I have a DieHard in my Festiva that was brand new when I bought it.. two years ago. I have put 40k on it since then though. I had it inspected the other day and they told me it needed to be replaced, why they tested without my permission in the first place.. don't know. They said it was down to 305CCA from 450CCA. It has been starting slow in winter ever since i've had it but never had problems starting (that small of a engine doesn't need much juice). I have a Exide in my other car that's 5yrs old, and it sat for a year not in use and still had almost a full charge. I used to think highly of DieHard's, I guess i've learned my lesson. I'm planning on runnning it till it's dead, the car will be having engine transplant surgery in the spring/summer. I'm hoping this isn't the norm since most batteries are made by Johnson Controls, I wonder if they make AA's batteries which I'm going to use if this one dies.
2 yrs on battery, new record for me
- Thread starter wander2039
- Start date
- Status
Just changed the factory battary out of my F-150 a few months ago. Lasted 182,000 miles and 8 years.
the DieHards are made by Johnson Control now. generally they do last a long time, the Golds and SUVs last longer than the Weatherhandlers, although i have seen weatherhandlers or the "heathandlers" last 10 years. if you have a gold and its only 2 years old it can be replaced free under warrenty.
i just replaced the motorcraft battery in my 98 mustang a couple months ago, it was the factory battery from when the car was built in 1997.
i just replaced the motorcraft battery in my 98 mustang a couple months ago, it was the factory battery from when the car was built in 1997.
Most of my batteries have lasted beyond 5yrs. I don't keep them long enough to find out. It has blue lettering on it, doesn't say anything except 60, which I'm guessing means 60 month warranty. I've thought about going to Sears and seeing if I can get a prorated cost on another, but I didn't buy this battery. I don't know how they do their warranties. And if this one only lasted 2 yrs. I'm not sure if I want another.
Your battery sounds fine to me. No two year old used battery is going to test to the top of its newborn specs.
A realistic test for a used battery on a 4 cylinder car is to load it to 200 amps for 15 seconds. If the voltage stays above 10 volts for the duration, your battery is OK (another school of thought says 9.6 volts is passing, whatever floats your boat).
A reasonable test load for older batteries on a six cylinder car is 250 amps, and for an eight cylinder, 300 amps.
Most folks don't have a 200 amp load tester. If you know how to disable your ignition and fuel pump, crank the engine for 15 seconds and see if the battery voltage stays above 10 volts for the duration of the test. Don't forget to reenable the ignition and fuel pump after the test.
Advance Auto will test your battery too. They are usually honest.
Sears will test it too. But I don't trust Sears to report accurate results. They might. Or they might not. Depends if they feel like selling you a new battery. If Sears says you're OK, believe them. If they say you need a new battery, take it to another another place for another check.
Have you ever checked the water level in your battery? Most Die Hard's allow you to pry off the caps for inspection. If any of the cells are low, top them off with a little distilled water. About 1/4 inch above the tops of the plates should be fine.
By the way, I was in K-Mart the other day, and they are now selling Die Hard batteries. (Sears bought K-Mart, or K-Mart bought Sears?)
A realistic test for a used battery on a 4 cylinder car is to load it to 200 amps for 15 seconds. If the voltage stays above 10 volts for the duration, your battery is OK (another school of thought says 9.6 volts is passing, whatever floats your boat).
A reasonable test load for older batteries on a six cylinder car is 250 amps, and for an eight cylinder, 300 amps.
Most folks don't have a 200 amp load tester. If you know how to disable your ignition and fuel pump, crank the engine for 15 seconds and see if the battery voltage stays above 10 volts for the duration of the test. Don't forget to reenable the ignition and fuel pump after the test.
Advance Auto will test your battery too. They are usually honest.
Sears will test it too. But I don't trust Sears to report accurate results. They might. Or they might not. Depends if they feel like selling you a new battery. If Sears says you're OK, believe them. If they say you need a new battery, take it to another another place for another check.
Have you ever checked the water level in your battery? Most Die Hard's allow you to pry off the caps for inspection. If any of the cells are low, top them off with a little distilled water. About 1/4 inch above the tops of the plates should be fine.
By the way, I was in K-Mart the other day, and they are now selling Die Hard batteries. (Sears bought K-Mart, or K-Mart bought Sears?)
If it is only two years old, it is probably still under a pro-rated warranty. Take it to Sears, let them perform a load test, and if necessary, get a replacement. That is generally cheaper than starting out with a whole new battery.
Sears did purchase K-Mart, so you may see more Sears-branded items in K-Marts.
Sears did purchase K-Mart, so you may see more Sears-branded items in K-Marts.
I have a friend with three trucks and four cars whose experience parallels my own-that being batteries generally fail within the last month of their warranty period. We have been continually amazed at the accuracy of the engineering on these things, esp. considering the number of variables involved.
My best record is 7 1/2 years on a delco freedom battery that i bought in febuary 1996 and i died in september 2003.
My mom had a delco freedom battery in her 1978 monte carlo that was still working at 9 years old but she bought a new one just to be safe.
