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| Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157006] |
Mon, 16 January 2012 23:00  |
kingd
Messages: 592
Registered: June 2004
Karma: 2
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Not intending to start a "battery war" but I need(want) to replace a chassis battery, Delco used to advertize that their batteries had some construction features that made them superior to other brands. Does anyone have the inside track regarding chassis battey construction and know what brand is the BEST in terms of CCA, reserve hours, free replacement warranty and total warranty, ETC ??? It seems like 3 years free replacement and up to 9 or 10 years pro-rated is becoming standard on top of the line starting batteries. Any advice ??
DAVE KING (in COLD Toronto)(YEAH I know Sudbury is COLDER)
DAVE KING
lurker, wannabe
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Re: [GMCnet] Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157010 is a reply to message #157006] |
Mon, 16 January 2012 23:09  |
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ljdavick
Messages: 3548
Registered: March 2007
Location: Fremont, CA
Karma: -3
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Dave,
Aside from good prices, I've heard that the Costco batteries are nearly the best to be had (for lead acid batteries.)
I've always had good luck with them.
Larry Davick
The Mystery Machine
On Jan 16, 2012, at 9:01 PM, Dave King wrote:
>
>
> Not intending to start a "battery war" but I need(want) to replace a chassis battery, Delco used to advertize that their batteries had some construction features that made them superior to other brands. Does anyone have the inside track regarding chassis battey construction and know what brand is the BEST in terms of CCA, reserve hours, free replacement warranty and total warranty, ETC ??? It seems like 3 years free replacement and up to 9 or 10 years pro-rated is becoming standard on top of the line starting batteries. Any advice ??
>
> DAVE KING (in COLD Toronto)(YEAH I know Sudbury is COLDER)
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Larry Davick
A Mystery Machine
1976(ish) Palm Beach
Fremont, Ca
Howell EFI + EBL + Electronic Dizzy
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| Re: [GMCnet] Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157015 is a reply to message #157006] |
Tue, 17 January 2012 00:38 |
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USAussie
Messages: 15912
Registered: July 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Karma: 6
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Dave,
I went for Wal-Mart they are cheap, they come with a three year warranty and you can get a replacement EVERYWHERE! No idea on the 9
-10 prorated replacement.
Having said that I have read that Crown batteries are top quality and are made in the USA.
Oops! You're from Canada sorry if I upset you! ;-)
Regards,
Rob M.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave King
Not intending to start a "battery war" but I need(want) to replace a chassis battery, Delco used to advertize that their batteries
had some construction features that made them superior to other brands. Does anyone have the inside track regarding chassis battey
construction and know what brand is the BEST in terms of CCA, reserve hours, free replacement warranty and total warranty, ETC ???
It seems like 3 years free replacement and up to 9 or 10 years pro-rated is becoming standard on top of the line starting batteries.
Any advice ??
DAVE KING (in COLD Toronto)(YEAH I know Sudbury is COLDER)
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Regards,
Rob M. (USAussie)
The Pedantic Mechanic
Sydney, Australia
'75 Avion - AUS - The Blue Streak TZE365V100428
'75 Avion - USA - Double Trouble TZE365V100426
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| Re: Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157031 is a reply to message #157006] |
Tue, 17 January 2012 08:06 |
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RF_Burns
Messages: 2277
Registered: June 2008
Location: S. Ontario, Canada
Karma: 3
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I've had some interesting results with batteries in the past few years.
In August of 2005 I bought a new car and 2 new pickups, all GM products. Within 2 months in the summer of 2009 they all suddenly failed without warning and I mean not even a groan from the starter. With the car (Pontiac G6, had about 45k Kms on it at the time), Paula had drove it to the mall, then went to a friends house about 2kms away to pickup some things. When she went to drive off 10 mins later the battery was DEAD... I mean dome and dash comes on but goes dead when turned to starter. I put a new battery in and all was fine, except the radio CD player in the radio never worked after that (search of the internet shows that to be a common problem after a dead battery).
Two years later same thing happened to her while in another city. She called CAA and the guy giving her the boost said it was a common thing now, sudden battery failure. Told her to go straight home and not turn the car off till she got there.
