Truck battery in a Taurus?

My car’s battery died and rather than jumping it because of the location and ability to reach with jumper cables, I used a battery from an old Chevy C-10 that sits in the drive (the battery is the best thing about that truck)Now I need to charge the dead battery but till I do, is there a problem with using the truck’s battery in the Taurus?

IF the battery can be mounted securely in the tray of the Taurus and the positive terminal is not going to be close to grounded metal, you should be okey. If you cannot prevent the battery from falling out or grounding out, don’t attempt to drive the car.

IMHO

I am able to use the original battery clamp and the positive terminal has a plastic cover so that seems safe. I just was wondering at all the different battery part #s. Is it mostly the fit for the engine compartment that makes the difference?

“truck battery”,“car battery”…doesn’t mean anything. Your last assumption is accurate along with another difference in batteries… the cold cranking amps ( the amount of power in the battery). You don’t say the year of the Taurus but generally a Taurus takes a bci group 36 battery with at least 600 cca.

My car’s battery died … Now I need to charge the dead battery

My suggestion is to find out why you had a dead battery. Dead batteries are the result of something. It could be dead from sitting un-used too long, leaving the lights on, some other drain on the battery that you may not have found and corrected yet, a problem with the charging system or a bad battery.

My point is unless you know why it needs a charge, then just charging the battery will not fix the problem and not finding the problem now may damage a battery that could otherwise provide quite a bit of more service.

I agree that you should be able to substitute the truck battery assuming it is safely secured.

You’re fine using any 12 battery providing it mounts secure and not going to move around with sudden stops, hard cornering, etc. All the electrical system cares about is that it gets the 12 volts it’s looking for when you try to start it. If the battery came from a truck, and was the correct battery for the truck, then I’m sure the amperage is adequate.

Not a problem, although the Taurus is a lot hotter under the hood.

The first concern is whether the battery will fit into the tray that holds the battery. The second concern is that for cold weather, you need a battery that has the cold cranking amperage capacity to start the car. My first car was a 1947 Pontiac that required a long, narrow, rectangular 6 volt battery. The former owner substituted a square battery. He put a board on the battery tray, ran stiff wire through a couple of sections of old radiator hose and attached the wire to the inner fender liner. The capacity was less than what the specifications called for, but it still worked. The engine was worn out so the compression was low so it was easy to crank. The point is that if you can make a battery physically fit the space and it has the right voltage, it will do the job, at least in moderate weather.