Dang battery

[Tomme boy]

Well I felt pretty good today. So I decided I wanted to go for a ride. I get out to the Jeep and try to start it. Well I was given a click, click, click....... It has not moved since Thanksgiving. Then the old lady comes down to the basement while I was digging out the battery charger and says "I broke your car" She pulled the door handle right off the door.

I swear, This year is not starting off well. Hopefully the battery is not frozen and bad. I just replaced it a little over a year ago. And they are not cheap anymore.

 

[Rick]

I swear, This year is not starting off well. Hopefully the battery is not frozen and bad. I just replaced it a little over a year ago. And they are not cheap anymore.

Warranty if only a year old???

 

[Tomme boy]

Normally all batteries have a 1 year replacement. I just looked it was 2 years ago. Then they pro-rate them after a year. I have to call napa in the morning to see what the warranty is on it.

 

[fiver]

they should give you a percentage.
but if it click click clicks it should take a charge, i go through this every week if i don't drive the bronco.
it amazes me that the battery clamps can come loose for no apparent reason too.

 

[Rick]

Just bought a NAPA battery a couple of months ago. 2 year warranty.

 

[smokeywolf]

When I bought 2 new NAPA batteries for my truck a year ago, I also bought a Battery Tender.

 

[Winelover]

Gone are the five year warranties, on batteries. Most are for two years, now. Three out the four batteries in my rides, are past that now. Had to replace the battery on the 2017 Polaris side by side this year. One of the vans, last year.

 

[Bret4207]

they should give you a percentage.
but if it click click clicks it should take a charge, i go through this every week if i don't drive the bronco.
it amazes me that the battery clamps can come loose for no apparent reason too.

The crustys grow on them too. I have some vehicles/tractors that require cleaning the battery terminals on a regular basis. IMO it pays to get the better terminal ends for the top post type. The side mounts are an abomination far as I'm concerned. I have used everything from the fancy di-electric grease to vaseline to Fluid Film and it all seems to be a crap shoot.

Sometimes the ones that run down just sitting there have phantom drains. Hard to find them, but with a multimeter and some pliers to pull fuses you can trace many of them down. Newer stuff with more electronics seems more prone to problems.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

For vehicles that are not driven every day, I am a BIG fan of battery tenders or a small solar panel trickle charger.

As for the terminals, yeah - they can be a headache and a huge source of problems. When I get a new battery, I wire brush the posts and terminals, attach the terminals and spray everything with a liberal amount of battery sealer. There are two schools of thought for sealing terminals/posts. One is the spray-on battery terminal sealer, and the other is some type of grease. I prefer the spray-on sealer. The problem with using grease is once you put grease on the parts, you are pretty much stuck with using only grease after that. Grease can be easily re-applied, but I don't think it holds up as well as the spray-on sealers.

The side-post terminals were a GM invention and I agree they were not a good idea. The factory side post terminals have very little contact area and sometimes just changing out the cable ends will fix your problems.

And just one of those little things that can make your life easier, when you install a new battery, use a silver or black Sharpie to write the install date on top of the battery in big numbers. Yeah, I know they have date codes but 4-6 years from now that label may not be intact. That big date written on top of the battery takes all of the guess work out of the "how long has that battery been in there" question.

 

[L Ross]

Why are the OEM batteries so danged good? My 2014 F-150 battery checked out nearly perfect this Fall. Back when I had my F-250 Super Duty 7.3 there were two batteries and I changed them out after 8 years just because I got paranoid.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Why are the OEM batteries so danged good? My 2014 F-150 battery checked out nearly perfect this Fall. Back when I had my F-250 Super Duty 7.3 there were two batteries and I changed them out after 8 years just because I got paranoid.

One, you may just have been exceedingly lucky
Two, the conditions may have been favorable.

I went 17 years with a Dodge diesel (dual batteries) and only changed them out twice. The first replacement set was because I had to, but the second go-around was out of that same paranoid feeling you had. I put a new set in only because I was worried they would die when I needed them to work.

 

[Winelover]

I get an average of 8 years out of a OEM GM (AC/Delco) battery. However, never that long on a AC/Delco replacement.

I happen to like the GM side terminals. Never had any issues. Plenty of terminal contact area. Plus the terminals, being covered, are somewhat sealed from weather conditions. My 1972 Chevelle (fifty years old) came with those terminals, straight from the factory. Never a problem. Forty of those years were in spent in Michigan. Car was not driven much, in the winter. Sat for weeks at a time. Tried to run it one a month or so, when the roads were salt free. Always started up with the second turn of the key. Didn't use a battery tender.............installed a aftermarket knife switch on the negative terminal, though. Throw it immediately after putting the car back in garage to prevent a fire, incase of shorts. Seems like it has added years to the battery life, since I installed it............twenty plus years ago. We currently have four GM vehicles with side terminals, 1972, 2004, 2010 and a 2016, all ordered direct from GM.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

The side terminals allow for tighter clearances on top of the battery (lower hood height) and in theory, allow for adequate contact area between the battery and terminal.
One of the common complaints is they are difficult to use when jumper cables are employed (lack of clearance, poor contact with jumper cable clamps). Another complaint is the factory terminals don't tolerate repeated removal and replacement very well.
If you look at the factory terminals on the cables, you will see 4 raised "nubs" that make contact with the side post on the battery. The first time you tighten the terminal to the battery post, those nubs will press into the flat surface of the lead pad on the battery terminal. All is well.
When the cables are removed and re-attached repeatedly (like during service) the contact between the terminal and the battery posts becomes increasingly less reliable. A fix to that is aftermarket terminals that just have a flat surface without those raised "nubs".
I think side post terminals are great when everything is new. (New battery, good cable ends, everything is clean). I don't think side terminals hold up as well as top posts under harsh service. YMMV
I've had side terminal batteries on new vehicles, old vehicles, and everything in between. I don't think side terminal posts are absolute deal breakers.....but I'm not a big fan of them.

