2004 Battery "upgrade" to AGM

[Rawah652]

Has anyone been running an AGM battery in their retro bird? Any issues?

Backstory to the question- I forgot to connect my battery tender when I left the car in winter storage, so my battery is now basically a brick and needs replacing. Unfortunately, none of the options that I can order at local parts stores to replace it have the vent system necessary for safety in the trunk location. i.e.- there is no where to connect the vent hose to the battery. This is less than ideal.

AGM is a great replacement option, as it has none of the venting issues that the original batteries have, can be ride in this location safely, plus a few other great features- though it will absolutely require me to not forget to hook up the battery tender 🙄. Obviously mounting needs to match up, which it appears to. The AGM battery I'm looking at meets all the specs of the OEM battery, is there anything else with the car's electrical system that I'm missing that I should consider?

This page contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.

 

[tommyc]

Not sure about the AGM batteries. Never used one myself. But I'm surprised you can't find a vented battery. It's group 66. A lot of parts stores (and even Ford) will tell you a group 65 battery will work. It's essentially the same size as a 66--sans vent connection.

A quick search shows AutoZone has a Duralast in 66, and Advance has a DieHard. Interstate has one called MT-66, but I had to go directly to their website search tool. Price may be about the same as the AGM you want to try.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[Rawah652]

There were a couple in the database lookup at OReilys, but they had all been discontinued and couldn't be ordered. The rest available were non-vented (or at least, had no connection for a vent hose.