My mom had a delco freedom battery in her 1978 monte carlo that was still working at 9 years old but she bought a new one just to be safe.
It was K-Mart which bought Sears. After emerging from Chapter 11, K-Mart was flush with cash and went on a shopping spree. Sam Walton's kids'll probably end up with the whole shebang within five years.
I have an Exide Orbital 5 years old
Ac Delco 4 years old
Duralast Gold 6 years old
all in great shape, all performing to specifications.
But when a couple of years ago my dad bought two diehards for two different vehicles that were driven every day, both failed in 3 year life range which brings out the JOHND theory that his batteries failed right after the warranty. Interesting to note because there batteries had a 24 or 36 month free replacement but they fif fail right after the free replacement warranty.
My brother had a 7 year old Kirkland battery from Costco for about $40 and he used the heck out of it before he sold the car with that same battery. Maybe that should be my next choice.
Ac Delco 4 years old
Duralast Gold 6 years old
all in great shape, all performing to specifications.
But when a couple of years ago my dad bought two diehards for two different vehicles that were driven every day, both failed in 3 year life range which brings out the JOHND theory that his batteries failed right after the warranty. Interesting to note because there batteries had a 24 or 36 month free replacement but they fif fail right after the free replacement warranty.
My brother had a 7 year old Kirkland battery from Costco for about $40 and he used the heck out of it before he sold the car with that same battery. Maybe that should be my next choice.
eric did you have your oil changed at a jiffy lube? i remember when i left one (employment) they were starting to test batteries. the one i worked at was a complete scam. the guy that tested them would overload the batteries and then test them, they would read low and then they would say to the customer "your battery tested low, we can replace that while you are here for $69.99" that place was a joke.
Nope I don't go to iffy lub after they mistakingly flushed my power steering instead of the transmission. It was one of those Goodyear repair shops, they were dead as far a business so maybe they were trying to up their business some. They wanted $89 something for the battery.. umm no (replace the umm with the h word) and it would have been exact response. I may start working part-time a wally world doing lube jobs in a couple weeks so I may wait till then, get a little discount plus I can do the testing myself.
Hey guys i've been running a Mopar battery in my Dakota since I purchased it in July 2000. im going on about 5 1/2 yrs so I though it was long enough and I may be pushing my luck. My ques is I have an autozone that does battery testing should I test it or just replace it with a duralast gold. I've read that batterys dont give any indications before they just die. will testing really spot trouble before hand. Any info would be great.. Thanks guys/girls!!
if you feel more comfortable having a new battery in your truck then replace it. dont rule out the everstart maxx battery from walmart. they seem to be a decent battery at a decent price. have to shop around though.
I have considered the Everstart Maxx and the costco Kirkland brand, Both of which seem like very good deals, But I have checked it out in store and online www.autobatteries.com and No walmart or coscto here in new england has my group 27 battery size. Only autozones duralast and Pep boys Energizer batteries have my sizes. I did consider the alternate sizes, but I did some measurements on the next favorable battery size and they were really small for my battery tray. I did want to stay with the same size. Thanks Guys!!
I have an everstart that seems to be going out right now, after less than 4 years. It was only $39.95 so still not a bad deal, and I'm sure I'll need to replace the battery once more in my ownership of the car, so might as well do it now.
Starting sometime in the late 90's I got 3 Everstart batteries from Walmart. The first one didn't last 2 years. They replaced it free. The second one also didn't last 2 years and they replaced that one free. You guessed it, the 3rd one didn't last 2 years. I threw it away and will never buy another Everstart. Most other batteries I've had over the years in numerous vehicles have lasted 5-7 years.
Everstart batteries used to be made by johnson controls and they were good batteries i have bought several of them over the years for the various cars i have had with no problems.
Now they are made by exide and i have never had a good exide battery.
I have an everstart maxx group 78 (exide) that was made in december 2003 and it tests weak i am going to return it as it has a 3yr replacement warranty after that i will never buy another everstart as long as they are made by exide.
Now they are made by exide and i have never had a good exide battery.
I have an everstart maxx group 78 (exide) that was made in december 2003 and it tests weak i am going to return it as it has a 3yr replacement warranty after that i will never buy another everstart as long as they are made by exide.
I have a 5 year old eliminator (Canadian Tires higher up line) in my 84 Olds Cutlass Supreme (summer car) and an Exide, don't know how old it is but its at least 4 years old, in my 86 Caprice (winter car). These cars will audibly turn over slower when the batteries get weak, unlike most newer cars, meaning you have warning when they are going bad. Neither one is going bad yet. Had a Mopar battery in my 87 Olds Cutlass Supreme when I bought it, was at least 5 or 6 years old and still working fine when i accidentally put a hole through the bottom of the battery with a car ramp after an oil change at home (long, stupid story). Can't remember what we have in our 78 Chevy 1/2 ton, but no problems with it either. My moms 99 Olds Alero has almost 120k miles on it and original delco battery even though the alternator failed last summer and killed the battery dead. Still cranking ok but I expect it to fail this winter (**** newer cars, you can never trust them).
- Status
