Author Topic: Battery (Read 7042 times)

blackfox208 · « **on:** December 04, 2013, 08:47:00 PM »

Need a good battery for my 79' 2.3 180CI 3spd auto.

tbucketjack · « **Reply #1 on:** December 04, 2013, 09:11:06 PM »

If price is a factor, Walmart is probably the cheapest.

amc49 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 05, 2013, 03:34:59 PM »

Get the tall skinny one intended for the car, wider conventional size will wilt from the exhaust heat, hoping you got that side heat shield.

dave1987 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 07, 2013, 01:21:28 AM »

Do not get one from Walmart! That was the first battery I bought for my 78 Sedan and it died after a little less than a week, wouldn't take a charge.

That was eight years ago. Since then I have used DieHard which I get at Sears. I'm on my second one now. Had the first one replaced last year (lasted 7 years), and with the warranty, it shaved $20 off the replacement.

Les Schwab's winter rated batteries are great too! They have a decent warranty, and good cold crank amp ratings, similar to the DieHard.

I've left my headlights on for an hour, or the dome light inside on for three hours, without killing the battery beyond starting the car again. Mind you, the battery has a full healthy charge at the time.

74 PintoWagon · « **Reply #4 on:** December 07, 2013, 07:43:26 AM »

Curious, who makes Walmart batteries?, all these places have batteries made for them with their name on them, If I remember right there's only 3 major MFG's of batteries Johnson Controls being the biggest and Excide who used to make the DieHard don't know who does now, don't remember who the other one is, there are a few smaller ones but most are owned by Johnson Controls.

fordblue72 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2013, 10:52:32 AM »

I am looking for one myself,is this a group 22F? Thanks, Rich T.

amc49 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 19, 2013, 08:10:07 PM »

Still 3 companies only. In my view Diehards have dropped way off in quality. People sure griped about them at the parts store and I took in plenty of them ahead of time.

Batteries are the dicethrow, you either get a good one or no. Longest lasting battery I ever had was 11 years old and Walmart and not even the top of line battery as well, go figure. I watched so many Optima go bad ahead of time not funny.

Kill them way ahead of time by letting them sit feeding power all the time with PCM and why most of the early deaths happened when I worked the counter. I asked everybody to get a handle on it. Collector cars that sit and driven only 2-3 times a month the biggest killers, many batteries will not make 2 years like that even if top of the line.

We got lots of useable batteries to give away with all the diesel P/Ups now around, most guys replace both at one time and scared not to even though one battery generally goes there far before the other. The leftover might work another 2-3 years there and why I bought none when at the store.

74 PintoWagon · « **Reply #7 on:** December 20, 2013, 06:58:27 AM »

Used to be a saying about the DieHard's, when they die they "Die Hard", all my friends btchd about them said they were junk, but I used them for quite some time and if I remember right the shortest lived one was 5 years, longest I believe was close to 8 years but of course I always kept up on them and made sure terminals were always clean.

amc49 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 20, 2013, 07:55:00 AM »

By law of averages and all the ones I saw I simply pick first battery below the top of the line one myself. The top line never averages out to last as long for price as the next one down does. Seven and eight year batteries can last that long and longer but most don't and maybe only a firm year longer than the next cheaper one, or not worth the extra cost.

Average life 4-5 years on most all and pretty close to regardless of high/low cost.

I don't even contemplate Optima, they are highly overrated and look close at warranty they d-mn well know it despite all the advertising. They are rated for rough service and most don't recognize that does not mean extra life at all, the store push had counter guys commonly say otherwise though, it's all about that sales incentive..... .........and much more of the great American lie.

74 PintoWagon · « **Reply #9 on:** December 20, 2013, 09:38:53 AM »

Another thing with Optimas is a LOT of people buy the wrong one for their application, don't know how many times I've helped someone with an Optima gone south, especially in boats or off road vehicles, can't use a start battery for a deep cycle they just won't last.

dick1172762 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 20, 2013, 07:07:17 PM »

Biggest problem with a deep cycle battery is they all say that you should NEVER charge one untill it goes dead. They must go thru a full cycle first. If their not dead when you need to use it, just hook something simple on it like a 12 volt light or something that will draw a small amount of amp's. Doesn't take long if the battery is almost dead to start with. Lots of people are driving around with a pretty yellow Optimas battery under the hood because its prettier than the red one. Problem is that the yellow one is a deep cycle battery. Counter salesman could care less as long as you buy. Useing a deep cycle battery for ever day use will kill it in a short time. How do I know you say? I spent many $$$ on deep cycle battery for race cars that had no alternator. I'd take the car home after the race and hook up the trickle charger to it. Took a long time before the tech people at MSD told me what was wrong. I payed for that lesson.

amc49 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 20, 2013, 10:08:11 PM »

Been awhile since I did it but remember at least that the charging on a deep cycle battery is different than on a starting one. Can't remember what that difference was other than you had to do it on the charger with a flipswitch. Thinking the cycle actually runs the battery down first before recharging it, the deep cycle ones did take longer to charge.......

Optima even now tells you the deepcycle yellow can be used on modern cars with excellent results. They also tell you the batteries outlast regular ones but the warranty does not back that up at all, 3 year warranty max........... ...

