sorry, another battery question

[Brogy]

Im going to replace the ol' NAPA gold battery tommorow. Heres what I was thinking of doing:

Go to autozone, bring it in, have them test it to verify it doesn't have much life left in it, and buy their duralast. I checked on the web, the duralast looks very nice at 575 CCA and 710 cranking amps. Plus it's only $55.

My question is this: does autozone give you a discount if you turn in your battery to them? Is it included already in their price or do they take more off?

Reason I ask is I want to keep my current battery if possible. My friend has a celica, and while my battery isnt the best candidate to put in his car, his is even older than mine and is one notch above not working. Sometimes his car does not start, most of the time it takes him a few seconds to start it.

Reasons im replacing mine:

it's 7 years old

it takes 4 or 5 cranks to start, used to be 3 consistent.

This morning I started my car in third gear, didnt get very far (was a pretty funny moment, trying to figure out how my clutch skinned itself overnight). When I restarted it it took about 8 cranks to start, which indicates to me it's not holding much of a charge.



Or are there any better batteries for 55$?

Thanks

 

[Quest]

RE: 4 or 5 cranks, what year/mileage is your celica?

-have you performed any tuneup recently? (spark plugs replaced, spark plug wires inspected/replaced, distributor cap and rotor replaced, timing checked??)

-how "fresh" is your fuel?

4 ~ 5 cranks doesn't really mean a thing esp. when you car gets older with lots of deposits and wear-n-tear. Properly load-test your battery with carbon pile tester (up to 350~400amps for 15secs) will tell you the state of your battery and if it drops below 9.8VDC after 15 secs, you need a new one.

Observation: my Mazda B6 block used to fire up within 2~3 full rotations when turning over but as it aged, it took 4~5.

Now, with my newly acquired 2007 fit, it took me a typical of 4~5 cranks to fire up the engine (vehicle is new and only has 3600kms to date). Does that necessarily infer that the battery in my Honda fit or my engine is bad? I don't think so.. (LOL!)

 

[Donald]

Most places have a $5.00 core charge for the old battery. I'd suggest you fully charge it with a plug in charger, wait 24 hours and bring it in to be tested. It could be your alternator. Can you check the fluid level in your battery?

 

[JustinH]

Walmart has a johnson controls battery for a few bucks less than you priced.

I'm not sure on your size or whatever, but I priced a walmart battery for my 98 f150, came to 46 dollars and change.

Might be worth the drive to save ten bucks or whatever. I don't remember there being a core charge on Walmart batteries.

 

[Gary Allan]

My Wally's charges. It's $5 added to the retail price of the battery at check out (if you don't have one with you to turn in).

 

[Brogy]

Cool thank you gary and donald. Justin i'll check out walmart, it's right down the road from advance.

Quest I think the extra cranks is because of the battery. A couple of months ago the alternator belt slipped off, and I drove home 3 or 4 miles without it, then the car sat a week. I think that might have damaged the battery. It's only been cranking slower since it got colder, but then when it got warmer again it's still slow. My cars had a tuneup this summer, I fillup every week with shell, and no sign of sludge or excess wear, compression is still good I think.

I'll still replace it even if it tests out good, I think 7 years is more than anyone can reasonably ask from a battery. Also if I keep the car 4 more years, and the battery craps out in 3, i'll be mad I have to replace the battery in a car I know im not going to drive much longer.

 

[Donald]

The core charge is state imposed. In NY its $5.00 added to the cost of a battery if you do not bring in the old one or have them change it.

 

[Quest]

If that battery of yours has been on your vehicle for 7 yrs and recently been somewhat discharged and sitting (still partially discharged) for a week, IMHO you shall replace it then. No use crying over an aged lead-acid cell battery.

Cheers.

Q.

 

[Donald]

Most of the batteries that I have replaced seem to work fine and then die quickly, rather than slowly get worse over time.

But I agree, 7 years and time to replace.

 

[Quest]

Try different brand (no 2 car battery manufacturers are the same, in terms of quality). If, after trying different brands and the quickly dying issue prevails, you got a problem with your electrical system in your car.

Get it checked for stray current draw or wiring issues esp. those non-factory electrical work done in the past (such as aftermarket car alarm, remote car starter, boom-boom toys such as stereo CeeDee headers, bass bins with subwoofer amps, etc.)

 

[Brogy]

Quest I think when he says "batteries that I have replaced" he means batterys he's replaced, not new batteries.

 

[Quest]

*sorry*

Q.

 

[Brogy]

Well just replaced it at Walmart, took 15 minutes for them to install, and $55 including taxes. I'm glad they installed it too, it's freezing here!

Car starts right up in 3 cranks just like it used to, so im happy. We'll see how it does tommorow morning.

Also I noticed they sell tires there, do they install them for free? If they do I know where im getting my next tires, they were very cheap and good looking tires. I think it was $55 for a 50,000 mile warranty goodyear.

 

[alreadygone]

Did you save old battery for your buddy? By paying state imposed recycle fee you can take your reciept back for several days and get money back. that way you could have taken your battery home and traded with friend and returned his for credit.

Think you'll find advertised in big letter price for tires is plus warranty,valvestem,mount, balance,waste disposal fees,taxes, and any other thing they can tack on there.

Bob

 

[Brogy]

Ended up not saving it for the sake of ease. Plus I have a feeling that when that battery finally did go, i'd get blamed for it, even though his battery isnt too great. Plus that'd be another trip to walmart, it's about 7 miles down the road.

He is dumb though, what starts out as needing a $50 battery will turn into a $300 alternator.

As for the tire thing, you're probally right, i'll stick to #@$%!'s for now. They have free installation and good prices.

 

[Donald]

Walmart has the cheapest price to install and balance tires. Once you pay the fee, they will rotate and balance every 6K miles for free. They will do anyone's tires. I have purchased tires from Tirerack and had Walmart mount them.

 

[Donald]

My comment on replaced batteries was a general comment over the batteries I have replaced in several vehicles over many years.

 

[Donald]

So how many people when installing a new battery use the red/green felt washers on the terminals or a mat under the battery. Both designed to help deal with corrosion from battery acid.

 

[65convertible]

I use the felt washers on one of my cars. They work well as after several years I have no corrosion. I like then as they are simple, clean, and do no look goofy,