Crap Batteries Nowadays.....

[ffuries]

So when we bought out 06 Ford Expedition in Nov 2018, it came with a battery installed in February 2018. So I never really gave it much thought.

Well today my wife ran a quick errand across the highway and when she went to leave the store the truck wouldn't start. She popped the hood, and went "Holy Shit", there was green shit growing off the terminals, she cleaned them up and tried to start it, and nothing.

Calls me, I walk across the highway, playing frogger with the traffic, and she managed to get it started. OK, no problem, we get home, pop the hood and as I wiggle the connectors to make sure they are tight and the damn battery post moves. I didn't try it, but it seems loose enough to pull it out of the battery.

2 1/2 year old battery and it's falling apart, talk about shitty QA and products. Why can't companies take pride in their products anymore?

Going to replace the battery tomorrow with a higher quality battery. Any recommendations?

Had a Interstate battery in my Jeep that lasted 7 years.

The shitty battery in the Ford was a ValuePower from Walmart it's defective after 2 1/2 years. Apparently the cheapest model they have!

[awalker1829]

Stick with Interstate. They’re good batteries. The transportation museum I volunteer at needs a lot of batteries and negotiated a good deal with our local Interstate dealer. If we need a new battery, we give them the core and they give us a new battery one for one. We get a battery and they can write off the new battery as a charitable donation.

[ffuries]

Stick with Interstate. They’re good batteries. The transportation museum I volunteer at needs a lot of batteries and negotiated a good deal with our local Interstate dealer. If we need a new battery, we give them the core and they give us a new battery one for one. We get a battery and they can write off the new battery as a charitable donation.

She was up early as usual, and went and ran her errands. Which included getting a new Interstate battery and swapping them out. All before the dogs and I got up today

She didnt try to pull the post out, but she did manage to turn the post a full 360 degrees with little resistance on the old one. No wonder the truck didn't want to start......

ETA: She just informed me the old one is in the back of the truck, I'll have to see if the post moves up.

ETA: Just checked it comes up a little, maybe a 1/4 of an inch at most.

[Miller Tyme]

Wifes 2011 Camero still has its original battery in it, and this past summer I replaced the 4-6v Trogan inverter batteries as they no longer woukd run my fridge while on the beach. The batteries they replace where installed in 2006, so I went back with Trogans again.

[Junk Yard Dog]

When you buy cheap Chinese battery's you get exactly what you pay for. If you have a shitbox that your selling that needs a battery then the cheap crap is the way to go, so long as it started up for the test ride. Good battery's are 90-110 or more bucks, Dekka, Interstate, we use them both, there are no Walmart battery's here, or other econo specials. When a battery shits the bed, and equipment won't start, we lose time, and time is money, I fucking hate equipment down time. Better to spend some extra on the battery, and avoid at least that problem for a few years or more.

Problem two, green crap on the terminals doesn't happen in a day or two, not even with a loose post, weeks maybe. This tells me you aren't opening that hood daily to check fluid levels or you would have noticed the battery terminal issue sooner, this can lead to large and very expensive problems. Some vehicles have expensive electronic components under the battery tray or very close to it, things that don't respond well to an acid bath. I get vehicles in here with the hood latches rusted shut, and these idiots complain that the car shit the bed in less time than they expected. Your engine blew? Did you check, and or change the oil? No? Well, enjoy the three/five/ten grand that's going to cost you. Cars and truck now come with no transmission dipsticks, or even engine oil dipsticks, stupidest shit I ever heard of. I will keep my rusty '68 Buick, and you can shove that new crap, I want to see that oil in the engine myself. What it looks like and how it smells can sound the alarm for impending engine issues. Ever see motor oil turn babyshit brown? That's your head gasket/intake gasket failure alarm before the engine lets go. Now tell me how you will be able to see that if there is no dipstick? Coolant in the crankcase due to failed head gaskets ( Subaru) or failed intake manifold's, or manifold gaskets ( Ford, GM) is the number one reason I get vehicles with blown engines. Idiot lights and computers to monitor fluid levels because people are so lazy, and stupid it boggles my imagination. In the old days we pulled the auto tranny dipstick to smell the fluid and check the color. Dark fluid that smelled like burnt clutch meant an expensive repair was coming soon. Now transmissions are sealed units, special tools are needed to add fluid, or even check it, and there is no way to see it. The fluid level can drop quite a bit before the computer notices it, if it's monitoring it at all. Run your transmission low on fluid and it will start to do damage. Most people don't inspect the underside of the engine for wet spots indicating fluid seepage.

Get a good battery, check it regularly along with everything that it is possible to check under the hood. Always keep your battery terminals clean, because I can tell you right now, the entire auto repair industry is ready, and waiting to relieve you of your money, and they LOVE negligence repairs$$$$$

[ffuries]

When you buy cheap Chinese battery's you get exactly what you pay for. If you have a shitbox that your selling that needs a battery then the cheap crap is the way to go, so long as it started up for the test ride. Good battery's are 90-110 or more bucks, Dekka, Interstate, we use them both, there are no Walmart battery's here, or other econo specials. When a battery shits the bed, and equipment won't start, we lose time, and time is money, I fucking hate equipment down time. Better to spend some extra on the battery, and avoid at least that problem for a few years or more.