The replacement battery for the car was a NasCar brand battery bought at Canadian Tire, one of their Premium batteries. They tested it and replaced it free.
The pickups had ~80K and 275K Kms when their batteries failed so it seems to be more a time issue than a use issue. The pickup with 275K on it was replaced with a 2010 GMC pickup and I just purchased an additional 2011 GMC this past fall so we'll see how long those OEM Delco's last.
Bruce Hislop
ON Canada
77PB, 455 Dick P. rebuilt, DynamicEFI EBL EFI & ESC.
1 ton front end
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=29001
My Staff says I never listen to them, or something like that
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| Re: Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157043 is a reply to message #157006] |
Tue, 17 January 2012 09:37 |
RadioActiveGMC
Messages: 1020
Registered: November 2010
Location: Hot AZ desert
Karma: 0
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I had a client once that worked for consumer reports. Not sure if it helps here but I found it interesting. He told me that for the Optima Line the yellow top is the best. He told me they under rated it so it didn't compete against their red top Optima their best seller. But in every way it was better even on CCA.
I believe that. Mercedes lowers the HP & Performance ratings on some of their AMGs so they don't compete strongly against other really expensive AMGs they produce. I'm guessing its a common practice.
***"Gettin There"-1973 23' Sequoia-
Michael, Onans smell, "Go solar/wind power!"
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| Re: Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157045 is a reply to message #157006] |
Tue, 17 January 2012 10:00 |
Luvn737s
Messages: 1106
Registered: June 2007
Karma: 2
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Any one that is 18months old or less.
Do I sound like a cynical Optima owner? I used to brag about how long they would last and I have had 4 fail in 2 years. When they stopped making them in Colorado and began making them in Mexico, their QC went on the downhill slide.
So much for Optima. So much for bragging, for that matter.
Randy
1973 26' Painted Desert
Ahwatukee (Phoenix) AZ
[Updated on: Tue, 17 January 2012 10:02] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157047 is a reply to message #157031] |
Tue, 17 January 2012 10:43 |
Bob de Kruyff
Messages: 4260
Registered: January 2004
Location: Chandler, AZ
Karma: 1
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| RF_Burns wrote on Tue, 17 January 2012 07:06 |
I've had some interesting results with batteries in the past few years.
In August of 2005 I bought a new car and 2 new pickups, all GM products. Within 2 months in the summer of 2009 they all suddenly failed without warning and I mean not even a groan from the starter. With the car (Pontiac G6, had about 45k Kms on it at the time), Paula had drove it to the mall, then went to a friends house about 2kms away to pickup some things. When she went to drive off 10 mins later the battery was DEAD... I mean dome and dash comes on but goes dead when turned to starter. I put a new battery in and all was fine, except the radio CD player in the radio never worked after that (search of the internet shows that to be a common problem after a dead battery).
Two years later same thing happened to her while in another city. She called CAA and the guy giving her the boost said it was a common thing now, sudden battery failure. Told her to go straight home and not turn the car off till she got there.
The replacement battery for the car was a NasCar brand battery bought at Canadian Tire, one of their Premium batteries. They tested it and replaced it free.
The pickups had ~80K and 275K Kms when their batteries failed so it seems to be more a time issue than a use issue. The pickup with 275K on it was replaced with a 2010 GMC pickup and I just purchased an additional 2011 GMC this past fall so we'll see how long those OEM Delco's last.
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I don't think I'm alone when I say battery failure indication seems to have changed recently. I recall when you had plenty of warning that your battery was going to crap out such as slow cranking and the ocasional no crank. My last 3 or four failures have all been sudden and total with virtually no warning. I'm finding that in the AZ heat, 2 years is about the limit no matter which brand I have had. I stick with the Walmart top of the line units with a 3 year full warranty. I'm referring to cranking batteries, not my deep cycle units, which seem to last about 4 years out here.
