I need a battery
 

I just checked the 800 CCA Duralast battery on the 79 TA in my signature. It came at 441 so I need a new battery. What batteries are the enthusiasts that drive these cars buying?

I usually buy the best Walmart or Autozone has to offer. If it croaks on me in east bum F*** I can find a Walmart or an Autozone that will replace it .

I'm a huge fan of the XS Power and Braille "AGM" batteries. I recently had to replace the Braille in my '72 Cutlass, and it was about 12 years old.

My 10-second 2-ton Falcon wagon had the little XS Power S925 in it, about 26#, and it worked great. Even highway driving in 100+ temps, stopping for gas & drinks for 10 minutes, hit the key and the motor turned over as easy as it did when it was cool. The CCA are VERY deceiving, only rated at 640 or so. Under normal situations, the S925 will spin your motor at least as easily and quickly as a 1000cca lead-acid battery.

I went with the slightly bigger S1200 for the Cutlass. I didn't need any more cranking power, but wanted a bit more reserve power.

Lead-acid battery prices have gone WAY up recently, so the price difference between those and AGM is not so big.

For my daily drivers I've been using Super Start batteries from O'Reilly. I get a good 4-5 years out of them. For the TA I've been using a NAPA battery just because it had more CCA (800) and was black in color so I thought it also looked better.

I used to swear by Interstate batteries years ago but they are harder to find.

Costco in our area has Interstate labeled batteries.

George

If you can find them in your area, Deka batteries are hard to beat. Made in the USA as well.

I've had great luck with Northstar AGM batteries. You can actually hear the difference of how fast the starter kicks over compared to a normal battery.

I go to the local Costco and buy Interstate. Price wise they are a hair cheaper than the chain store batteries.

Oddly, we have a big Interstate Battery distribution warehouse in town, yet Costco is the only place in town that carries them.

I usually buy Interstate batteries from Costco- but recently needed one with top and side posts so went to the local Interstate store as Costco didn’t have it…

I will comment on the two brands I use the most. For collector cars where I don't want the battery to "stand out", I have been using NAPA Legend branded batteries. Cost is reasonable and they have a black case. All the stickers can be easily removed and you are left with a plain black battery with good specs. and a good warranty. I always test them before installing new. They always test 115%-120% of rated CCA, new. For cheap cars and customers on a tight budget, Batteries from Rural King are hard to beat for the $$. At about 60-70% the cost of a typical car battery, they are adequate for 2-3 years. Most of my customer cars will have some other fatal failure long before that. Like running it out of oil or coolant.

Optima has always worked for me.

This is the first and foremost concern for me. All the Interstates I use are now black cases and stock appearing, and accept a tar topper if one so chooses.

They also have to fit the original battery tray properly. Some of the aftermarket batteries on the market aren't even close to fitting.

No brainer for me. The NAPA battery is called "The Legend":D

I have had zero luck with AGM batteries. I have tried both Optima and Diehard (Odyssey) and both crapped out in 2 years of pampered use. I replaced the last one with a Duracell from Sams at less than half the cost and it has been going strong for 6 years. Granted, I have always removed my batteries and throw them on the appropriate maintainer for the winter: https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-40-206-5...67516060&psc=1

I surprised that ACDelco hasn't been mentioned.

No matter where you buy it, you can get a warranty replacement at any GM dealer (as long as you have proof of purchase - store it in the glove box). There are GM dealers in towns that don't have a Walmart or (insert name of any autoparts store).

They are black and are very good batteries.

As to where to find them:

1. Any GM dealer
2. Menards
3. Many independent car repair shops stock them (look for an ACDelco sign in the shop)
4. Many used car dealers stock them
5. Some locally owned auto parts stores carry them
6. At an ACDelco warehouse distributor - or one of their stores

As to Interstate battery availability (as FormulaJones brought up), not many retail stores stock them. But many independent repair shops do. Interstate was my most common competitor for batteries for the repair shop customers of mine while covering southern MN and northern IA for my employer - an ACDelco warehouse distributor. We would sell batteries to the public at our main warehouse or any of our 13 stores.

