Batteries ? - Diesel Forum

MikeZR-1 · 10-14-2009, 08:25 PM

Well it's time to change them both, I have not had much luck with Nappa or any of the other chain stores. Recommendations please.

Jamo · 10-14-2009, 09:27 PM

I liked (and used) Interstate until they moved their store out of my area. As a contractor, I have lots of stuff with batteries & they were very good to me. Since they left, I went with NAPA & have been happy with thier stuff. They did have the best price when I had to buy 2 8-D's for my '53 GMC PD-4104...at about $160 per.

SIC-E · 10-15-2009, 01:21 AM

HEY MIKE,
wal-mart's ever start's get a lot of good press and warranty is great. motorcraft are also actually good batt.s. hope all is well. get yer previous issues worked out? still wanna see the wally world van now that its all tricked out on the int. richard

anash13 · 10-15-2009, 08:58 AM

Mike:
Check out Wal-Mart as SIC suggested.
I just had them change out mine...they will install them free.
Consumers Report give there "EVER-START" Batt's a very high rating, read it for yourself.
Now Wal-Mart "Ever-Start" make two type Batt's, One for Cold weather, One for Worm areas.
The price was very right $165.00 installed out the door for both.

MikeZR-1 · 10-15-2009, 10:05 AM

Dam rain can't get **** done today. Wall mart, **** I would have never looked there and they will install free, they did the ****ty one on the bottom thats worth $160 by it's self.

Hey Slice, lets hook up some time soon I'd love to show you the van. If you get down my way give me a call, I really want to show you my ambulance and see what you think. Let me know if you need my # and I'll Pm.

Premier Kirby · 10-15-2009, 10:17 AM

I put interstates in my 6.0 liter which has BOTH underneath. I figured I want the best because if you get stuck in the cold with a bad battery its a real pain to swap them out on these vans

Your right about those auto parts store batteries, some are pretty sorry. Like the ones O'reilly sells are crap.

Make sure you always replace both at once of course

carringb · 10-15-2009, 11:52 AM

I would recommend not going with Interstate. THey have changed their warranty policies, and dealers will not warranty out batteries any more.

I've had interstate in the past, and when my 2-year old interstate battery needed replacing last week, and the interstate dealers wouldn't do it, I decided no more. This time I went with a Les Schwab Xt battery.

msnunes · 10-15-2009, 10:20 PM

Basically, anything made by Johnson Controls -- Interstate, Optima, and generic brands at WalMart, Costco, Autozone, and many others probably. I have Optima Yellow Tops in right now, because I wanted a maintenance-free deep cycle, but I'm not happy with their short warranty, considering I already lost one after about 2 years. It's been a few years now I guess, and I'm trying to decide whether to trust them longer, replace them sooner than later, or replace them with something conventional. Jury's out...

Premier Kirby · 10-15-2009, 10:36 PM

with me "warranty" might as well be a four letter word because that is all it seems to be worth these days. I never take much stock in if something has a warranty or not because I always assume there will be some way for them to weasel out of it or some exception etc etc.

msnunes · 10-16-2009, 11:17 AM

Yeah-- I was just surprised to have an Optima go out after 2-3 years, and then find out it had no warranty left for what I thought was a premature failure. I thought they were meant to last a while, and have a warranty to match.

ckanderson · 10-16-2009, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carringb

I would recommend not going with Interstate. THey have changed their warranty policies, and dealers will not warranty out batteries any more.

I've had interstate in the past, and when my 2-year old interstate battery needed replacing last week, and the interstate dealers wouldn't do it, I decided no more. This time I went with a Les Schwab Xt battery.

what are you talking about?

find a better dealer, we warrenty them without an issue.

doesnt cost us anything to do it

carringb · 10-16-2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckanderson

what are you talking about?

find a better dealer, we warrenty them without an issue.

doesnt cost us anything to do it

I tried every dealer in town. Interstate now recharges and retests the batteries upon receipt, and if not dead dealer won't get comped for new battery.

My battery wasn't totally dead, but only had about 20 minutes of reserve power with the radio on. That means 4-way flashers without engine running would last less than 10 minutes. Not acceptable. But, if tested immediately after driving, it would test fine.

Seeing how every interstate dealer told me the same thing, and also said until about 4 months ago my situation would not be an issue, I have no doubt it really is interstate who will not longer fully back their batteries.

So, now it's Les Schwab's who warrantees everything no questions.

Alaskapsdvan · 10-16-2009, 04:26 PM

For me there is a local shop that repairs starters, alts basically things Elect. That is where I get the batteries for my van.
The man has lived here for to many years to count and has seen what has and what has not worked in the way of batteries.

Yes I might be paying a little more, but he is a local business and knows more about batteries than I do or most of the box stores or auto part chains.

Just my thoughts on this.

MikeZR-1 · 10-16-2009, 11:15 PM

I'm trying to find some Deka's, I found a place in Ashland let you know Monday.

LarryM · 10-17-2009, 06:29 AM

I'm now a Wal-Mart battery fan. They seem to give good service and you can't beat the warranty of availability of places to get replacements even in the middle of the night in some cases.

Larry