Project Farm: Car Battery Test

BigblueC

BigblueC

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I saw this yesterday and thought I'd post it here.



Personally I've always had good results from Autozone batteries, with all lasting 7 years or more. I thought it was interesting that Wal Mart batteries are made by the same company but deliver a little more power. I wonder if they last as long.
 
BigblueC said:
I saw this yesterday and thought I'd post it here.



Personally I've always had good results from Autozone batteries, with all lasting 7 years or more. I thought it was interesting that Wal Mart batteries are made by the same company but deliver a little more power. I wonder if they last as long.
Click to expand...

No, Walmart batteries, although made by the same company (there are only a few companies that make them, and slap different names on them), they are not the same. They are made to Walmarts specifications, much like those TV's people buy on black Friday. I've had good luck with one battery or a few years, and then it took a big dump and quit. Done. I've had two others and they sucked worse than the first. One died after sitting outside for a little over a month. The one I currently have was bought out of necessity when my car died, the parts store asshats didn't even bother helping me, so I bought from Walmart. The battery won't fully charge when I try to get it full. I will only buy Interstate batteries now, they last beyond the warranty period without issue and have never let me down. Walmart sells crap that will fail, so you keep coming back, that's not why I buy a battery.
 
There are only 3 battery companies.
Interstate
Exide
Deka
No more pro rating, just one or two year replacement.
 
70bigblockdodge said:
There are only 3 battery companies.
Interstate
Exide
Deka
No more pro rating, just one or two year replacement.
Click to expand...

You made me wonder what happened to Gould and Delco battery companies. I haven't found out about Delco yet, but did find out about Gould.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-31-fi-1084-story.html

Dad used to work for ESB in Kansas City, a private label and OEM for Ford in Kansas City. ESB was folded into or sold to Exide somewhere along the line. Ford had the highest standards, one worker was overheard grousing about why such in inferior car company needed such a superior battery. I'm almost certain the higher quality was due to additional plates in the battery, i.e., the heavier the battery the greater quality.
 
Interstate is always my go to battery, walmart if its going away within a year.
 
Interstate does not make batteries.
Johnson Controls makes batteries.
They make Interstate, Auto zoo, Wally's, Motorcraft and others.
They are made to spec to meet a price point.
The Motorcraft in my Taurus failed after 5 years. It has a prorated warranty but you are better off buying new. The warranty replacement uses the original's warranty. With the new battery you get a new warranty.
The Interstate in the Dakota still works fine and it was purchased about the same time as the Motorcraft.
We buy Nikon camera batteries at work. Some are branded as Interstate. They put Interstate labels right over the manufacturer's label and charge more.
 
Interstate Battery System of America, Inc., a.k.a. Interstate Batteries, is a privately owned battery marketing and distribution company. It markets automotive batteries manufactured by Brookfield Business Partners, Exide Technologies, and others through independent distributors. The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas

Their business model is branding.
 
Yeah I bought a Duralast last year for the Fury and was surprised how much it was, like 160 bucks or so. Seems fine and does the job. On my Omni Glhs I run a lawn and tractor battery with 450 cold cranking amps. A lot less weight and opens up the back of the intercooler for much more airflow. It starts the Omni no problem as I never drive it in the winter.
 
Screenshot_20191203-114902.png


Better buy the Johnson Controls battery, or I mean Interstate, or better branding.

My money is on the Valucraft, stick that warranty up your....
 
Well so far it works fine, we will see.
 
I bought the cheapest ValueCraft type 24 battery at Autozone ($79) Figured maybe I'd get a year or two out of it. In January it will be 5 years old. My old beater with a 318 has been sitting out side for a month. Temps are in the low 40's at night.Yesterday morning I was guessing it would be dead or spin a few times. Damn thing fired right up after cranking for a while till the fuel came up. I know I'm on borrowed time but I sure got my moneys worth.
I will say watch the date when buying batteries.The last one I bought was for the wife's car.When I got it home I found it was 14 months old.Autozone did take it back and gave me one with a date that was 2 months old.
 
If you have a farm store nearby try the cheapest battery per group size. I did this and it lasted almost 18 years on my '59 Imperial.
 
I bought a battery back in 2000 for my then daily driver. It was a Motomaster 60, a Canadian Tire brand. I later found out it was made for them by Exide. I used it year round for 6 years and then it became my summertime cruisin' battery. All in all, that battery gave me 12 years of trouble free service. So, naturally I bought another one. I got 8 years out of the second one. It was going strong one day, but then the next day, nothing at all. I couldn't charge it or even get a volt reading from it. I think something inside must have let go.

I bought a battery from Walmart in 2013. I only use it in my summertime cruisers, but so far, it's been trouble free. I can't for the life of me remember the name on it, but it seems to be a good one. I guess we'll see.

One thing for sure, batteries sure have gotten expensive. I think the price has doubled over the past ten years.
 
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