car batteries
 

I have always bought diehard gold car batteries, but sadly Sears went out of business. What are other good brands with enough cca for the GTO? I don't want to put a tartop in it and I don't want an Optima unless they make a black one.

Currently have, and always buy batteries from COSTCO. they currently sell Interstate. I always buy the one with the highest CCA rating that will fit in the battery box.

George

A lot of people buy WalMart Neverstart. I tried them once, they lived up to their name. I have used Interstate for decades. The one in one of my cars is pushing 20 years. Did not use the car or charged the battery in the past 2 years. Charged it the other day and not only did it check out good, it had no problem turning over 562 horse with 12.85:1 CR. By the way, Interstate and Die Hard are the same batteries. I know, I was a Sears tech.

On a side note: Nothing aggravates me more than seeing a high end restoration with a cheap ass battery under the hood. And I see it a lot.

I've had good luck with a Deka 850 cca 34/78 dual terminal batt, in my diesel tractor. Paid less than $100 for it. Tried to buy a couple recently. But the best price I could find was well over $100, closer to $125. Yes, I realize that lots of guys don't mind paying $300 and even more for the high end batts.

You might check with your area discount batt stores that sell Deka batts. It seems that batt prices can vary, quite a bit.

https://www.batteryprice.com/product-p/deka778dt.htm

Also had a couple of Exide NASCAR 800 cca 34/78 dual terminal batts that worked good in my last 455 bracket car. Bought one at a local discount batt store. They only had one in stock. Had to buy one at Tractor Supply. When I checked Tractor Supply this time, it seems they no longer sell those Exide batts.

Have that same 455 in another car now. Bought some 800 cca Marine batts for it, from Advance Auto. No alternator. Cranked it probably 20 times over a several week period. Never failed to turn it over plenty fast enuff to start, even tho I never charged 'em. Don't know how long they would have kept crankin it. But, they seem to have plenty of power to last thru a race without having to charge 'em. Finally did charge 'em anyhow, just because.

You can go online & get a 25% off discount code for Advance Auto Parts, buy online, & pick 'em up in your nearest Advance Auto location. This made these, by far, the cheapest 800 cca marine batts I could fine.

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...920%7CL2*15000

https://www.couponcodes.com/advance-...ons?em=6826476

If you don't mind paying $300-$400, you can buy the latest batt tech, big name batts.

https://carfromjapan.com/article/car...attery-review/

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...tOrder=Default

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...rder=Ascending

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...EaArNSEALw_wcB

That's interesting Chief and timely. Just today I had a 2006 Sprinter van towed to my shop. It has 2 batteries, one under the hood and the other under the passenger seat. Both Interstate 900 CCA group 49 batteries. Production sticker 11/2017. Both dead as a door nail. I tried the deep recovery mode on my high end charger and one recovered to 17% and the other to 23%. Called the local Interstate distributor and they said it has a 12 month free replacement. The pro-rated warranty didn't amount to much. You just never know, I guess. No battery drain BTW, Only 30 ma after the computers shut down. The OP sounded like he wanted a battery with a black case. NAPA batteries are black and you can peel off all the stickers and remove the lift handle. Then it doesn't stand out. I have been getting good service life from them.

Bought my last one at Batteries and bulbs (chain) If you're close to one, a good deal.

https://www.batteriesplus.com/

If you buy it online, you get 10% off, and at the time I also got a $10 rebate so it was under $100. Ran over to the store and picked it up right after ordering it.
Spins the starter over just fine cold and hot.
https://i.imgur.com/xWm4oaB.jpg?1

I used to use those too, as I was a Service Adviser years ago. When I got my car running after 10 years in storage, I bought a battery at O'Reillys. Been fine for two years and it's trunk-mounted.

You can still buy Diehard batteries, on Amazon.com.
https://www.amazon.com/DieHard-38188.../dp/B0776YYWQ6

I've been buying batteries from them for a while now, although the ones I have are some other brand - it's been a few years since I last purchased one so I don't know if they changed suppliers or if they just changed the sticker on the side of the battery. In any case I've been satisfied with Batteries Plus and their products.

Deka here also, old company in Pennsylvania I believe.

The Duracell brand is a Deka made battery, I just bought one for my 2005 GTO last year from Batteries Plus. There's usually a 10% off coupon if you buy it online and pick it up at the local store too.

Deka is a PA. company that has been making top quality batteries for many years. Sams club also sells Duracell brand too.

Well, my Interstate is still the green top with the white case. It was installed in 2004. Interstate is now black with a white and green label.

Who remembers the JC Penny Lifetime battery? That was the best I ever came across.

