Battery Rant

glemon · Jul 16, 2020

In the last five years I have replaced more batteries in my cars than in the fifteen years before that. Bought the highest end "Gold" battery options and they all crapped out not long after going out of warranty. Prior to that I had three batteries in daily drivers all last over 10 years, well over 10 years in a couple cases. Anecdotal but seems like in the 2000s they figured out how to make batteries last, and in the 2010s they figured out that if they built them to last just past warranty they would sell more batteries.

PAUL161 · Jul 17, 2020

Try Optima batteries, the one I have in the TF is 5 years old and has set for a couple months at a time and has never lost it's charge. No acid to leak or vapor out and is still as strong today as when I put it in the car. You can even mount it upside down if you prefer! :highly_amused: PJ

Forgot to ad, if your battery is exposed and since they are so ugly to look at, you can cover it with a fake Tar-Top cover and very few will know the difference.

glemon · Jul 17, 2020

I had a car with a fairly new Optima, it didn't seem to want to hold a charge, in hindsight it might have been problems with charging on the car, but anyway this time tried buying the cheaper battery, it least if it quits after a few years I won't be out as much. I know I said "rant" but really posted this because I was curious if others have had similar experiences with car batteries over the last few years.

PAUL161 · Jul 17, 2020

if a device in the system, as the clock in the dash on the TF, causes a drain, I disconnected it plus checked the entire system making sure nothing else would cause a drain to occur, it doesn't take much. PJ

John Turney · Jul 17, 2020

I have been buying mine at Costco and have no complaints. A couple of years ago they changed the supplier, but they still seem to last the same amount of time,

HealeyRick · Jul 17, 2020

John Turney said:
I have been buying mine at Costco and have no complaints. A couple of years ago they changed the supplier, but they still seem to last the same amount of time,

I've been buying batteries there for a while, also. Prices are good and they seem to last, even after the change of supplier.

Gliderman8 · Jul 17, 2020

Deka is my go-to for batteries.

pdplot · Jul 18, 2020

Batteries today should last 6 or 7 years - at least mine all have, sometimes more. Make sure your generator/alternator is charging properly and you have no shorts bleeding the charge down. My Alfa battery goes dead after sitting for 3 weeks so I disconnect it with a quick disconnect after each use. The electric clock is always running plus who knows what else. An LBC should not drain a battery. MY TR6 sits all winter long with everything hooked up and it has never failed to start. The battery is 6 years old.

DavidApp · Jul 18, 2020

Batteries have defiantly changed over the years.
There was a time when the battery would just about turn the motor over slower and slower. Once started there would be no problem till next morning then you would get the struggle to turn it over. Back then with my TR2 it was do I chance the starter or just get out the handle.
Now You start the car and drive to the store. Then when you come of the store 30 minutes later and try to start the car nothing, no click no attempt to crank Nothing. This has happened to me on at least 2 occasions in different cars.

David

John Turney · Jul 18, 2020

On a recent case of a call from SWMBO who called me from the shopping mall with "Help, my Acura won't start", I thought about bringing the Healey to give her a jump start, it turned out that the connection at the battery was loose.

glemon · Jul 19, 2020

David, agree about them just quitting, that is what mine did, no warning, all of a sudden no crank (though dash lights came on). Batteries I have been having problems with are all on daily drivers, modern cars with high output alternators. Maybe it is just luck of the draw, but for a while, 90s, 2000s, batteries seemed to be lasting a very long time, last few years they have been really crappy. Bought at AutoZone and Advance Auto.

pdplot · Jul 19, 2020

Maybe those "bad" batteries have been on the shelf too long - they were old when you got them. I would buy them from a place that sells a lot of batteries. Just a thought.

stefanh6 · Jul 21, 2020

I'm very satisfied with Deka batteries also.

DrEntropy · Jul 21, 2020

We tend to stay with Interstate, getting at least five years' service, most even longer. For cars that sit more than they're run, Optima.

Battery Rant

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