78cruisingwagon · « **Reply #12 on:** December 21, 2013, 03:41:03 PM »

The cheapest batterys around here are at Atwoods Farm Stores. I bought a 24F three months ago for my Maverick for $49.95. It was one month old when I bought it. That's half the price of Wal-Mart.

amc49 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 25, 2013, 01:53:44 AM »

That's pretty good if not a 48 month one, I get 72 here at Walmart for around $80. ALL batteries went up about 25%-40% about 2-3 years ago, I'm thinking they figured out how much the cars sitting to have PCMs drain them repeatedly to ruin was costing them. We went through huge price increases for like 6 months straight there for a while. Batteries were going up week by week. I used to get all mine for $50 as well but no more. I was getting them cheaper at Walmart than with my 40% employee discount at the store, pretty silly.

I don't buy either the high priced or low priced battery, neither one pays off averaged out. The 48 doesn't have enough cold amp and will fail long before it gets to the end of the 48 and the 84 never makes it to 84 months. A few guys will get lucky but most won't.

If I can, I still look for ones that you can add water too as well, that is almost always good for another year just doing that. When they tell you zero maintenance don't buy it, there is no such thing even though they use less water than before. 8 of 10 bad zero maintenance batteries will need water if you break the glued on caps off and look. I did it enough times to be dead sure of it.

Wittsend · « **Reply #14 on:** December 25, 2013, 03:21:38 PM »

Harbor Freight sells a trickle battery charger. I have then going on three of my (so called) "collector cars." They list currently for $12.99 but often are on sale ($6.99 at the moment), even for as little as $4.99 at times. Most of my cars have batteries in the 6-10 year old range. These cheap chargers have kept them alive and I highly recommend them.

I have heard people complain that they "cooked" their battery. I have NEVER had that problem. Of course you still have to be responsible to check the fluid level every so often.

The trickle chargers are not meant to charge a drained battery. I recommend hitting the battery every 3-4 months with a regular charger. The two things that kill collector car batteries is excessive cranking because of dry float bowls and sulfating of a drained battery. Avoid both and you should get decent battery life. BTW, my son bought a 1996 Civic with 18,000 miles a few years ago. When the battery died we checked the battery date code. It was 14 years old!

74 PintoWagon · « **Reply #15 on:** December 25, 2013, 08:50:46 PM »

Personally, I don't like trickle chargers because they always charge even when the battery is topped off and if you forget to check the battery for water it will boil the water away and cook the battery, a battery "tender" is the way to go, it shuts off when the battery is topped off you can go away for a year and come back and the battery is ready to go.

Wittsend · « **Reply #16 on:** December 25, 2013, 10:23:00 PM »

My error, I called my float chargers a trickle charger (my apology). I'm not sure how a trickle charger differs from a float charger???, if it even does at all. Anyway, this is what I have:

http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html

Some of my batteries have been continuously (except for the rare drive) on these chargers for over three years now without incident. One of these batteries is over 9 years old.

74 PintoWagon · « **Reply #17 on:** December 26, 2013, 07:03:05 AM »

No problem, lol, you have a tender those are the ones they work great, a "trickle" is just that it trickles all the time, everyone I've had/seen all put out 1-2 amps continuously even when the battery is fully charged, battery stay quite warm and you can see bubbles in the fluid, so if you don't keep an eye on it the thing will go dry and cook, it's happened to me before. A tender just keeps it charged, when the battery is fully charged it quits charging.

amc49 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 27, 2013, 04:54:31 AM »

Yes, you need one with enough smarts to back off charging when full up. Some don't and left alone WILL cook your stuff if it goes on long enough.

jeremysdad · « **Reply #19 on:** January 01, 2014, 02:46:36 PM »

I get my batteries from Tractor Supply Co. Labeled Exide right on the label, and as stated above, way cheaper than Wal-Mart. The group 24 in my car was $69.99, and they honored the pro-rated warranty portion of the battery that was in the car (which I did not buy, and was from Rural King---but it said 'Exide' as well, so they honored it). The credit they gave me was $24.50 toward the new battery.

All I did was ask, I even made it clear that the battery was in the car when I bought it (the car). That customer service gem garnered them another battery purchase when the wife's laid down, and the purchase of a chain saw. lol

All the other parts stores wanted $90 or better for a comparable 2 year battery (and I can assure you that probably no one but a local farm store chain would honor the pro-rated warranty without receipt), and no one does the pro-rated warranty periods anymore, so saving money won the day.

I have also purchased batteries from Rural King before, with good results. Also sell Exide batteries, also cheap. Ymmv.

waldo786 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 25, 2014, 08:31:07 PM »

I got an Interstate battery for my Pinto when I got it last year. I looked on line and bought the one that was recommended. Can't remember if it was the 22F someone mentioned or not. Go to autozone, or napa, or advance auto online and see the size they recommend. I would say it's on the smaller side for cranking power, but I've barely used it since I took the thing apart to restore it. I do have a WalMart battery in my daily driver, and knock on wood, it is still going and will be either 6 or 7 years old this summer. Haven't had a problem with it yet.

74 PintoWagon · « **Reply #21 on:** January 26, 2014, 06:32:06 AM »

I've used Interstate batteries for quite some time and never had a problem with them, in fact I have one now that's going on 8 years now.

jeremysdad · « **Reply #22 on:** January 29, 2014, 06:28:30 PM »

It was 0 degrees this morning, Tractor Supply batteries in my Pinto and the wife's car, both cranked and started with no hesitation or issues. Rebranded Exide batteries. Good luck!

74 PintoWagon · « **Reply #23 on:** January 29, 2014, 09:58:46 PM »

I've never heard anything bad about Exide yet.

News:

Current Classifieds

Author Topic: Battery (Read 7042 times)