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New Battery Time


adallak

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I think some intermittent trouble codes I have been having for about 10 months could be caused with old battery. It is five years old DieHard. I am sure it was drained a couple of times by the original owner. The load test shows "good" at the lower limit of "good" scale.

My DieHard served me well for nine years and almost 100,000 miles in my 1991 Sevile. Lately, unfortunately I read a lot of negative information about DieHard.

What brand would you recommend, folks? My Fleetwood takes group 78 with side posts.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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Lead acid battery technology is one of my hobby pursuits. And what I have learned may not be good news for retail battery consumers; it depends on how you view "capitalism".

There are a limited number of battery manufacturers. They compete for contracts to supply batteries branded as Diehard or National or ACDelco or you-name-it label on the battery case. The battery manufacturer will run the same production line for Sears one week and ACDelco next week and the only difference will be the quality of the material contents according to the specifications of the contract with Sears or ACDelco or you-name-it label.

Brand name allegiance is a risky game in a shrinking global economy. Cost-cutting is the retail corporate mantra today.

....What brand would you recommend, folks? My Fleetwood takes group 78 with side posts.

Battery brand is not the yardstick. Decide how long you expect your battery to crank your engine and pay in advance.

Jim

Drive your car.

Use your cell phone.

CHOOSE ONE !

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Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. Optima is really too pricey... I am thinking about Interstate. My battery still cranks the engine but I think older wiring/contacts make the sensors more sensitive to the condition of the battery.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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I replaced the 5 year old battery on my car a couple of months ago...just as a maintenance item.

It still worked fine, but I am planning a really long road trip this summer and didn't want to be out on the road and have problems.

Got a five year battery from SAMS club.

It was only about 70 or 80 bucks or so...

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I stick with AC delco and they perform well on all 4 of my vehicles, completely maintnence free. Havent had a dead battery yet. My truck and seville are seasonal but start right up every time. Yjust my experience.

I have GM buses with diesels running on one battery on a 2 battery system without even knowing it till you see the cable rotted off underneath. lol

I used to love interstate batteries also. I have seen 20 year old interstate batteries still performing excellent.

GM FAN FOREVER

Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile

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Like JimD said, there are a limited number of battery manufacturers - in the USA, there are four: Delco, East Penn, Johnson Controls, and Exide. The battery manufacturers will produce a battery to any quality level specified by its customer. East Penn manufactures Deka batteries, Johnson Controls manufacturers Interstate batteries to name a couple.

I have had excellent luck with AC Delco batteries with the exception of one that leaked acid from the positive terminal. AC Delco has corrected the issue some 10 years ago. I buy my batteries from a local wholesaler and am able to get them at a very good price.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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Yes AC-dellco did correct the problem. It was huge. The side terminals would literally seperate from the batteries and leak all over. It seemed 2005 was the worst year. I had quite a few customers that had random no starts, like a dead battery come and go. Cometo find out that the terminal broke off and stayed on the wire and somehow still made contact with the battery to start the car.

Thank god they resolved that otherwise I would definately not be using them

GM FAN FOREVER

Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile

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Yes AC-dellco did correct the problem. It was huge. The side terminals would literally seperate from the batteries and leak all over. It seemed 2005 was the worst year. I had quite a few customers that had random no starts, like a dead battery come and go. Cometo find out that the terminal broke off and stayed on the wire and somehow still made contact with the battery to start the car.

Thank god they resolved that otherwise I would definately not be using them

I had a Delco battery with the bad terminal once - it was out of my Fleetwood. It was manufactured in 2001 by the date code. Luckily, it decided to leak over the winter when I had the car in storage and the battery was sitting on my bench rather than all over the battery tray under the hood. I spoke with a rep. from AC Delco and they were aware of the problem and informed me it had been fixed.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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