Replace battery every five years?

[alanu]

Quote:

---

Oh and BTW: the other day I was over at #@$%! tires checking on brake rotor pricing for dad's 7th gen civic, it shocked me as nothing short of devistating(or disappointing) that the parts counter monkey (kid, late teens, early 20s, not very motivated and looks dull by comparison) couldn't even locate/answer my questions properly....no wonder the automotive industry is filled with "half-nots" and "parts monkeys".....

And for that you trust some of the shop guys that can honestly tell you what's wrong with your battery/alternator??

*shaking my heads as I type*

Q.

---

On topic here: Even a loose terminal will and can fry and alternator in a very short duration of time. Bad chassis ground can also cause issues.

Hope guys reading this will double check even the battery terminal connection. Get your cheap battery brush and clean the terminals and battery post. Dont hammer the terminal on. Open up the gap to install the terminals. A good contact will also keep a battery healthy.

Quest, theres losta rotor options for and 2001-2005 7th generation civic.

Napa carries "dana" rotors made in china. They are decent and inexpensive.

Altrom carries their own line "ultra8" also made in china which work just as well as North American made rotor.

Worldpac (only supplier to shops) carries PBR brand and some others. Another China brand but work well and are not anymore prone to warping than a North American brand.

If you have Lordco autoparts (BC) they have their company brand aswell. Guess where its made??? Ya they too are China made and work well.

Aimco and Raybestos are made in US or Canada but as of recent the Raybestos rep said they'll be jumping on the China bandwagon. Price out an aimco and it'll be and easy 50-70% more usually. Any better??? NOPE.

North American made or China are both equally as prone to having runout straight out of the box due to shipping.

If you have a heavy duty Chev, ford van or truck I have seen the current Raybestos or Aimco's being more heavy and better QC than a floating typical rotor.

 

[CapriRacer]

Quote:

---

.....Bad chassis ground can also cause issues.....

---

Carroll Smith, who forgot more about setting up racecars than I even thought existed, said to make a "ground triangle" - battery to frame, frame to engine, engine to battery. That way you'll always have a good ground.

 

[Quest]

Here's how I deal with automotive grounding work:

1)- make sure you establish a good, solid (I mean electrically-speaking) grounding between the engine block (where your alternator is bolted onto) ground (-ve) connections to the battery's negative post. For the battery's +ve post, one shall go directly to the starter solenoid post and the other one shall go nicely to the alternator and from that point onwards, to various electrical draw (lights, ignition, A/C compressor solenoid, etc., all the rest).

From the engine block, establish a good, solid grounding wire to the chassis (you can go with the thickest gauge (2 or 4 ga would be nice)possible or $$ can afford. It has to be nice, flexible and short though.

2)-revisit your ECU, ignition module and the rest of the engine/electrical sensors' common grounding reference point to either one of these 2 revised grounding point. This is to achieve as close to zero resistance (voltage loss) in lieu to the ECU's ground reference point as possible for ECU comes with a few voltage referencing/regulators within that would require solid grounding referencing. Failure to observe these grounding reference points of ECU and ignition modules, various engine-related sensors, etc. will cause "wonky" or poor engine management control and as a consequence, your mileage may suffer as well as various evil electrical problems that will constantly plague you as long as you own that car.

For DIYers you can certainly do something during your weekends: that is, open your hood and go look for grounding straps with eyelets. Check for corrosion on the eyelets and the flexible cable to see if you see any problems. When in doubt, always get some 200grit sandpaper to clean off any corrosions and what-not, and then use Grote electrical grease or silicone dielectric grease, dab the contact surface with these to seal out moisture and corrosion and then bolt them back on. If you have any broken grounding straps that go between your chassis to the engine block, engine block to your copper radiator or similar, replace it with exactly same gauge or thicker gauge grounding straps.

Good luck!

 

[kgb007stb]

Boys remember that a discharged battery will never be charged fully by an alternator. This has to do more with the chemistry of the battery, rather than the alternator itself. Remember a discharged battery will act as a high resistor, as voltage rises the regulator will decrease the DC flow to the rotor, which in turn will create less EMFs causing less current output from the alternator. Discharged batteries do need more of a slower charge, so there is no better way to destroy a battery that has been jump started than not fully charging it by a trickle charger or a slow 1/10th capacity charge.

 

[kgb007stb]

Reference my replies to your threads about battery logetivity, but if you want to go this route I see no better option than not buy the $45 battery at Costco and leaving the receipt. Most have a 3 year free replacement warranty and a 8-10 year prorated warranty. I do not know of a place that upholds warranties better than Costco. I know someone who returned a 3 year old plasma TV no questions asked. Most staff will probably not even know how to test a battery, so with the prorated warranty, you may be getting a new battery every 5 years for under $20, not bad.

 

[Cicero]

Quote:

---

my Screw has the OEM battery....7 years old.

I read in an old consumer reports that walmart batteries are fine...anyone with new info?

---

Seem good. I used to pay big bucks for motorcycle batteries. Now I get a lawn and tractor battery from Wal-Mart for under $25 and it lasts just as long as the expensive "motorcycle" batteries used to.

