sneaky...
Battery getting weak?
- Thread starter Patman
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Believe me, I didn't, nor would I ever buy a battery from a Toyota dealer. The previous owner did, and it cost $87 bucks! The one I just purchased has better specs, and was only $68. They're both made by Exide I think.
I wish. Grand Cherokees seem to go through batteries every 2-3 years. The Mopar brand batteries last even less. I believe the dealers stopped carrying them. I use the Everstart Maxx from Wal-mart. Great battery. It can survive the offroad abuse and is made by Johnson Controls, the same company who makes The Optima batteries. Good battery at a great price.
I don't know where you guys live or what you do to your cars, but I've NEVER had ANY battery last 5 years. 24 or 72 month, they all last about 2 years. Maybe 3, maybe less.
In the south they die in the summer, not the winter. Heat kills.
OEM, aftermarket, DieHards, Walmart, or Bubba's Bargain Battery.....2 years. Put it in a GM, Toyota, Honda, Chrysler....2 years.
Physics is physics and you can only get so much surface area in a box of X size. The time after the 2 year life (the prorated part, btw) is simply to get you to come back and buy a new one from them.
The Rule of The South:
Buy the absolute largest battery that will fit with the longest non-prorated warranty that costs the least $$.....and expect to replace it in about 2 years.
In the south they die in the summer, not the winter. Heat kills.
OEM, aftermarket, DieHards, Walmart, or Bubba's Bargain Battery.....2 years. Put it in a GM, Toyota, Honda, Chrysler....2 years.
Physics is physics and you can only get so much surface area in a box of X size. The time after the 2 year life (the prorated part, btw) is simply to get you to come back and buy a new one from them.
The Rule of The South:
Buy the absolute largest battery that will fit with the longest non-prorated warranty that costs the least $$.....and expect to replace it in about 2 years.
The only real luck I have had with batteries, was replacing the original in my 77 truck with a Firestone lifetime one. Lost count how many. I think I may average 3 years. I blame it on my short trip driving. We will see how the OEM in my 02 Cavalier holds up with my wife driving 30 miles each way to work. Over 50K now and still haven't done anything to it except oil and filters.
Guys- go to Sams and get the batteries there,
they have a 3-year 100% free warranty before they start pro-rating it. I think mine cost $50 last time. I think every battery I have had to replace so far has been 4 or 5 years old- always did it at the beginning of winter...
But maybe they will all start being just under 3 years old from now on...hhmmm what a coincidence...
they have a 3-year 100% free warranty before they start pro-rating it. I think mine cost $50 last time. I think every battery I have had to replace so far has been 4 or 5 years old- always did it at the beginning of winter...
But maybe they will all start being just under 3 years old from now on...hhmmm what a coincidence...
The way I work things, I run a battery until it's starting to sound sluggish on winter's mornings.
Go to the parts place, and get a bottle of battery booster (Cadmium sulfate...don't eat it), follow the manufacturer's instructions.
I get another year out of it easily.
Go to the parts place, and get a bottle of battery booster (Cadmium sulfate...don't eat it), follow the manufacturer's instructions.
I get another year out of it easily.
Some years ago I worked for a company that had a Division that made automotive battery containers. The rule was that a hot summer kills batteries and that they fail in the winter. After a hot summer they got ready to make lots of battery containers for the early winter.
Heat kills!
Heat kills!
A Civic that we donated had a pretty old DieHard in it, 6 or 7 years, and it worked and tested fine. We have a large (870 amps or something)Interstate in an older Taurus, the battery is going on 7 years now, and it still seems fine. Even the Ford OEM battery in the other Taurus is 5 years old, and is still holding up.
I check and add water every month or so in the summer, every few months the rest of the year, as my experience with motorcycle batteries is that if you let the plates get dry it'll suffer an early death. I clean and grease the posts and terminals as required, which isn't often. The large Interstate started weeping at the vents so I sprayed a solution of baking soda all over that side of the car to neutralize it. Looking closer the vents were getting plugged, so popped them apart and cleaned them in the sink with soap and water, then rinsed them with distilled water, and they haven't been weeping since. I also wore eye protection when doing that, like to prefer to when working around a battery as I had one literally explode when someone was using a torch around it.
I check and add water every month or so in the summer, every few months the rest of the year, as my experience with motorcycle batteries is that if you let the plates get dry it'll suffer an early death. I clean and grease the posts and terminals as required, which isn't often. The large Interstate started weeping at the vents so I sprayed a solution of baking soda all over that side of the car to neutralize it. Looking closer the vents were getting plugged, so popped them apart and cleaned them in the sink with soap and water, then rinsed them with distilled water, and they haven't been weeping since. I also wore eye protection when doing that, like to prefer to when working around a battery as I had one literally explode when someone was using a torch around it.
I keep an Interstate under the hood and a 700 Amp booster pack in the trunk. Last week I had to go save a Pontiac 6000, there's no way I was going to attach to that thing with booster cables.
Out comes the booster pack and after many many attempts at starting the 6K came to life. The booster pack was still fully charged too. The booster pack will eventually come in handy for me when I kill the battery, but until then, I just lug it around as a 20 pound flashlight.
When changing batteries it's good to take the alternator off and get it tested (very simple to remove and you're probably due for another belt anyway) Then when you get the battery in check the charging system again. I like to pull all of the important battery and alternator wires off to clean each end of them with sandpaper.
A bad starter brush wire will also show up as a slow cranking speed, the exposed wires are the worst for this. Just ask an VW owner.
Cheers, Steve
When changing batteries it's good to take the alternator off and get it tested (very simple to remove and you're probably due for another belt anyway) Then when you get the battery in check the charging system again. I like to pull all of the important battery and alternator wires off to clean each end of them with sandpaper.
A bad starter brush wire will also show up as a slow cranking speed, the exposed wires are the worst for this. Just ask an VW owner.
Cheers, Steve
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