I’ve had great luck with Deka batteries. The one in my 68 lasted almost 20 years.

I bought one of these for the wife’s Highlander about 6 months ago. They had the best deal I found locally. I got an extra discount for buying it online and picking it up.

Whatever brand battery you buy check the date on the battery. I've seen quite a few batteries in stores that have a build date a year old or more. When I took over the parts room of a new car dealer I found the previous manager never rotated his stock of batteries. The ones at the back were so old they wouldn't take a charge.

Napa batteries should be Deka.

Sears is still in business hear is a link to their batterys you call still buy them Most sears stores have close some are still open or you can order one on line, Link. https://www.sears.com/automotive-bat...lterList=Brand

I never had any luck with NAPA. Carquest aren't have great either. There is an Exide dealer here, tried them once. Those could possibly be worse than a WalMart Neverstart.

Normally, I have bought AutoZone Gold batteries. Most have gone 10 years or more. The best recent deal was at AutoZone for a Delco Professional battery for my 1973 Formula. They were on clearance for $60 with a full warranty. We'll see how far it goes.

Interstate, Motorcraft and ACDelco used to all be made by Johnson Controls in St. Joe, MO.

Interstate has now moved their production to Mexico.

ACDelco Advantage batteries are made in Korea. The Professional Gold and Silver batteries are still made by JCI in St. Joe. Motorcraft also.

As the OP noted - I'm not in to putting a tar top in for "correctness" in my Pontiac. But an ACDelco sure looks more correct than a green one.

I just changed out an InterstateMTP24 1000CCA battery, due to a dead cell, last week and went to an Excide 800 CCA battery. I put the Interstate in back on 2008 and it lasted 11 years. The Excide doesn't fit as good as the Interstate but it cranks over the engine better, and it has a 40 month warranty.

Not even sure whats in my t/a, guess I should go look at it :rolleyes:, I get batteries from Auto Zone too often, not sure if theyre store lable or a brand name. I buy the next to top quality or what they have in stock. I go through 1 about every 2 years on my wifes Mercedes. If the car sits for more than a couple of weeks the battery dies!

In defense to even the cheapest batteries these days, cars are over-computerized and are constantly drawing battery power even when off. It is not uncommon for a modern car to drain a battery in a few weeks if not used. When my cars "sit", I disconnect the battery.

DUH, I never really though of that, disconnect switch may be the way to go. Its not as bad in the summer, winter is much worse.

That is why I get so much life out of my batteries. Now, I do have a few cars that I don't have any battery in because I just gave up buying one for a car I don't know when I am going to drive again. I have one car that has not been out since the 1999 POCI convention.

What is the Group/size for a '66 A-body? A friend gave me the battery that's in mine and it works well, but I had to put something under it to make it work with the bracket.

The catalog is showing 24 for V8 and 22F for 6 cylinder.

Interstate's warranty isn't as good these days as it was 10 years ago... the truth is it's due to the distributor we have here. Others might be better, but the one here has the whole state of Delaware tied up and in his pockets.

Thank you.

My Sears Battery has been in my Formula since 2011 , every year I have to trickle charge it to get it going as the car sits from mid December to mid March, I'm shocked it still works.

My car trailer battery is a Duralast , it came with the trailer , it has a date of 2010 and still works but also needs to trickle charged in the spring, my truck charges it while it running.

One thing I must add to disconnecting the battery. Be certain the car you are disconnecting the battery on does not have electronic door handles or you could have a real problem getting in.

Case in point, my Dodge Magnum has an electronic handle on the rear gate. Well, guess where the battery is on that car? :rolleyes:

A battery disconnect switch and a trickle charger when battery sits for a long time will make any battery last a long long time. I buy cheap walmart batteries 49.99 and have lasted many years this way. Lets face it most early engines do not require much in the way of CCA unless you live in Alaska. I have not put a tickle charger on Trans Am battery, just a jump pack to start with no problem. The camping van sits outside and needs a trickle charger or it will kill batteries quick.

Battery production date is 12/03

Installed early 3/04

Was not used for the past 1-1/2 to 2 years.

Has not and has never been on any battery maintaining device but is always completely disconnected from the negative post (no disconnect switch)

Has no problem cranking over 562 horse with 12.85:1 CR

The pictures tell the rest of the story don't it?

https://i1089.photobucket.com/albums...psmig0yfep.jpg
https://i1089.photobucket.com/albums...psnqqxhuup.jpg

Chief, That black Interstate battery would look fine in our old Pontiacs if you peeled all the labels. Interesting, the black Interstate batteries must be new to their production. The two batteries I just replaced today and mentioned in my previous post were dated 11/2017 and were the typical Interstate white case with the bright green top.

