gritter94

Wasnt sure where to put this one..

Whats the minimum size battery i need to run my 94 trans am? I see sizes vary alot and dont wanna spend more then i have to ya know?

gritter94

engine is the lt1 also

Injuneer

Page 233 of your Owner's Manual indicates the battery size as 75-60.

gritter94

Sorry i should have been more clear, what's the min CCA and CA i should get. I see on the autoparts online store they go from 700 cold cranking Amps (875 cranking Amps) to like 550 cold cranking Amps (685 cranking Amps).

NJ-LE

gritter94:
Live where winter can be severe? Then get the higher rated battery.

henryz28

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/cat...andName=Optima

gritter94

I live in michigan where winter is pretty severe, but car is stored in the winter will a higher rated battery do better for storing in the cold? I hook a trickle up to it when storing.

n2ceptor

Group size 75 , minimum CCA (cold cranking amps 525)

With that said, I would pick a higher CCA, atleast around 650 or high for longevity...

Fatdog2

I would use what the manual says otherwise you could fry your starter or alternator.Just something I heard on the radio.My02

n2ceptor

I have never heard of this, nor have I ever had a problem with a higher CCA.... I run a 800 CCA in my 93Z and Tahoe with no issues... 525 CCA is the recommended minimum not maximum....

Batteries with lower CCA usually do not last long, because the battery is strained everytime a load is placed on it...

koolaid_kid

Concerning battery capacity:
Consider the fact that the battery is used to start the car and power things while the engine is not running. At that time, it is the sole source of power.
After the engine starts, the alternator is the source of power. Its job is to power everything, plus recharge the battery.
So, you need enough CCAs to start the vehicle in whatever conditions it is subjected to. After that, if you feel you need more electrical power, you need a more powerful alternator, b/c the battery is out of the loop (except for being recharged) once the engine is running.

Z28SORR

Sorry but your completely wrong!
Your Alternators only function is to charge the Bat. All power comes from the Bat. not the Alt.
Your car will run without an Alt. but not without a Bat.
The next time your under the hood with the car running pull the possitive Bat. terminal and see that happens.

koolaid_kid

Very interesting. So what you are saying is that if you jump start a car that has a dead battery, as soon as you remove the jumper cables the engine will stall?
Or that after the engine is running, the battery is supplying the ~13.5 volts, vs. its ~12.5v when the engine is not running?
What you are speaking of is completing a circuit, not supplying power.

Here is a quote from a simple Google of "alternator vs. battery" "...since the battery starts the vehicle and the alternator operates the car - mostly independent of the battery."
Here is the source, lots of them out there:http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...or.html?cat=27

Hood_Lum

From what I gathered from that article is the alternator charges the battery.
If the alternator is bad then it won't charge the battey. Without a battery the car will not run.

So assuming that is true, if you jump start a dead battery the car will run when you take the jumper cable off if the alternator is good because it's giving the battery a charge. But if the battery is dead because of a bad alternator then, theoretically, it should stall shortly after the cables are taken off.

It can't be a complete circuit because I've started my car without the alternator hooked up before.

Z28SORR

It's really very simple, if your Battery is incapable of supplying the necessary voltage to run the car it WILL die, no matter how good, or big, your alternator is.
Have you ever tried to jumper a car with a dead bat. and not have it start, even though your Bat. was fully charged?? Why?
Sorry, just because some guy writes an article in an automotive rag doesn't mean every word is correct. I've seen a lot of completely wrong info in print.
Two things to consider. Why do all the wiring diagram for your car have all the "hot" leads labled "Bat" or "Ign" (which gets it's power from the battery not the alternator), and not "Alt." Why do all the "hot" leads attach to the battery + terminal instead of the alt. which has only one wire going directly to the bat.
Also if you look at the size(gage) of the wire that runs from the alt. to the bat. it should be obvious that there is no way it could provide the amperage necessary to run your car and all the accesseries.
Even Formula 1 cars, Indy cars, and many Dragsters, that have no starters, have batteries.

Having said all this, it should also be obvious, that these two system are not completely independent and that you need both working properly for happy motoring!