What Automotive Battery does everyone like

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Originally Posted By: joel95ex


the best battery I had was an ACdelco which lasted almost 6 yrs....then i put a diehard which died in 2 or 3....now I use the walmart ones for the exact reasons Camarot56 said....and they hold up just as well here in this TX heat...


FYI... Delphi sold their battery operations to Johnson Controls several years ago. This means ACDelco should still be good batteries.

Die Hard was a Exide product a while back, but is now being made by Johnson Controls again.

For the EverStart owners, some of them used to be made by Exide, but I read somewhere that Johnson Controls is now the exclusive manufacturer in the US. Who knows what it will be a few years from now...

It seems that there are as many different opinions on batteries as there are for nearly everything else on this forum. Different experiences indicate that there is no real "best" battery, and that there is a certain amount of luck involved. Brands that work great for some people get slammed by others. I suspect much of this has to do with the car's charging system, care and proper maintenance by the owner, and how the batteries were handled before purchase.

No matter what, I always look for the date when buying a battery. There are simply too many choices out there for most cars to accept a battery that has been sitting on the shelf for two years.
 
Everstart is still made by Exide up here. The warranty on Everstart sucks now as well. Only the free replacement period, no pro-rate, and only one exchange possible. Thats why they have serial numbers now. If the serial comes back as already your one replacement it will refuse the return.
 
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Everstart is still made by Exide up here. The warranty on Everstart sucks now as well. Only the free replacement period, no pro-rate, and only one exchange possible. Thats why they have serial numbers now. If the serial comes back as already your one replacement it will refuse the return.


Only one replacement? Now that is a really bad deal. I guess I could understand them wanting to verify the charging system after the first defective battery, just to be sure the car isn't killing it... but only allowing one replacement is going a bit far. One could easily end up with multiple bad batteries, especially from a store that doesn't rotate their stock and has 2 year old batteries still sitting on the shelf.

Regarding who makes Wal-Mart batteries, I found this: http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2010/02/01/daily39.html

Sounds like your store may still have older stock if they are still selling Exide batteries. The nationwide switch to JCI is relatively recent still, so many locations may not have sold their old stock yet.
 
Originally Posted By: jim302
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Everstart is still made by Exide up here. The warranty on Everstart sucks now as well. Only the free replacement period, no pro-rate, and only one exchange possible. Thats why they have serial numbers now. If the serial comes back as already your one replacement it will refuse the return.


Only one replacement? Now that is a really bad deal. I guess I could understand them wanting to verify the charging system after the first defective battery, just to be sure the car isn't killing it... but only allowing one replacement is going a bit far. One could easily end up with multiple bad batteries, especially from a store that doesn't rotate their stock and has 2 year old batteries still sitting on the shelf.

Regarding who makes Wal-Mart batteries, I found this: http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2010/02/01/daily39.html

Sounds like your store may still have older stock if they are still selling Exide batteries. The nationwide switch to JCI is relatively recent still, so many locations may not have sold their old stock yet.

That news had Wal-Mart spokesman said:"... partnership in reducing consumer returns..."
 
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Costco for the battery AND the warranty.


I wish Costco had a larger selection... they don't have very many group sizes available around here, but this may be different in other places.

Their prices are the best around if they have one that works for your car.
 
Originally Posted By: jim302
Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Everstart is still made by Exide up here. The warranty on Everstart sucks now as well. Only the free replacement period, no pro-rate, and only one exchange possible. Thats why they have serial numbers now. If the serial comes back as already your one replacement it will refuse the return.


Only one replacement? Now that is a really bad deal. I guess I could understand them wanting to verify the charging system after the first defective battery, just to be sure the car isn't killing it... but only allowing one replacement is going a bit far. One could easily end up with multiple bad batteries, especially from a store that doesn't rotate their stock and has 2 year old batteries still sitting on the shelf.

Regarding who makes Wal-Mart batteries, I found this: http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2010/02/01/daily39.html

Sounds like your store may still have older stock if they are still selling Exide batteries. The nationwide switch to JCI is relatively recent still, so many locations may not have sold their old stock yet.