Problem two, green crap on the terminals doesn't happen in a day or two, not even with a loose post, weeks maybe. This tells me you aren't opening that hood daily to check fluid levels or you would have noticed the battery terminal issue sooner, this can lead to large and very expensive problems. Some vehicles have expensive electronic components under the battery tray or very close to it, things that don't respond well to an acid bath. I get vehicles in here with the hood latches rusted shut, and these idiots complain that the car shit the bed in less time than they expected. Your engine blew? Did you check, and or change the oil? No? Well, enjoy the three/five/ten grand that's going to cost you. Cars and truck now come with no transmission dipsticks, or even engine oil dipsticks, stupidest shit I ever heard of. I will keep my rusty '68 Buick, and you can shove that new crap, I want to see that oil in the engine myself. What it looks like and how it smells can sound the alarm for impending engine issues. Ever see motor oil turn babyshit brown? That's your head gasket/intake gasket failure alarm before the engine lets go. Now tell me how you will be able to see that if there is no dipstick? Coolant in the crankcase due to failed head gaskets ( Subaru) or failed intake manifold's, or manifold gaskets ( Ford, GM) is the number one reason I get vehicles with blown engines. Idiot lights and computers to monitor fluid levels because people are so lazy, and stupid it boggles my imagination. In the old days we pulled the auto tranny dipstick to smell the fluid and check the color. Dark fluid that smelled like burnt clutch meant an expensive repair was coming soon. Now transmissions are sealed units, special tools are needed to add fluid, or even check it, and there is no way to see it. The fluid level can drop quite a bit before the computer notices it, if it's monitoring it at all. Run your transmission low on fluid and it will start to do damage. Most people don't inspect the underside of the engine for wet spots indicating fluid seepage.

Get a good battery, check it regularly along with everything that it is possible to check under the hood. Always keep your battery terminals clean, because I can tell you right now, the entire auto repair industry is ready, and waiting to relieve you of your money, and they LOVE negligence repairs$$$$$

Had an oil change a month ago, you would have thought they would have mentioned it. They topped off the window washer fluid, checked the trans fluid, brake fluid, and power steering fluid.

Now with that said, we are averaging at most 50 miles a month, with this pandemic shit going on. Yeah I haven't done any maintenance yet on this truck, other than taking it in for oil changes and fluid checks. Unlike my Jeep which I was under it or under the hood weekly it seems.

5 months ago, I did detail the engine compartment, engine and the underneath. I basically steamed cleaned everything and then wipe it down. That way if a leak started I could trace it back to its origins. Not that there was much to clean other than road grime. The battery terminals were clean/clear at that time, although I did notice there were no felt pads under the connectors. That was on my list to fix but never did it, she did put them on during the battery change. She also coated the terminals with dielectric something we done with our other vehicles.

Guess I'll double check all the fluids just to be sure, although I saw the mechanic do that during the oil change. Use to do it all myself, but it kills my back getting up into the engine compartment reaching all the dipsticks and underneath to do the oil change. This thing sits way higher than the Jeeps did.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Solution to difficulty reaching under hood of high vehicles, Honda Civic. I put a pallet on the forklift and use it as a work platform when I need to get things done on the M37's engine, and it's absolutely necessary for working on the big FWD dump.

[ffuries]

Solution to difficulty reaching under hood of high vehicles, Honda Civic. I put a pallet on the forklift and use it as a work platform when I need to get things done on the M37's engine, and it's absolutely necessary for working on the big FWD dump.

I bet, long are my days of acting like a monkey and climbing into engine compartments and sitting in there doing work.

Crawling under a vehicle to do work is not happening for me anymore either. If I get under there I'm never going to make it out on my own (Unless I use a creeper) then there is the issue of getting back on my feet.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Solution to difficulty reaching under hood of high vehicles, Honda Civic. I put a pallet on the forklift and use it as a work platform when I need to get things done on the M37's engine, and it's absolutely necessary for working on the big FWD dump.

I bet, long are my days of acting like a monkey and climbing into engine compartments and sitting in there doing work.

Crawling under a vehicle to do work is not happening for me anymore either. If I get under there I'm never going to make it out on my own (Unless I use a creeper) then there is the issue of getting back on my feet.

It's not possible to get inside an engine compartment to work on the engine anymore. Two reasons, too much crap stuffed in there so no more room for you, and it's all highly technical crap that you have to be a trained technician to even barely understand let alone work on. As for the getting up off the floor thing, that's easy, the medics who arrive with the ambulance will do it for you.

[Rongo]

I never buy Wallyworld batteries.... Total crap. They call them Everstarts.... I call them NEVERSTARTS. & they are by no means cheap either. I get mine at Fleet Farm or I also Like Interstate.

I bought my John Deere Tractor/Mower back in 1999. Sold it in 2014... Still had the original Battery. Would start right up on the coldest day.

[awalker1829]

Nice thing about transit buses is that the rear position makes the motor easy to get at. Even better is having a spare motor. The motor sits on a cradle which can be removed by a forklift. If an MTA bus needs anything more than a fluid or belt change, they just pull the motor and put a rebuilt one in. Working on a motor on a stand is much more comfortable. If I get myself a bus and build a garage, it will have an in floor pit. Many transit agency garages have maintenance pits. The advantages of pits are you can put multiple buses over one pit (if it’s long enough) and it’s much safer that putting the bus on a lift.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I watched that bus grease monkey guy on youtube swap a 1940's GM bus 6-71 Detroit like that, just pulled the entire rear cradle out.