Replace 12v battery - with any normal car battery?

Good to know. 410 CCA seems adequate to boost most cars.

 

Can anyone please tell me their longterm experience with a regular lead-acid battery, compared to the calcium-lead one that came with the car? I'm starting to get low-12v aux warnings when starting my Kona, and would prefer to change it soon.

Any experience with a swapped one in cold climate? Does the car charge them adequately when not driving for days?

I'm considering this one from Costco, that would seem to fit.

Group 121R Automotive Battery Battery | Costco Batteries

 

In my opinion you must use a calcium-lead because the charging voltage is 14.6 instead of 13.8 V. I'm not even sure you can buy anything else these days, that is, the type with removable filler openings.

That one quoted seems lead-calcium as it's maintenance free. But it's also 40mm higher than what I understand is the stock size, so measure the clearance first.

 

I'm quite certain there's enough clearance, it's a bit hard to measure since I can't close the hood and take the measurement, but I suppose I'll put something 4CM high on the battery and see how well it can close. Would you happen to know if a battery would say "lead-calcium" on it anywhere, or what voltage it can take in? I'm thinking of going to look at it tomorrow

 

If it's a calcium battery, most will have an indication of that somewhere, either "calcium" or Ca, the chemical abbreviation. You can forget about the "lead" part because all of the batteries you will be looking at are lead acid with calcium added. Just look for a statement somewhere on the label that it has calcium/Ca.

Some batteries will state a max charging voltage on the label, but not all. Those that don't you can probably go to the manufacturer's website and look up the specs there. All calcium batteries have a higher max charging voltage than other flavours of lead acid batteries, so even if you can't get the voltage info you're safe just getting a calcium battery that fits.

 

Thanks for the info OzKona

 

So again my OEM Calcium battery failed within 6 months, dealer warranty replaced it with group 121R Hyundai flooded lead acid battery. It sits a little taller than OEM but fits fine otherwise. Its been flawless for the last 17 months, including in -30C and does not seem care one bit about the higher charge voltage. When it dies I will replace it with another cheap flooded lead acid probably from Costco as dealer wants $300 installed for his version with the Hyundai sticker on it.

 

Thanks for the info, this is what I was hoping was the case. The one from Costco has a 4 year warranty and much better Ah, CCA (not that they're needed) and other numbers than the OEM one, for a much better price to boot! also, i checked and the kirkland battery plates add either calcium or silver to prolong the life of the lead plates

 

I know the Costco warranty is awesome. Just replaced my daughter's 2 year old battery no questions asked, no pro rated garbage. You really have nothing to loose.

 

How did this battery work out?
Looks like my 12v battery is on the way out also.

 

Hi, I installed it over a month ago and it's working great. Just a small word of caution, the negative terminal (or, the one on the right side when looking under the hood) was a little tight to get on, as this battery is taller, so if you follow the wire down a bit, you'll see a bolt where it connects to the frame of the car. I loosened it a little bit, and it was enough to get it on without stretching or damaging the wires. Just be very careful when loosening it because you do not want that to fall down the engine compartment; it's all plastic on the bottom and won't just fall to your driveway.

The Kirkland battery is said to have either calcium or silver to help prolong the life, and I'm loving the low price, more Ah and the longer warranty!

 

An owner on Reddit managed to momentarily short the 12V battery while in Utility Mode and it buggered up the charging voltage. The "fix" turned out to be a "recalibration" of the battery sensor (which is located on the negative terminal). He posted the official Hyundai procedure, as incomprehensibly simple as it seems. So, just for the record:

 

Coincidentally, that 4 hour period corresponds to a 12V charging cycle when parked.

 

I am not sure if the charge voltage difference for a OEM calcium battery vs lead acid battery is that big of a deal. I had a good look at my now 22 month old replacement plain lead acid battery that has always been charged under the latest charging BMS updates. On initial inspection I saw dust displacement from liquid on the sides of the battery cover. Wondering if the battery was emitting excessive water from over charging activity I wiped it down with some baking soda solution with no neutralizing acid reaction. The fluid was probably from melted accumulated driven snow. Since I was there I popped the cell covers and inspected the plates in each of the cells. They all looked brand new with no signs of bulging, sulphation and all cells had equal fluid levels. This tells me that battery was neither over or under charged.

Next I hooked up my autel battery tester, charge was a little down but tested CCA was much higher than rated so it gets a 100+% state of health. So it would appear the almost 2 year old replacement lead acid battery is doing absolutely fine being slightly overcharged. Based on my inspection today I am going to guess I will get at least another couple more years if not more out of the "cheap" lead acid replacement battery. I kinda previously entertained the idea that I might try a lithium 12V battery replacement battery if this one died prematurely. If I can get 4-5 years out of a $150 lead acid battery its hard to justify the $700 lithium equivalent.

 

Looking at online specs I'm fairly confident that you have a calcium-lead battery that suits the 14.6 V charging. The MF means maintenance free despite the presence of removable caps.