This is what they actually look like. I believe they told me they no long make them in their traditional green. I am going to kind of miss that. Seeing that bright green under the hood tells me the guy did not take the cheap way out when it came to buying a battery for his vehicle.

https://i1089.photobucket.com/albums...psubzqggxt.jpg
https://i1089.photobucket.com/albums...psyvuopua1.jpg
https://i1089.photobucket.com/albums...ps11qqkz9h.jpg

DEKA, but I do have a battery disconnect key, plus I keep it on a battery tender all the time when it’s in the garage. I have a place here called Battery Warehouse, they sell batteries for everything! Best prices, look them up online. :cool: plus my battery topper fits perfectly.

I have no vested interest in Optima batteries or Battery Tenders.

Having said that...

I have four Optima batteries (one GTO, one Chev P/U and two in a boat).
I also have two sealed reproduction batteries from Antique Auto Battery (do not know who makes them)..

I have used Battery Tenders on all of my batteries religiously for several years. I hook 'em up after every use and walk away. Boat batteries (crank and trolling motor) might go 4-5 months before I use them.

All my stuff starts when I turn the key (knock on wood)…

Just as an aside. I'm sure many of you already know this, but do you know to look at the end of a battery to determine its true age? Most manufacturers use a round decal with a letter and a number. The letter is the month. The number is the year.

I looked at a car a couple years ago where the seller told me he had just installed a new battery. The dates on the top hadn't been punched out. I looked at the end and told him he got ripped off 'cuz the battery was 4 years old! It also had a rusty Fram oil filter on it and tractor type radiator hoses, so I passed.

They do not all have that little round sticker. Interstate did away with those years ago. Now, Interstate and many others brand (melt) the date code into the case.

True dat. Thanks for clarifying.

Are interstates now crap ?
I always had good luck with them in my diesels which is hard on a battery with all the shaking they do.

Many of my former customers that sold and installed Interstates have switched to ACDelco batteries because the batteries sold by Interstate today that are made in Mexico have a much higher failure rate.

These were died in the wool Interstate guys - they bought ACDelco, Mopar and Motorcraft parts from me - but loved their green batteries.

Until they didn't.

As usual, a parts pusher is wrong again. :rolleyes:\

https://i1089.photobucket.com/albums...psubzqggxt.jpg

I used to sell Interstate, I would never go out of my way to buy their product. The one defective I had, they wouldn't do a damn thing for the customer. That's when I told them to get the rack and stock out of my garage. I've never bought another one from them.

Johnson Controls make the batteries for Interstate same as they do for Advance Auto and Auto Zone and a ton of other companies they put stickers on.

There are 2 really major Battery manufacturers in the US, Johnson Controls and Exide. There are some smaller manufacturers such as Deka, Crown, New Castle/Dubois, but probably 90% of the automotive batteries are made by those 2 manufacturers.

Johnson Control here in Seneca SC makes batteries for everybody and his brother

The blowhart is wrong again, as usual.

Minnesota and Iowa are not locatied between Louisiana and Southern California.

Yet Interstate batteries sold in southern MN and northern IA are "Hecho in Mexico".

This info was provided to me by actual Interstate battery customers - not that thing called "Google" that you apparently used to find that info....

When you are in the repair business or even as a consumer, who in the heck has the time to look through a rack of batteries and try to find stickers to say Mexico or USA? I know I don't. Every battery brand has defects, just like new cars. Some more than others. Interstate batteries test near the top in some case sizes and middle of the pack in others according to Consumer Reports who actually TEST products. To me, in a classic Pontiac, how the battery looks is a primary factor. I want a black case battery that won't stick out like a sore thumb under the hood. Remove the stickers and go. That may be an Interstate since they switched case colors. But even more important to me is the WARRANTY and honoring that warranty. That's why I buy 90% of my batteries from my single NAPA source. If it's a 72 month battery and has a 18 month free replacement for example. Lets say that battery is 36 months old and it is defective. My NAPA store will replace it FREE, screw the warranty. That's called customer service. That's why I may pay 5% more for their parts than say Rock auto. They stand by their parts, no hassle, no BS, no excuses, no receipt required. It's old school and I love it. You forget what customer service was like when you buy from box stores, auto Zone, Oreily's, Advanced, and all the other "consumer parts stores".

You are wrong... still wrong and have been wrong. You must work for Advance A/P. I have dealt with so-called know it all parts pushers like you.

But really.... Does it matter :rolleyes:

http://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-conte...ant-Mexico.jpg
http://gmauthority.com/blog/wp-conte...co-621x300.jpg
http://sanmigueltimes.com/wp-content...co-418x215.jpg
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