Bob de Kruyff
78 Eleganza
Chandler, AZ
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| Re: [GMCnet] Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157049 is a reply to message #157047] |
Tue, 17 January 2012 11:04 |
emerystora
Messages: 4442
Registered: January 2004
Karma: 13
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I recall that way back in about 1970 I called on the Atlas Testing Labs in New Jersey regarding oil additives. Atlas was the testing lab for the various Standard Oil companies.
In their battery department I recall seeing several cut aways of batteries. Some competitor items has slabs of lead in the bottom of the case connected to nothing.
This was merely to give weight to the battery as some consumers thought that heavier batteries were better!
They said at that time that the average battery life in an automobile was three years.
I don't think that has changed much.
Emery Stora
On Jan 17, 2012, at 9:43 AM, Bob de Kruyff wrote:
>
>
> RF_Burns wrote on Tue, 17 January 2012 07:06
>> I've had some interesting results with batteries in the past few years.
>>
>>
>> In August of 2005 I bought a new car and 2 new pickups, all GM products. Within 2 months in the summer of 2009 they all suddenly failed without warning and I mean not even a groan from the starter. With the car (Pontiac G6, had about 45k Kms on it at the time), Paula had drove it to the mall, then went to a friends house about 2kms away to pickup some things. When she went to drive off 10 mins later the battery was DEAD... I mean dome and dash comes on but goes dead when turned to starter. I put a new battery in and all was fine, except the radio CD player in the radio never worked after that (search of the internet shows that to be a common problem after a dead battery).
>>
>> Two years later same thing happened to her while in another city. She called CAA and the guy giving her the boost said it was a common thing now, sudden battery failure. Told her to go straight home and not turn the car off till she got there.
>>
>> The replacement battery for the car was a NasCar brand battery bought at Canadian Tire, one of their Premium batteries. They tested it and replaced it free.
>>
>> The pickups had ~80K and 275K Kms when their batteries failed so it seems to be more a time issue than a use issue. The pickup with 275K on it was replaced with a 2010 GMC pickup and I just purchased an additional 2011 GMC this past fall so we'll see how long those OEM Delco's last.
>
> I don't think I'm alone when I say battery failure indication seems to have changed recently. I recall when you had plenty of warning that your battery was going to crap out such as slow cranking and the ocasional no crank. My last 3 or four failures have all been sudden and total with virtually no warning. I'm finding that in the AZ heat, 2 years is about the limit no matter which brand I have had. I stick with the Walmart top of the line units with a 3 year full warranty. I'm referring to cranking batteries, not my deep cycle units, which seem to last about 4 years out here.
> --
> Bob de Kruyff
> 78 Eleganza
> Chandler, AZ
Emery Stora
77 Kingsley
Santa Fe, NM
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| Re: [GMCnet] Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157058 is a reply to message #157049] |
Tue, 17 January 2012 11:51 |
James Hupy
Messages: 6806
Registered: May 2010
Karma: -62
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When I went to GM Training back in the 80's, one of the subjects covered in
depth was GM Delco Batteries. They went to great lengths to describe the
alloys that the grids were made of and the reasoning for their selection,
as well as how the posts were connected to the internal parts. After all of
their "buzz words" were used up, the instructor made the following comment.
Batteries are generally sold by the amount of lead and electrolyte that
they contain. A 75 pound battery is 15 pounds better than a 60 pound
battery. If you have two 75 pound batteries from two different
manufacturers, both with the same length of warranty, buy the cheaper one.
Funny words from a GM Factory Technical Instructor. Keep the terminals
clean and tight, the cables as short as practical and as large as possible.
Do not allow the batteries to remain in a partially discharged state for
very long, particularly in very cold weather. Do not discharge them at too
rapid a pace or to a greatly discharged state. Keep the tops of them clean
and dry. If you follow basic maintence they should all last longer than the
waranty period.
Jim Hupy
Salem, OR
78 GMC Royale 403
On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 9:04 AM, Emery Stora <emerystora@mac.com> wrote:
> I recall that way back in about 1970 I called on the Atlas Testing Labs in
> New Jersey regarding oil additives. Atlas was the testing lab for the
> various Standard Oil companies.
> In their battery department I recall seeing several cut aways of
> batteries. Some competitor items has slabs of lead in the bottom of the
> case connected to nothing.
