Battery, Group Size 65 12 Volt, 750 CCA - Walmart.com

Buy EverStart Plus Lead Acid Automotive Battery, Group Size 65 12 Volt, 750 CCA at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

I replaced mine with an AGM so I didn’t need to do any maintenance.

EverStart Platinum BOXED AGM Battery, Group Size 65 12 Volt, 750 CCA - Walmart.com

Buy EverStart Platinum BOXED AGM Battery, Group Size 65 12 Volt, 750 CCA at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

Is the additional expense of the AGM battery worth it?

 

[Morich]

Note as a cross check of the size? There are usually books at the battery racks where you can cross check the number/label for size.

 

[Eagle5]

Hi ywgbandit,
I believe your 2018 and my 2019 Ford have alternators which are optimized for lead / acid batteries. With that said, I have not heard of anyone having a problem with the Glass Mat batteries. I do use a maintenance charger back-fed into the coach starting battery through a cigarette lighter power plug. With that, my original battery is now six years old and still going strongly.
Eagle5

 

[creativepart]

AGM batteries are still Lead Acid batteries and while charging profiles are very slightly different, there are no real problems, only benefits changing to AGMs over Flooded Lead Acid batteries.

Is it worth the added cost? That totally depends on how you feel about battery maintenance and if you’ve every ruined a battery from neglect.

 

[thompwil]

OK so now I’m a bit confused (which is pretty normal for me these days). I too need to replace my OEM battery very soon and checked the Ford F53 owner’s manual, and from what I can see it specs a group 31 battery. The Ford part number crosses to a group 31.
Am I missing something?

 

[Morich]

When in doubt on the size and when you get different answers from different places, I step back to basics and measure the battery to go shopping! There are many small points than can change the answers and we live in an age where we should never trust the easy first answer if we get a conflict of info!

On the AGM choice. I am a firm supporter in going AGM but with some thoughts involved.
AGM is one way to get far more life out of a battery for most of us. We tend to never quite get all the battery checking we should do on lead acid. We may think we are great but we normally fall short on battery maintenance.
I bet NONE of us ever does battery work monthly like industry users do it! How long has it been since you wiped your batteries down to keep the parasitic connection from forming across the top at the posts?
So AGM does away with 90% of that. No water leaking out and different venting means far less corrosion on the connections and that pretty well does away with taking them off to clean the posts! That alone is enough to make me pay more!

The only downside is the way AGM charge so much quicker. You need a better charger with better controls for AGM as the normal el cheapo charger is likely to overheat AGM and shorten the life.
It can be used but watching far more carefully is needed. You probably should not just stick it on and leave it overnight as the AGM will charge so much quicker and heat is a problem when it does it too quick and for too long!
Works fine with alternator but watch when you use a charger!

 

[Jeff-WO]

just changed mine after 9 years original was a FoMoCo group 65 750cca.

 

[thompwil]

just changed mine after 9 years original was a FoMoCo group 65 750cca.

I’m so glad I finally got off my lazy behind and went out to look. Big as life it’s a group 65/750CCA. I have no idea why my Ford manual says group 31. Likely going to save me a few dollars too. This would be year 8 for this battery and I noticed it getting a little lazy when starting during the winter. It's time...

 

[ywgbandit]

Hi ywgbandit,
I believe your 2018 and my 2019 Ford have alternators which are optimized for lead / acid batteries. With that said, I have not heard of anyone having a problem with the Glass Mat batteries. I do use a maintenance charger back-fed into the coach starting battery through a cigarette lighter power plug. With that, my original battery is now six years old and still going strongly.
Eagle5

I too have a 12 V battery maintainer but the battery which was showing red in the fall is now gone clear in the indicator. I believe clear means the battery is dead.