 

[Winelover]

I'll agree on the not so friendly use of jumper cables. However, can't remember the last time I've had to have a jump. With multiple vehicles, I just drive a different one, then replace the battery on the affected one, ASAP. I don't mess around trying to charge batteries to extend their lifetime. I detest disruption. Thus, never have had to disconnect batteries, until I replace them. These days vehicles go a long way between service intervals, other than oil changes, lube and tire rotation. None of which require disconnecting the battery.

BTW, I use dielectric grease on the side mounts. Use to use the spray for top mounted conventional post RV batteries, when I had a RV. Boat gets dielectric on it's three batteries, though. The two trolling motor batteries (24 volt) need replacing every two years. Not long enough to corrode.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I rarely need jumper cables but lots of people around me seem to need them. There are two ends to those cables, the ones attached to my vehicle and the other attached the problem vehicle.

Like you, I don't attempt to charge bad batteries. When it's time to replace them, they get replaced. However, if I need to service something like an alternator or a starter, the battery is going to be disconnected during that work. I also pull the terminals off the posts about once a year (usually in the fall), clean everything, re-attach the cables and spray everything with sealer. That may be a bit overboard, but I hate surprises in mid-winter.

When it comes to batteries, a lot of people are reactive. When batteries work, people don't think about them. When they fail, they become a giant source of frustration.

 

[Tomme boy]

I through the charger on it last night. Before that i took the jeep on a ride for about an hour. When I plugged the charger on to it last night it said the battery was at 49%. It is one of the new style smart chargers. I highly recommend them. i never made it out today to check on it. but I can see from the window it is charged and is maintaining it from the color of the light on it.

The clamps are tight and spotless. Absolutely no corrosion anywhere. I can't believe what they want for batteries now. It seems that I have 3 vehicles that have weird sizes and not all manufacturers offer a battery except their most expressive one they make.

 

[RicinYakima]

weird sizes and not all manufacturers offer a battery except their most expressive one they make.

Yep, wife had a Ford Contour Sport Touring, German Ford autobahn HI-Po running gear, Canadian body, one of only 4000 made. Had to order batteries from Germany, at the tune of $250 each. My Dodge Ram Hemi I just put a new one in every three years from Costco and call it good.

 

[smokeywolf]

I had a very nice charger at one time. Bought it at a store called Gemco in about 1983. They were sort of a predecessor to Price Club and Costco. Loaned that charger out to a friend of my dad's. A couple of years later I ran into him at the folks house and it was, "what charger? you never loaned me a charger."
Bought another decent charger about 5 years ago, a Century K3153-1. So far, so good. One of the things I like about it is you can buy the individual components and repair it yourself if need be.

 

[Bret4207]

I had a very nice charger at one time. Bought it at a store called Gemco in about 1983. They were sort of a predecessor to Price Club and Costco. Loaned that charger out to a friend of my dad's. A couple of years later I ran into him at the folks house and it was, "what charger? you never loaned me a charger."
Bought another decent charger about 5 years ago, a Century K3153-1. So far, so good. One of the things I like about it is you can buy the individual components and repair it yourself if need be.

Where did you see the info on it being rebuildable? That looks like a good one.

 

[Bret4207]

I get an average of 8 years out of a OEM GM (AC/Delco) battery. However, never that long on a AC/Delco replacement.

I happen to like the GM side terminals. Never had any issues. Plenty of terminal contact area. Plus the terminals, being covered, are somewhat sealed from weather conditions. My 1972 Chevelle (fifty years old) came with those terminals, straight from the factory. Never a problem. Forty of those years were in spent in Michigan. Car was not driven much, in the winter. Sat for weeks at a time. Tried to run it one a month or so, when the roads were salt free. Always started up with the second turn of the key. Didn't use a battery tender.............installed a aftermarket knife switch on the negative terminal, though. Throw it immediately after putting the car back in garage to prevent a fire, incase of shorts. Seems like it has added years to the battery life, since I installed it............twenty plus years ago. We currently have four GM vehicles with side terminals, 1972, 2004, 2010 and a 2016, all ordered direct from GM.

I think part of the reason you have good luck is all laid out in your post. That knife switch, probably garaged, not driven in salt, very, very little in the way of electronics on board- a starter, fan, radio and lights. From what I understand there are only 2 or 3 places manufacturing batteries in the US/Canada anymore. How many are made overseas I don't know, but I'd bet it's a lot. Who makes the Ac/Delco batteries? Probably the same ones making Ford and Dodges batteries. I just bought a Diehard yesterday, dang sure Sears ain't making them but they had a great rep forever. My old Ford 800 tractor has been updated to a 10Si 63 amp alternator. Even though it sits in the cold, outdoors, it will start at -30 IF I step on the clutch and the tranny isn't dragging. I use that tractor with a 10K electric winch for logging too. That winch is a real bear on batteries and the charging system. I've never had a new battery in that tractor, but I do tend to maintain the charging system because that's the one machine that is a good cold starter and that I can jump others with. I have to manually activate the alternator, just a push button, and I can see the ammeter plainly and know what the charge rate is. I have to clean the ground to the frame about once a year and the pos terminal about every 6 months. But I can get 10 years out of a used battery on it- but all there is for power needs is a starter, lights that are almost never used and either the winch or jumping, and it's always running when I do that. If it was a modern rig with computers, AC, fans, a GPS computer, fuel system electronics, etc, I bet I'd b e replacing batteries every few years.