> This was merely to give weight to the battery as some consumers thought
> that heavier batteries were better!
>
> They said at that time that the average battery life in an automobile was
> three years.
> I don't think that has changed much.
>
> Emery Stora
>
> On Jan 17, 2012, at 9:43 AM, Bob de Kruyff wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > RF_Burns wrote on Tue, 17 January 2012 07:06
> >> I've had some interesting results with batteries in the past few years.
> >>
> >>
> >> In August of 2005 I bought a new car and 2 new pickups, all GM
> products. Within 2 months in the summer of 2009 they all suddenly failed
> without warning and I mean not even a groan from the starter. With the car
> (Pontiac G6, had about 45k Kms on it at the time), Paula had drove it to
> the mall, then went to a friends house about 2kms away to pickup some
> things. When she went to drive off 10 mins later the battery was DEAD... I
> mean dome and dash comes on but goes dead when turned to starter. I put a
> new battery in and all was fine, except the radio CD player in the radio
> never worked after that (search of the internet shows that to be a common
> problem after a dead battery).
> >>
> >> Two years later same thing happened to her while in another city. She
> called CAA and the guy giving her the boost said it was a common thing now,
> sudden battery failure. Told her to go straight home and not turn the car
> off till she got there.
> >>
> >> The replacement battery for the car was a NasCar brand battery bought
> at Canadian Tire, one of their Premium batteries. They tested it and
> replaced it free.
> >>
> >> The pickups had ~80K and 275K Kms when their batteries failed so it
> seems to be more a time issue than a use issue. The pickup with 275K on it
> was replaced with a 2010 GMC pickup and I just purchased an additional 2011
> GMC this past fall so we'll see how long those OEM Delco's last.
> >
> > I don't think I'm alone when I say battery failure indication seems to
> have changed recently. I recall when you had plenty of warning that your
> battery was going to crap out such as slow cranking and the ocasional no
> crank. My last 3 or four failures have all been sudden and total with
> virtually no warning. I'm finding that in the AZ heat, 2 years is about the
> limit no matter which brand I have had. I stick with the Walmart top of the
> line units with a 3 year full warranty. I'm referring to cranking
> batteries, not my deep cycle units, which seem to last about 4 years out
> here.
> > --
> > Bob de Kruyff
> > 78 Eleganza
> > Chandler, AZ
>
> Emery Stora
> 77 Kingsley
> Santa Fe, NM
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
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| Re: [GMCnet] Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157090 is a reply to message #157049] |
Tue, 17 January 2012 17:06 |
gmcrv1
Messages: 839
Registered: August 2007
Location: Memphis
Karma: -1
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Senior Member |
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Emery,
Back in that same time frame - and earlier, Atlas was coming to my uncle's
taxi cab business (less then 10 miles from the oil refineries and testing
facilities in NJ) and testing a "new" motor oil. We had 32 taxis and
bought 5 new ones every year. Two of the new taxis we used our standard
oil change procedures, change the oil only every 2,000 miles. Change oil
and filter every other 2,000 miles. We used Quaker State Super Blend.
Added as needed during the week.
For the Atlas test, they would come in and change the oil and filter on one
taxi every 2,000 miles. On the other taxi they only removed and replace
the filter - not the oil - but, brought the oil up to the full level.
Those cars had the oil and filter changed every 10,000 miles. Of course
they took all the oil and filters with them. Also brought their own drain
pan liners, tools etc.
The cans were primitively marked "Enduralube".
Our taxi's ran 1,000 miles per week and the engines were rarely shut off -
left on for AC in summer - heat in winter.
Rumor has it that it was Mobil One.
Tom Eckert N2VWN
73 Glacier
Oakland, TN
On Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 11:04 AM, Emery Stora <emerystora@mac.com> wrote:
> I recall that way back in about 1970 I called on the Atlas Testing Labs in
> New Jersey regarding oil additives. Atlas was the testing lab for the
> various Standard Oil companies.
> In their battery department I recall seeing several cut aways of
> batteries. Some competitor items has slabs of lead in the bottom of the
> case connected to nothing.
