WHAT BATTERY FOR 1940 BUICK SPECIAL

[buick special]

I will need to replace the battery soon to do a dynamic test

 

 

my battery in the car is a DEKA 93EH

 

Here is a cross reference of other batteries that match

 

 

grooupe size        nationwide       interstate       ac delco       autozone        DEKA       exide       NAPA         o'reilly               sears sears

3    EH 3                EH-875            3EH-VHD             FD2               3EH                93EH    F-3EH       7248           3EHJ                96331 27331

                                                                                                                                  93EHD

 

 

 

 

Anyone use them , are they good?

 

 

 

[Daves1940Buick56S]

I got mine from Batteries Plus. 3EH like the other numbers. Going into Year 4.

 

Cheers, Dave

[MCHinson]

If there is a Tractor Supply near you, check out their batteries. I picked up a 6 Volt battery there for my 1937 Buick Century quite a bit cheaper than all of the other sources. A lot of places now have to special order 6 Volt batteries. Tractor Supply has them on the shelf. It seems a lot of old agricultural equipment that uses 6 Volt batteries is still in everyday use. 

[Spinneyhill]

If it were me, I would measure the space available, look up the "group" it belongs to (you probably already have that if the battery is a good fit in the box) and go for the one with the largest Cold Cranking Amps and largest reserve capacity. Then I would use the telephone to find a good price.

[buick special]

Hi Guys

 

 

Thank you for the replies , at least I know now I can get a battery for it ,  I think the group is 3eh

[BuickBob49]

The OEM battery for your car was probably a group 2E.  They are still available. However, a group 3EH is a better battery--many more cranking amps and a much lower price.  It is marginally larger than the 2E, but still fits the trays and hold down hardware on my 39 and 49 Buicks.  Make sure that you have good cables.

[Marty Roth]

As Matt and others have suggested, the 3EH is your best bet, and Tractor supply is likely your best price -

and likely to be fresh -

but to be safe, check the date Code, and if not really fresh, have them order a fresh one for you .

 

Another option I sometimes use, is to order a 6-Volt Optima from Amazon.com 

($134.13 & FREE Shipping)

they are fresh and affordable, and on some of our cars I even strap a pair of Optima batteries in Parallel, keeping at 6-Volt , but with 2000 cranking Volts

https://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batteries-8010-044-Starting-Battery/dp/B00099HVN6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501544863&sr=8-1&keywords=6+volt+optima+battery

[buick special]

Thank you all for your help and suggestions ,

 

I saw a few of the 3EH batteries in the 80-90 price range but when you add shipping (sometimes $90 shipping ) price gets high

 

hope to find one locally , a parts store says he has one but I want to make sure its a fresh one

 

where is the date code and how can I tell if it is too old?

[BuickBob49]

I recall that my last ones were about $100 installed from the local Les Schwab tire store.  They had a good local supplier of fresh batteries.

 

In addition, each time it was nice to have someone else lift the old 50-pound battery up and over the fender and install the new one!  

 

Oh, my aching back!

[Marty Roth]

16 hours ago, buick special said:

Thank you all for your help and suggestions ,

 

I saw a few of the 3EH batteries in the 80-90 price range but when you add shipping (sometimes $90 shipping ) price gets high

 

hope to find one locally , a parts store says he has one but I want to make sure its a fresh one

 

where is the date code and how can I tell if it is too old?

 

There will generally be a combination of letter/number for the month, and a number for the year, eg:

8-17 or H-17 might both indicate the 8th month of 2017.

With some batteries, such as Interstate, there is also a stamped code somewhere on the battery, and if you phone their national toll-free phone number, they can give you the production date.

 

Once while out of town, a distributor stamped a current date on a battery, but when I checked up, it turned out to have been manufactured some two and a half years earlier. The salesman said - "It is OK - you still have a year of warranty", but sitting on a shelf certainly would have reduced the remaining life expectancy.

 

Buyer beware!

[Podster]

I have two 40 buicks and they both have NAPA #7248 , 3EN, 875CCA, 1035CA@32F batteries that keep on going. They fit the tray and cover too!

[Dynaflash8]

The original battery was a 2E and it is still available.  However, I have found the 3EH commercial battery with 875 cranking amps is a little stronger.  It is about the same size, but a little bigger.  The battery cover will fit it with only slightly different and more effort.  I just got one last week from O'Rielly's for $114 plus tax.  AutoZone was $140-something plus tax.  Tore my old hands up getting the old one out and the new one in and I have a factory battery strap with a handle.  Two of them in fact.  Now that is rare.  I find all of the 6volt long skinny batteries I've had in recent years last about three years.  A recent CarQuest battery didn't last a full year.  Long ago I had an Excide that lasted 8 years.  Golf carts use the 2E and tractors use both 2E and 3EH, so they can be ordered.  They might be on the shelf in some farming areas.  Batteries Plus didn't know what I was talking about and then when they found it in the book wanted a week for delivery.  The heater hoses really got in the way, and I don't remember the batteries being so heavy.  Maybe the 2E isn't as heavy.....Wow, at 79 I had to get my wife to help me pull it over the side panel on the '39 Buick. 

Edited August 3, 2017 by Dynaflash8 (see edit history)

[WendyDee]

Here's an OPTIMA option, as I hate lugging around that big old battery. A friend of mine has installed one in his 52 and seems very pleased.   They do also seem to offer this in the yelow top as well.

 

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/redtop-starting-battery/6v

Edited August 4, 2017 by WendyDee (see edit history)