2 years out of an optima? something was going on to make it die in that short of a time. optima has a pretty good warranty & would have replaced it. i have friends that use the red top & yellow top optima in mostly race only cars but some street use... the red top lasted 10 years & the yellow in it now is at 8+ and doing fine. he never maintains them or uses a maintain charger, just starts it up in the spring or puts it on a charger for a couple hours if its slow cranking.

i want to try one of the lightweight AGM batteries like braille next time i have to buy one, but for all 3 of my cars & my daily driver i use either super start from oreillys, last one i had just died after 12 years, or have had very good luck with dura last from auto zone, got 9-10 years out of the last 2 ive used. my daily driver uses walmarts more expensive brand that was in it when i bought it, going on 6 years old now with no signs of slow cranking. i also have 2 walmart batteries i bought used for $20ea, they are 2017 date & also still working fine. only battery i've had die in 4-5 years was an interstate...

on my cars that are stored in the winters, i dont use a maintainer, just bring them inside to a not always heated but insulated garage, or in the house before i had this garage. i charge them for a few hours once a month & within a couple weeks before spring use. been doing this for 25+ years, when they are about to die they will start to slow crank & not hold a charge as long but never been stranded or had a no start issue. if a battery is dying in 2 years or even less than 5, something else is causing that like too cold or hot of temps when not fully charged or the maintainer is not charging right & cooking the cells.

That's odd. I've had no problems with my AGM batteries and I lean on them pretty hard as I have a large stereo system in my Tahoe (Daily driver). I also run a Mechman 340 Amp alternator and 2 runs of 0 gauge. I just added a limitless lithium battery last weekend along with wiring to power the winch on the trailer. I have near zero voltage drop now. https://limitlesslithium.com/product...s-lithium.html

Are the battery warranty's changing everywhere else? Our napa batteries just switched to a 2 year free replacement, no pro-rating. After 2 years no more warranty. We were told the industry is switching to this.

I just bought a new Legend battery from NAPA for my 05 GTO in August, I asked the counter guy about warranty when I picked it up. He said 2 years, and no pro rate after the 2 years. He did say that this warranty just changed recently. This was a Deka made battery.

I just had 2 batteries go bad in my diesel truck from Rural King, they told me the same thing, 2 years, and it's out of warranty. One was still in the 2 year range, the other one was 2 months out, I had to eat the one. These were Exide batteries.

For about $800 you can get a Lithium Iron battery. Should last ten years. Put one in my hard to start motorcycle that would eat a battery every two years ... spins it over like a cordless drill. ( Smaller ... about $250). Typically don't need any kind of trickle charging, can last the winter no problem. Not to be confused with the Lithium battery chemistry used in phones etc. These don't blow up, they are specially designed for starting, high load, short duration. Plus ... about 60% lighter than lead acid.

My first Optima was a USA-made unit. Lasted 10-something years of occasional service in a rarely-used car.

Second Optima was a Mexican-made unit. Nothing but problems starting at about 6 months, and enduring for perhaps 11 months before I got fed up. Would go dead and had to be recharged overnight approximately every month. In the meantime, between 6 and 11 months, I replaced alternator and starter (both were original to the vehicle and had closer to 200,000 miles than 100,000 miles on them. Cleaned/checked battery cables. No difference.

Replaced the Optima; problem solved. Haven't had a dead battery on that vehicle ever since.

I used to be pretty enthusiastic about Interstate batteries; I don't think they're as good now as they were twenty--thirty years ago.

Have heard good things about Deka/ East Penn. I've had one or two.

Most recent purchases have been O'Reillys. I don't know who makes them.

As long as it's a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFEPO4) you'll be good. I just put one in my street car and holy crap, it's unreal! My old acid battery weighed 20kg, the new LiFEPO4 weighs 4kg -- is over 1000cca and is the size of 1/3 of a shoebox. It has battery management internally so it'll shut down if it goes above 15.5V so they can't blow up and catch fire if the regulator dies etc...