I just bought an Everstart from Wal-Mart (the cheapest one, not the "Maxx") with a manufacture date of August 2010, and it's stamped "Johnson Controls Inc." on the label.
 
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
First off- there are only three battery manufacturers in the U.S. Second, the various parts store batteries are made by different manufacturers, depending on region.

IMO

#1 East Penn
#2 Johnson Controls Incorporated (JCI)
#3 Exide

Exides have squared off cell caps, JCI's have 45* corners on their caps and East Penns typically don't have any caps. They are usually sealed with a small vent on either side of it.

In my opinion and experience, both Exide and JCI batteries are messy (more than from leaking post seals) and are underpowered compared to an East Penn. I have also seen greater life from East Penn.



What about Enersys?
 
I've always had good service from Interstate batteries. I currently have an Interstate in both cars, 4 tractors and one of my two riding mowers. The batteries in my tractors either see severe service with lots of heat and vibration (working tractors) or sit for months at a time without being started.

Originally Posted By: firefighter
They seem to puss everywhere


I'm not sure what that even means, but I've never seen an Interstate battery "puss everywhere". If they did, they'd never be in my show tractors.
 
Thus far the 2 year old DH Platinum in the expedition is great, that thing can CRANK. Had an exide in the Jeep before. Lasted about a year then wouldn't hold a charged. Replaced it with an Optima Redtop and it's been fine for 4 1/2 years. The JC made Motorcraft that came in our expedition lasted for 6 years before it needed replaced.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit


Originally Posted By: firefighter
They seem to puss everywhere


I'm not sure what that even means, but I've never seen an Interstate battery "puss everywhere". If they did, they'd never be in my show tractors.


I had an Interstate leak all over in the trunk compartment of my BMW. As in enough to run into the spare tire well and pool around the body plugs and eat through the paint. Not impressed. I ordered and installed a bunch of absorbent battery mat material in the battery area after it was all repaired. BMW has fairly tight tolerance battery holders which are all welded to the body. There isn't room to mess around with plastic trays and still because then the clamp down systems won't hold the battery in place properly. Of course I've seen owners run without anything actually clamping their battery in place...

Interstate replaced my battery under their warranty program and while I don't think that the new one has dumped any fluid it's not unusual for me to see evidence of some sort of condensation on it, which is undoubtedly acidic. These are vented batteries and the vent kit is hooked up and properly connected. My charging system is just fine so it's not cooking the batteries. At this point I'm simply watching things and keeping it clean. My next battery might be a Costco-sourced JCI, presuming that they can get the group I need.

The existing Interstate is an MTP-93 which I installed at the raving advice of BMW forum members. Based on its electrical performance as a battery it's been great. On a basis of keeping its caustic stuff inside, I couldn't recommend them.
 
I've had a few Interstate batteries. All ended badly. A few exploded. One blew out the side, but contained the mess for the most part. It is one of my "NEVER AGAINS" (and I don't have many of those).
 
I've seen some of those batteries where the vent cap strips weren't pushed all the way down.

You might want to cover the vent cap strips with foil tape.
 
I know, and that makes it even more disturbing. I always checked the level every oil change (and many times, sooner).
 
How long ago did this happen? Interstate batteries are all mostly maintenance-free chemistry (which reduces water loss) these days, but that wasn't always the case.
 
Originally Posted By: brianl703
I've seen some of those batteries where the vent cap strips weren't pushed all the way down.

You might want to cover the vent cap strips with foil tape.


A solid idea. I do remove the caps to check water level and specific gravity and always sure they're pushed down all the way. Even a new battery I haven't touched seems to do this - of course they probably had the fill it at the retail location I bought it so it isn't exactly a "factory" seal.

I'm planning to pull the battery soon for testing and cleaning. Maybe I will do the foil strip thing. Of course I don't like applying more conductors to an unfused, high current area like the battery. Maybe foil tape for the seal then covered by a non-conductive tape :)
 
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