 

[Winston]

Things that shorten the life of lead acid batteries;

1. Heat. If you live in a hot climate, they will die sooner.
2. Being discharged. They like to be fully charged all the time. Don't listen to your stereo with your car turned off.

Batteries have less energy availible when they are cold. Plus it takes more energy to turn over your engine when it is cold. Thus, batteries fail in cold weather.

 

[crw]

I just wanted to say, this is an awesome thread! Thanks to all the contributors.

 

[thunderchild]

Bump!

 

[Strakes]

Used to live in Florida and wondered why my batteries didn't last as long as when I lived near DC. Here's a useful link:

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/lifemap.jpg

 

[Strakes]

if you're really bored:

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/carfaq.htm

 

[Colt]

I usually replace a battery every 4 years or so and I buy an Interstate battery.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Haveing worked at an Autoparts store not that long ago I agree with the above. The people that are actualy knoldgeable seldom stay long. I did it after I got downsized from GM. No offense to our Canadian friends but they are the ones that took my job! Basicly the company I worked for was getting squessed by GM to reduce cost. So why pay an AMerican $20 an hour plus mediacal, dental,optical, 401K matching etc.... when you can get a Candaian to dot he job foe $9 Candian an hour and no helath care cost or other benifitts. My group was one of the few that luckily saw the writeing on the wall and refused to train the replacements! after two years of sending jobs away about 1500 went to Canada and about 500 went to India!

It would amaze people that I could go out to their car with a VOM some test leads and a service manual and trouble shoot their car! It also amazed some that I actualy know how to use the chargeing and starting system tester. Most of the block heads working at the parts store had almost no automotive knoldge at all. It is said to say the least. The problem is that no one wants to spend the money on qualified staff. No one wants to spend time or money to train staff properly either!

 

[JohnBrowning]

If the batter is good I would not replace it! Usualy they give you plenty of of warning but people tend to ignore them and try to get a few more weeks out of them! Seeing how just about all parts store will test them for free their is no excuse to put it off once they give you a sign. I have found that most batterys in vechiles that get driven usualy last 5-7 years assumeing that you have good cables,alternator and starter.

 

[Greggy_D]

I'm trying to remember all my cars....

1983 Buick Skyhawk (Battery died in 1987)
1989 Ford Ranger (Battery died in 1994)
1992 Chevy Cavalier (Battery died in 1996)
1994 Chrysler LeBaron Convertible (Never died. Traded car in 1998)
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Never died. Traded car in 2002)
2002 Ford Taurus (Battery died in 2006)
2003 Ford Escape (Never died. Traded car in 2007)
2007 Mazda 3i (Fingers crossed)

When my batteries go, it's on the average of 4 years (if they die). My buddies 2002 Ford Taurus lost its battery 1 week after mine went.

For 50-70 bucks, I see nothing wrong with replacing them every 4 or 5 years. Especially since the batteries are recycled.

 

[Quest]

JohnBrowning-

My sentiments exactly RE: qualified servicemen in the automotive field.That's also part of the reason why I bailed out of the automotive field and move on to become an IT specialsit (honest, knowledgeable guys in the automotive field don't get the kind of respect they deserve).

I have elevated repects towards those knowledgeable posters here and also have great admiration towards those whose willing to post here on BITOG and discuss matters in a civil way. That's how we all learn.

Q.

p.s. I don't know enough oil stuff yet...

 

[chefwong]

Is there a discernible difference between different manuf. of batteries just short of rated CCA's ?

Ie, the Autozone Duralast has about 100 more CCA tham my stock OEM battery.

Or even the Sealed ones like the Odyssey battery ?

 

[Quest]

IMHO CCA helps if you have a fully (excessively) loaded vehicle with very high power demands during initial startup, or your vehicle is operated in extremely cold weather w/o any battery blanket, or you do lots of short trips also.

In such case, higher CCA gives you extra peace of mind.

(*oh, if you have and old, out of tune (esp. carbed) engine that requires lots of cranks in order to fire it up*)

Nowadays, with pressurised EFI/mechanical FI engines and properly tuned up, factory spec'ed CCA reserve shall be more than sufficient to fire up a cold engine even at the extreme temperature conditions.

(*thicker is better oil crowd may require more CCA due to the fact that higher viscosity oil are thicker and more difficult to pump/crank over).

 

[javacontour]

My three tips to folks with electrical issues are:

1. Make sure the ground is good. You get all sorts of "interesting" problems with a bad ground.

2. When replacing an alternator, recharge the battery before you install the new alternator.

3. When you take a part to be tested at the parts store, have them test the new part too. This will tell you two things, did the guy test it correctly and is the new part good before you install it.

If that alternator is a pain to R&R, you want to know the new one is good before you do the job.

 

[The Critic]

Just had my battery tested last night. The tester simulates real-world, day to day use. My almost four year old battery failed, in fact, it was leaking and hissing at the end of the test. Went to Walmart and bought a $69 Everstart MAXX. All is well now...