Reminisce

Hey guys,

I need a little bit of guidance in an area I'm only somewhat knowledgeable in. Long story short, I replaced my factory battery earlier this year right before summer because I drained it dry while I was shooting a wedding. I'd left my fog lights on in the parking lot, shot a 7 hour wedding, came out to my car and it wouldn't start. Had AAA come and charge my battery up and I went home with the intent of replacing the battery that week. 2 days later at work, car wouldn't start, battery died. I went to Autozone which was down the street from my job and they replaced my battery with an Autocraft battery (smaller in size). They tested my electrical systems and charging systems and everything checked out ok.

Here's the problem.

Ever since then, I've been having erratic electrical problems. For example, when I start the car, I notice my dash lights dim more than they did before while the car is cranking.
my aftermarket HIDs (from Retro Solutions) that worked flawlessly now, the driver side ballast does not always fire up when I start the car. Sometimes I have to turn the lights off and then back on again to get that light to fire up.
Almost all of my LED lights (license plate, map lights,) have burned out at some point or another. Diode Dynamics sent me another set of license plate bulbs and they burned out again about a month later.
As for my HIDs, Retro solutions had me do some multimeter tests with the ballasts a month ago and said my results showed there being an electrical problem somewhere in the car. As of right now, the left ballast doesnt even fire up anymore. I swapped the bulbs and they are fine.

Before I start working backwards, do you all think the Autocraft battery that was placed in my car is not strong enough, or maybe damaged my electrical systems somewhere? Or do you think that I should just get a new ballast and other lights and keep moving on? Thanks guys.

JoeMidnight

Does the replacement battery have the same cranking amps?

70monte

There are a ton of electronics in these new cars and you need a battery that is at least as big as the original battery or if not bigger. I would never go smaller. I would go back to Autozone and tell them they gave you the wrong size battery and you want the correct one.

Wayne

Horspla

I would also add that diodes don't die because of low voltage however high voltage will kill them quickly.

John

awoychosky123

Just dont get one thats bigger just get one that matches the is the same size as you stock one. I personally go and buy Motorcraft, cant go wrong with stock :P