Not cheap a cheap solution, but compared to say an Optima, it was just a few bucks more and saved so much weight up front.

Yikes! I think that would be a hard sell at $800. Was that a typo?

I can buy 2 regular batteries that I get 5 years a piece out of for $240
Even if one went bad prematurely and I paid full price for another one (not likely if warrantied) that's still only $360 invested over a 10 year period.

I do like the 60 percent lighter though if I could disguise it as a stock appearing battery. I suspect it's small and doesn't fit the tray? If so I could put in a gutted stock size case.

I "think" they might make them in normal vehicle sizes. I would only consider it a good solution in two situations ... long periods with no charging, or hard to start engine. As krisr mentioned ... they spin over an engine like you wouldn't believe.

I was paying $200 each for quality Yuasa batteries for my Honda RC51 every two years, and even fully charged you would have about three attempts to start the engine and they were done. With this LiFEPO4 battery you could put it in gear, hit the starter button and drive on the starter if you wanted to :) So in my case the $250 was worth it.

Lke krisr mentioned, it has onboard battery management that protects it pretty well.

After looking at the brand I bought (EarthX) it appears the largest is like 6x6x6, about 13 pounds, 800 CCA something like 1600 PCA. So yes, quite small. Prices I was quoting look like they were for their aircraft batteries ... so maybe $500.

They don't have nearly the voltage drop during starting that a lead acid battery does, which is why they turn the engine over so nicely.

Losing 40 lbs in the front corner of the car would be nice :)

PS: Here is a random brand I found on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Powertex-Batt...47c48c32f&th=1

Most of the industry made the change to eliminate the pro-rata warranty before I left the business (ACDelco territory manager) back in 2018. I think ACD made the change around 2015.

Why? Because most consumers thought (incorrectly) that a 5 year warranty was full replacement, not pro-rata. Interstate batteries was sued over the pro-rata warranty over 10 years ago.

"With each battery it sells, Interstate provides a “Limited Warranty,” which entitles Interstate customers to purchase a replacement battery at a prorated charge based upon the number of months the original battery lasted. Other retailers use the suggested retail price (or the price the consumer paid) as the price to be prorated. Interstate, however, calculates the monthly credit based upon an inflated “List Price,” which is not mentioned in Interstate’s Warranty, is about 20 percent higher than Interstate’s suggested retail price, and is even higher still than the price at which the batteries are typically sold."

In most cases, once you enter the pro-rata portion of the warranty (usually 12 - 18 months), the consumer really didn't receive much value.

ACD batteries have full replacement warranties ranging from 24 - 42 months, depending on the battery purchased.

To me, the longer full replacement warranty is more consumer friendly and much easier to understand.

Wow, and that's a group 24. I'll do some more digging. Bet there are group 78's out there too. I do like the punch the smaller size packs though.
Easy to hide that in a stock gutted battery.

pro-rata warranty
 

Pro-rate on a battery does nothing but anger the customer because they think when they plop it down on the counter that they are walking out with a free battery. Nope. I have yet to see a pro-rate over $50.00 New batteries are now around $200. for a 3 year free replacement. I do like AGM batteries and anybody who has had to replace a battery tray or inner fender should too. Most batteries are only going to last 3-4 years maybe a little longer if you keep them clean and charged. Optimas are NOT what they used to be. I see them failing around 3-4 years, I've warrantied some that tested bad at a year old. The AC Delco ones we sell only have an 18 month warranty.

Just FYI, O'Reilly Auto is currently running a 20% off promotion for online ship-to-home orders of $125 or greater. Although the deal excludes lead-acid batteries, you can get the discount on an AGM battery. I just ordered an Optima Redtop this morning and got $50 off, which brought the cost down to within $40 of a house brand (Super Start) lead-acid battery. Promo code is "FALL20".

