Autozone tested my Autocraft Gold <1 year old.

[901Memphis]

I have been noticing some dimming on my dash lights when i turn my rear defroster on or have too many things going on at once, like my headlights, heat, and defroster at the same time, so i swung by Autozone to have my battery tested (AAP was closed), and they only have this little rinky dink tester that says pass or fail, it didn't print out a test slip like AAP does or even tell me the amps, it just said my battery was bad.

My battery is an Autocraft Gold 78-2 770 CCA and he put 770 into the tester unit correctly and i think it was reading 12.71v when the engine was just shut off. I was trying to look at the tester while he was working it.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/...earchTerm=78-2+

What do you guys think? I am going to go to Advance tomorrow to get a printout of the ACTUAL cranking amps, but just wondering what is considered warranty replaceable. Don't know if they are going to replace it if its still putting 700 amps instead of 770, but would like to have some ammunition in case they try to screw me.


The battery was bought in Feb 2013. I didn't have much trouble starting in -10F with PP 5w30.

 

[hemitom]

I have noticed this on all my cars when i put on the rear defroster, these things draw a lot of juice when you put them on.

 

[JHZR2]

Dimming lights sounds like high impedance, but the alternator should be able to keep up. If I were them, is want a full car electrical check before warranting the battery.

Condemnation is usually at 50% increase in impedance, and depending upon warranty terms, 35-60% capacity loss.

 

[eljefino]

The midtronics standard is 1/2 rated CCA warrants replacement. However the tester AZ used may be similar.

If you're on the cusp of failure, try some different stores until you get the right planet alignment that will warranty you.

The "rinky dink" testers shoot an AC current back through the battery to measure its internal resistance, from which it infers CCA.

 

[901Memphis]

It just looked like a much cheaper tester than i am used to seeing at AAP, which prints out the test slip and has more information available to both the employee and the customer.

I guess if the Autozone tester says its a bad battery it probably is?

 

[Danno]

Your 12.7 V is very low, to the point where the battery has difficulty stating the car. Healthy battery should read 14.4 volts.

 

[zrxkawboy]

Originally Posted By: Danno
Your 12.7 V is very low


No, that's about right when the car is off.

Originally Posted By: Danno
Healthy battery should read 14.4 volts.


That would be a good charging voltage with the engine running.

 

[Donald]

It sounds like a conductive tester. Many do not have a printer.

The best test is when the clamp of the tester is clamped to lead.

 

[901Memphis]

The tester AZ used, was clamped on both terminals of my battery like a jumper cable.

Going to go out and test the battery since its been sitting a couple hours and check voltage and then check it again when its running.

 

[901Memphis]

Just tested the voltage, been sitting for 4 hours, 35F ambient temp.

Voltage are as follows.

12.33v resting
11.83v with headlights on, engine off
14.73v running with headlights on

thoughts?

 

[yonyon]

Is this the battery in the Buick or the Taurus? If it's the Buick you need to consider that this car uses a side terminal battery.

A side terminal battery generally shouldn't be tested with a Midtronics or similar tester while it's still hooked up to the car. OE battery bolts and most aftermarket battery bolts add a lot of resistance. These batteries should be tested with a direct connection or using lead charging terminals.

 

[901Memphis]

The Buick, with side terminals.

So i should remove the battery and bring it inside AAP for them to test it?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Just tested the voltage, been sitting for 4 hours, 35F ambient temp.

Voltage are as follows.

12.33v resting
11.83v with headlights on, engine off
14.73v running with headlights on

thoughts?



Looks fine to me...if anything, the 14.73v running is a little HIGH.

 

[zrxkawboy]

Stop worrying about it. Since AAP will handle the warranty, just let them test it and go from there.

 

[Eddie]

The battery looks good to me with the voltages and loads. Ed

 

[Donald]

Voltage is not a great test of a battery so I would always follow through with a conductive or load test.

The carbon pile load test is the best but the battery needs to be fully charged.

The conductive test is what most places use since in most cases the battery can be tested as is, current state of charge. The conductive testers at AZ or AAP should temp compensate, but even the $300 - $400 Midtronics testers do not temp compensate. But the more expensive Midtronics testers do.

The carbon pile load tester usually have a temp compensated scale on the voltmeter.

 

[901Memphis]

Battery rated at 770 CCA, only putting out 464 CCA. Voltage is only 12.41v after driving the car for a little while on the interstate and the auto headlights stayed on for about 45 seconds after i shut the car off. They said the cells are good so i need to bring it in to be charged to test it again. This is beginning to become a PITA.

 

[eljefino]

Let 'em charge it.

The midtronics tester will accurately test a lower voltage battery for CCA, it doesn't need to be 100%, but yours is too low.

In other words, you'll probably still get 464 CCA with a full charge. Let them try to charge it. Maybe you'll get a warranty for "failure to charge".

 

[901Memphis]

It should have been fully charged i just drove it on the highway at 3k rpm... But yeah i will let them charge it when i get time i work too much though.

 

[eljefino]

You know how they'll be, they won't believe it if they don't try to charge it themselves.