Battery ....RIP,......... Death By Polar Vortex??

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Daves69

Daves69

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Yeah, well, OK. So it did get a little cool here but now I've lost all confidence in the "Autocraft Gold" battery. I guess these are Johnson Control products and may even be made in the area. I've had battery failures on two different vehicles now.
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The latest died just over the recent cool weather spell and left my truck down for the two days as would not take a charge. I got a whole 2-1/2 years out of it:wtf:. Swapped an old Sears battery into it yesterday to get me rolling down to Advance Auto with failed battery and receipt in hand. It was an easy free replacement on the three year warranty. When I got there, I couldn't help but notice :eek: several used Silver and Gold labeled batteries already there on the floor. The replacement battery gets only a 3 month replacement warranty. Nothing, not even prorate after.
The other pile of "Gold" didn't even make it a year on the three year warranty a little while back. Must have just gotten a defective one I thought at the time. Had no problem with the exchange at Advance Auto but it's an "in the wheel well" job and I had to do it twice.:mad:

So looking ahead (Lol, after 3 months) what's your favorite "daily driver" battery?:thankyou:
 
I have had excellent luck with Interstate. They were the only engine start batteries that would survive the vibration in my tool truck. I have gotten 7 years out of one in the wife's car. Having starting problems yesterday though. The battery was almost dead. Too many short trips in -50° wind chill.
 
We bought our 2010 Ram brand new and still has the original equipment battery in it. Don’t know who made it but it’s still going strong. Now watch it die after praising it lol!
 
I'm thinking in 2 months and 17 days you go back in with a "defective" battery and get a new one! Kind of a pain every 3 months though. :)
 
I've been going to the Battery Exchange on 112th and Powell since I can remember. I've always bought well back then a $20 battery and now they work the way up to 40 bucks. Never had one go bad if never brought one back. They always lasted the life of the car or until I sold it. What incredible luck! Or is it??..
Correction I did buy one expensive *** battery for my duster and it's still holding good here five years later.
 
My 05 Ram original battery just died after 14 years and 3 months. I guess it had Mo power.
 
i took my interstate into an authorized dealer when it went bad, they told me i had to take it to the location where i bought it. i thought you could bring em' in wherever they went dead. oh well never buy another one of those. i bought an autozone gold after that.
 
tonysrt said:
...14 years and 3 months....
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Wow, that's a bunch! My '02 Durango battery made it 7. I replaced it with the Wally World Everlast(?) maybe. It was on the 6th year when the Durango was totaled.
gdrill said:
I'm thinking in 2 months and 17 days you go back in with a "defective" battery and get a new one! Kind of a pain every 3 months though. :)
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Lol, I hope I can get at least three years with this one.
toolmanmike said:
I have had excellent luck with Interstate.....
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Seen and heard some good reviews on them toolmanmike.
el5dart said:
i took my interstate into an authorized dealer when it went bad, they told me i had to take it to the location where i bought it.
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How long did your battery last you el5dart? I don't like that "go back where you got it" thing.
 
How long did your battery last you el5dart? I don't like that "go back where you got it" thing.[/QUOTE]
That's just that particular dealer being a dick. Interstate wouldn't like that if they knew.
 
toolmanmike said:
How long did your battery last you el5dart? I don't like that "go back where you got it" thing.
That's just that particular dealer being a dick. Interstate wouldn't like that if they knew.
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i think it was 4.5 years on a 5 year battery. i was a little pissed about it. i thought interstate was nationwide no questions asked. i was wrong.
 
el5dart said:
i think it was 4.5 years on a 5 year battery. i was a little pissed about it. i thought interstate was nationwide no questions asked. i was wrong.
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That would be pro-rated after that long.
 
yes. they wouldnt even pro-rate it. i probably would have got a 20 dollar discount off of a new one, and that would have been fine. they just told me to get lost. anyway interstate = thumbs down from me

i think it was a firestone that sold interstate batteries i went into when my battery took a dump. they didnt even look at the battery to know what the date was. they simply didnt honor the nationwide warranty.
 
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tonysrt said:
My 05 Ram original battery just died after 14 years and 3 months. I guess it had Mo power.
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I replaced the original battery in my 03 ram in 2016 just because I thought it might be time. It went into a Durango I sold... may be still cranking for all I know !
 
Johnson Control batteries are made in Holland/Zeeland, MI area I believe. Just south of me. Interstate seems to be pretty decent, unless you can afford an Optima!
 
I asked an experanced battery person how a new cars’ battery would last twice as long as a store bought battery. He said when a veichle ages it uses more energy to operate hence shorter battery life
 
Ive had 2 oreilly batteries. One went 9 yrs. the other 10 yrs. One in my drag car the other in my street car. Neither are daily drivers.
 
My local Car Quest is now an Advanced Commercial. I've got 2-3 of those exact batteries in various vehicles with the oldest being 4-5 years. It was -9 here this week, about -30 with the wind. No issues with any of them. Most important thing is make sure the date code is recent. I've sorted through batteries in Auto Zone and Tractor supply before to find the newest. They are not usually rotated like they are supposed to be. My CQ guy knows I want a "new" new one.
 
pauly said:
Johnson Control batteries are made in Holland/Zeeland, MI area I believe. Just south of me. Interstate seems to be pretty decent, unless you can afford an Optima!
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they manufacture batteries at a number of plants.daves69 was correct as there is a plant in geneva il. i worked there for about a year. lot of lead dust in that place. they took a blood sample every 3 months to monitor your lead level.
 
They all have the equivalent of standard or economy and a premium line.
For Interstate, look for MT not I.
For example:
I-24 is a the standard Group 24 rated 530 CCA, weighs 38 lbs and has a 65 Month prorated warranty.
MT-24 is the Mega-tron Group 24 rated 600 CCA, weighs 50 lbs and has a 75 Month prorated warranty.

Deka has a "Gold" line which may be their standard, and an "Ultimate" which seems to be the premium line. Intimidator is their AGM line.

I remember when Sears Diehards were pretty good.
And GM had the sealed "Green Eye" batteries which lasted a surprisingly long time. (Surprising to doubters like me anyway)

Oh Favorite currently available? LOL
I was using Interstate MT-34 for a while. Pretty happy with them. I was getting about 6 -7 years out of them sometimes. The 34 is little shorter than the Group 24. Now I've switched to smaller Optima Red Tops but some of that was for weight savings.
 
I had trouble with batteries in my Jeep Cherokee. I had one from Sams Club, that couldn't seem to hold its charge for more than 2 or 3 wks. Then I got one from WalMart, which didn't last for a week, so I returned it and they gave me my money back. Then I realized, that the glove box light switch wasn't working, and the glove box light had been on 24/7 for a couple of years. So rather than fix the switch, I just removed the bulb from the socket, and problem solved, hahaha.
 
Don't run **** with engine off and put a deep charge in it every few months. Then it will last a looong time.
 
I have had really good luck in my Dodge trucks batteries lasting over ten years but I had to replace the battery in my 2014 with hemi last week. I was glad to see other people getting 10+ years out of the original Mopar batteries because people didn't believe me when I had got 11 years out of 2001 with Cummins
 
The optima red top in my valiant (now being put to work in Jason’s valiant for the time being). I bought it New in 2006. Best battery I’ve ever owned and I’ve put it through cold discharge hell. Lol
 
My MO for my battery longevity was that if I started the engine it was for a trip, usually 1/2 hour drive. I didn't have to commute for work, and if I had to it would have been at least an hour.
 
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