> This was merely to give weight to the battery as some consumers thought
> that heavier batteries were better!
>
> They said at that time that the average battery life in an automobile was
> three years.
> I don't think that has changed much.
>
> Emery Stora
>
> On Jan 17, 2012, at 9:43 AM, Bob de Kruyff wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > RF_Burns wrote on Tue, 17 January 2012 07:06
> >> I've had some interesting results with batteries in the past few years.
> >>
> >>
> >> In August of 2005 I bought a new car and 2 new pickups, all GM
> products. Within 2 months in the summer of 2009 they all suddenly failed
> without warning and I mean not even a groan from the starter. With the car
> (Pontiac G6, had about 45k Kms on it at the time), Paula had drove it to
> the mall, then went to a friends house about 2kms away to pickup some
> things. When she went to drive off 10 mins later the battery was DEAD... I
> mean dome and dash comes on but goes dead when turned to starter. I put a
> new battery in and all was fine, except the radio CD player in the radio
> never worked after that (search of the internet shows that to be a common
> problem after a dead battery).
> >>
> >> Two years later same thing happened to her while in another city. She
> called CAA and the guy giving her the boost said it was a common thing now,
> sudden battery failure. Told her to go straight home and not turn the car
> off till she got there.
> >>
> >> The replacement battery for the car was a NasCar brand battery bought
> at Canadian Tire, one of their Premium batteries. They tested it and
> replaced it free.
> >>
> >> The pickups had ~80K and 275K Kms when their batteries failed so it
> seems to be more a time issue than a use issue. The pickup with 275K on it
> was replaced with a 2010 GMC pickup and I just purchased an additional 2011
> GMC this past fall so we'll see how long those OEM Delco's last.
> >
> > I don't think I'm alone when I say battery failure indication seems to
> have changed recently. I recall when you had plenty of warning that your
> battery was going to crap out such as slow cranking and the ocasional no
> crank. My last 3 or four failures have all been sudden and total with
> virtually no warning. I'm finding that in the AZ heat, 2 years is about the
> limit no matter which brand I have had. I stick with the Walmart top of the
> line units with a 3 year full warranty. I'm referring to cranking
> batteries, not my deep cycle units, which seem to last about 4 years out
> here.
> > --
> > Bob de Kruyff
> > 78 Eleganza
> > Chandler, AZ
>
> Emery Stora
> 77 Kingsley
> Santa Fe, NM
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>
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| Re: Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157211 is a reply to message #157006] |
Wed, 18 January 2012 15:07 |
kingd
Messages: 592
Registered: June 2004
Karma: 2
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Senior Member |
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Thanks for the so far replies. Are there any scientists /engineers or others in the know that know what makes a good reliable chassis battery by its design and construction ? I know GM used to brag that its design was the "best". I suspect that the reasonable "new" sudden failure mode has something to do with the Cranking Amps wars the different brands of batteries
having been showing for the last few(many) years. Also I know the chemistry in no vs low vs easily removeable "cell tops" is different. Are we now in a position where we have maintenance free batteries but they DIE all of a sudden ? I have had this happen at least twice but never 30 years ago.
DAVE KING
DAVE KING
lurker, wannabe
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Re: Best Chassis battery (BRAND) [message #157246 is a reply to message #157006] |
Wed, 18 January 2012 21:55 |
Craig Lechowicz
Messages: 541
Registered: October 2006
Location: Waterford, MI
Karma: 0
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Senior Member |
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Dave,
There are lots of battery brands, but probably only about 4 manufacturers. Someone once posted a chart of who made which batteries. I think Johnson Controls and Exide are the largest at least in the states. I won't get the years right, but sometime in the 90's "Delco" stopped making their own batteries. (too many lead clean up lawsuits amongst other issues). When I left GM in '09 the products I worked on (Colorado/Canyon/Trailblazer/Envoy) used JCI batteries, and I'm pretty sure they still got Delco labels, although it's becoming a distant memory. It was basically a low bid deal, unless there were too many warranty issues.
Craig Lechowicz
'77 Kingsley, Waterford, MI
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