Cold Cranking Amps..what are they?

[71400lb]

Okay, question...
I have a 71 3/4 Ton Cheyenne with a 400 SBC and a 400 Turbo auto/2wd.

My battery is a 1000 cold cranking amps and 850 cranking amps A/C Delco battery...the little green light is almost completely out, but you can still see a sligth glow.

I have a buddy who can give me for free a 690 cold cranking amps/550 cranking amps new Interstate battery.

Can I use the 690 CCA/550CA in place of my 1000 CCA/850 CA battery, or will I have problems?

Thanks,
71400LB

1971 Cheyenne 3/4 Ton/2wd
400 SBC 4 bbl Quadrajet/400 Turbo/3.73/Open
Dual Flowmaster Exhausts

[sneakysnake]

The definition of the Cold-Cranking Amperage (CCA) of an automotive battery is the amount of current a given battery can deliver for 30 seconds at zero (0) degrees F without dropping below a specified cutoff voltage (manufacturer-specific, but usually 10.5 volts).

[sneakysnake]

This says for a 400ci requires 400 cca.
http://www.bgsoflex.com/cca.html

[purple gas]

400 cold cranking amps!! Ah to live in your southern climes. In a few weeks from now. Well hopefully a few months, when it's -40 in my part of the planet ( farrenheit or celciius at that temp it's all the same ) Where your tires have flat spots for 3 blocks & your seet feels like a frozen chunk of cement 400 Cold amps would hardly make the interior light glow let alone turn a motor filled with oil as stiff as peanut butter.. But then again, we don't get any hurricanes,Volcanoes, Earth Quakes or shark attacks.

[Russell]

Yep, I run a 1200 cold cranking amp battery in my GMC. While all the weeners at school are trying to get their 2005 civics to crank over, I hit the key and the truck fires right up. Usually knocks for a few seconds until the oil pump is able to get that peanut butter oil flowin, lol.

You ever get so cold there that your rear end fluid turns into jelly? One morning it was -50 C here, and my truck was lugging real hard to get it moving, found out later that the oil in the rear end was freezing, making a bunch of drag on the truck. The thing that truely amazes me -- School was still in at those temps, lol! Yep, hard as heck on an engine to start it in the cold, but the GMC never once let me down, and usually within 5 minutes, had at least some semblance of heat coming from the vents :P Most of the time during those temps, the temp needle never comes off the C, even if you drive for 30 minutes, the air sucks the heat out of the engine / rad faster than the engine can produce it!

[Gordo]

Another interesting site about batteries

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/

[Dick Dale]

I always use 1000 CCA in beautiful Chicago winter mornings. Its not the cold, its the windchill.

[raggedjim]

Charge your battery and have the alternator checked out. If the altenator is good the battery should maintain the charge.

Good luck, Rg

[raggedjim]

Oh, I forgot to add, you can use the other battery if you want. It will start your truck in most situations, but if the temp gets stupid (0 or below) it may give up on you.

Rg

[Maximum Overdrive]

In cold climates rule of thumb is to run twice as many CCA as cubic inches of your motor. 350 cubic inches-----> min. 700 cold cranking amp battery.

[al's71gmc]

you have your numbers backwards. the cca is always lower than the ca, because batts deliver less juice in the cold.
when i got my truck last fall, it had a 650 ca/550 cca batt in it. it worked fine all winter with temps as low as -30 f,( i was amazed!). but i replaced it this summer anyway. if you're in cold clim, i'd run at least a 700-800 cca. I'm running a 350 ci, and put in a 990 cca batt.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by Russell

You ever get so cold there that your rear end fluid turns into jelly? One morning it was -50 C here,

Good Lord, -50 C? I guess that would turn one's rear end fluid to - oh, you're referring to the truck's differential... sorry.....