My wife’s ‘14 Camaro went through three AGM batteries in one year. The problem was identified as shorting in the right quarter panel body electrical plug. Who would have thought that GM would use a water soluble di-electric grease to insulate an underbody connector….

It seems like typical off-the-shelf batteries have had a lot of quality issues in recent years.

I run the ODYSSEY 65-PC1750T AGM battery. 990 CCA. It’s not cheap, but I don’t want to mess with battery issues, and so far so good. I like having loads of cranking power and deep discharge. Also need the extra juice for my 15” sub. . . .

A bit like replacement headlights, they may work great, but geez some of them are ugly.

I had 3 lead acid car batts reveal weak starting last year. An Eye-opener. Used to get 10-years in the 455 Pontiacs with Hi-TQ Delco Starters. 2-year life is an embarrasing indicator.

My study on car Batts showed differing brands had identical case molds for same case size, like a Diehard, even the old batts that crapped, So I gave up on Batt quality and bought whatever Silver-grade in O'Rielly'sAdvancedZone sold.

Notable hopefuls (but not for me); Braille, AC-Delco, and all thee above.


$15-$18 core return at Advanced autoZone means the yard sale core for a dollar is a wise buy,

All the ACDelco batteries I see are either S. Korean or Communist Chinese. If there's a "better" product line for ACD, I don't know about it.

I have had good luck with Interstate batteries purchased from COSTCO and not one can come close to the price for an equivalent battery.

What timing. The 2012 Delco Freedom battery in my 62 Catalina finally died this weekend. I have no idea why it lasted 10 years. As a NAPA master dealer, I get good pricing on their batteries. Black case Legend batteries, however are now being sourced from at least 2 suppliers. Johnson Controls, and East Penn. One has a smooth top and the other has the two removeable lids. I prefer the flat top for the looks but you can't choose. In this new world order of "supply chain issues", you have to take what they can get for you. As mentioned, they have a 2 year free replacement warranty only, no pro-rata structure anymore. That never amounted to much after the 2 years anyway.

I would buy another Freedom battery but they are very hard to source around here. New car dealers are not interested in selling a group 24 battery for a 60 year old car and look at you like your some kind of alien if you go to buy one there. Then charge you double the cost of a NAPA battery. IMO, the DELCO batteries are a quality product though.

If i could modify the old GM Alternator's internal Voltage Regulator to match the Li-Ion Battery, i would:

Buy the Li-Ion, and keep the Lead-acid on a trickle-charge, with a power select switch for use in Winter temps.

Yep, that's been my problem for years. They don't generally stock a group 24 or 78 and they think your crazy for driving a 60 year old car and coming to a dealer looking for parts. Too high priced from the dealer anyway.
I always ran them for years though when I could buy them at the local Hamlet Auto Parts and it wasn't unusual that I would sometimes get 10 years out of one. Had that happen more than once. So no complaints, it's just that there aren't any mom and pop or chain auto stores around that even carry AC Delco batteries here.

I've had excellent luck for the last 15 years buying Interstate from Costco. They are black, nice flat tops, accept a battery topper, and they fit like they should. However I've never had one go 10 years like the Delco. A dozen cars here with them now and they all seem to die almost right on time. When they reach 5 years old I haven't had one make it past 6. In fact it's become almost like clockwork.

About 35 years ago I had a buddy call me up, he had a dead battery and he was broke. I had an old Interstate battery sitting on a shelf. It was from a POS Dodge 2.2 liter motor, so it was a small battery. My buddies car was a '67 Cutlass with a 330 and a Turboglide. It was a true survivor and was actually a pretty cool car. Anyway, I told him I had the battery but it had been sitting on the shelf for about a year or more and had not been maintained and I didn't think that little battery would crank his car but we could give it a try. So I went over and put it in and it spun it right over like nothing. I still can't believe it.

The Advantage line of ACDelco - that's their entry level battery (also the cheapest) - is produced in Korea. The old, "you get what you pay for" adage applies here. ACDelco has this line to be price competitive with the "Brand X" batteries carried by many retail locations. It has the 18 month full replacement warranty.

See image at the link below showing the Advantage, Professional Gold and Silver batteries for a Chevy Cruze.

https://www.cruzetalk.com/threads/cr...-specs.245990/


I've been to the Johnson Control's battery plant in St. Joseph, MO where the Professional line of ACDelco (gold and silver line) batteries are produced.. Last time I checked, MO is still in the United States. The Gold has a 42 month full replacement warranty and the Silver has a 30 month.

As you can see from the link, the most important spec of a battery (the reserve capacity) is much higher on the Gold and Silver line.

Most people think that the cold cranking amp rating is important, but it really isn't as most all batteries come with more CCA's than needed. A rule of thumb is that you need 1 CCA for every cubic inch of displacement, so for the 1.8L Chevy Cruze in the above image, 110 CCA's would be sufficient. How many people drive a vehicle with 525 cubic inches (the lowest rating of CCA's of all three batteries)?

I wouldn't purchased anything but a Professional line battery from ACDelco.

Don't know what it is with batteries these days ... seems like even within the same brand you get identical batteries, one lasts ten years, the other two years. OEM battery in my 2001 GMC was good when I sold it ten years later, my 2011 GMC OEM battery died after three years, and now it's on it's third battery. I've had NAPA Legends last forever, and last a couple of years.
Seems like 40 years ago you bought a Die Hard and they all lasted ten years.

What do you mean match the Lithium battery? Like in a newer model car?

Typically the LiFePO4 batteries take the same charge voltage as lead acid. I put one in my 22 year old motorcycle and the charging voltage is right in line with what the Li battery manufacturers want. Plus the onboard battery management would handle any over-charge situation.

As for low temps, not really an issue for most people. If you live somewhere where average temps are lower than maybe 20 degrees, and you park outside ... you might have to turn the headlights on for a minute or so before starting to warm up the battery.

In my case I bought one with no output current limiter, technically made for snowmobiles .. but I wanted no output limiter because the bike is such a beast to start.

Lead-acid gets 14.4 V for maximum charge voltage at room temp, and scales vs wild temperature.

Li-Ipn is locked in multiples of 3.7V for proper charge rate (a tight scale exist from 3.9 to 3.65v if you know what you are doingk).

4 Li-ion Cells in series x 3.7 = 14.8 V for Proper charge voltage. Imagine only 4 series cells, so a few in parallel for reliable current draw. I believe Li-ion celles need a very narrow temperature range to be reliable. Too cold and they play dead or are dead. Too hot and any dirty chemistry activates.

Lithium tech has variations, so i could be wrongk, yet i doubt it until spcifics are shown.

I think you should talk with a manufacturer of a LiFEPO4 battery before anything.

Thanks for the replies. I went back to the Autozone 800 CCA like I had before.

For the sake of discussion, a number of race cars at the shop where I store and work on my GTO have lithium ion car batteries. The shop staff really dislike dealing with them because they are easier to permanently kill if there is a power draw that fully depletes the battery, and they cost a boat load to replace. They accidentally killed one in a highly modified Porsche and had to buy the owner a replacement to the tune of over a thousand bucks. No thanks. For a street car, I'll find other ways to save weight.

Any decent LiFePo battery has discharge protection in the battery manager, so basically impossible to discharge them enough to damage the battery. There are a lot of them out there now, not all of them are protected, lots of Chinese garbage too.

The brand I bought has LiFePo batteries that are FAA approved for aircraft, I'm guessing the requirements are pretty tough.

While the cold weather behavior is exaggerated a bit ... I don't think I'd put one in my truck in my climate where we can see below zero temps.

Charging range for LiFePo batteries is typically 13.8 - 14.6, they don't like more, they don't like less ... most vehicles before 1986 don't control voltage tight enough, so they would have to be updated to use one.