New battery time

[ericsmith32]

Well the Aspire's battery quit today, quite suddenly to. The Exide was 7 years old, set for one year not being used so I figured that was pretty good run. I sort of wonder if the new amp had anything to do with it? The ignition switch has decided to let me remove the key whenever I want, that's a good feature if I can train her to properly shut off the key, that's what killed it I believe. Now I have to decide on $75-80 for Autocraft Titanuim or Interstate or just going with a $110 for a optima.. decisions decisions and no money what a day. I won't buy a cheapy though, i'll probably have the aspire for a long time.

[FB71]

Interstate, IMO, is probably your best bet. I've used them in my vehicles for decades. In fact, the one in my dad's 90 Mustang conv is starting its second decade.

[darkdan]

Optimas are mostly hype IMO. Plus, I don't think any of them properly fit our aspires.

I'd rather have more CCA anyways. You might want to check out Motorcraft batteries too.

[25Horseplay]

Stay away from Optima's, I have had freind's who worked at parts stores and they said Optima's are always being returned.

[ericsmith32]

The one I had in the escort a couple years ago liked to gurgle.. very odd but it worked good. I didn't realize a interstate store is 5 miles from the house. Atihanmier had a optima in his aspire and it fit. If the terminals are to the rear it helps, thats the only reason the corolla's battery fit.

[Roboskittle]

I have heard nothing but garbage about Optimas as well. A friend of mine actually blew one up in his car. He didnt do anything stupid with it like hook it up backwards it was just a pile of ass.

[Guest]

depends on the battery type I guess.. my optima yellow top dry cell has been working great for 3 years now..

[FB71]

I don't like Motorcrafts because they're made by Johnson Controls. Same people who make AC Delco/Delphi and DieHard, both of which suck ass. Most JCI batteries last 3 to 5 years.

[ericsmith32]

Neverstart's are made by JCI also.. correct? I don't care much for JCI. The motorcraft in truck, which is 2000, went out in 2002. The diehard is the festiva is getting weaker by the day and it's only 2-3 years old. Neverstart's only last a couple years also, the lawnmower batteries one year. But I thought Interstate's were made by JCI also, only to higher standards? I was thinking about a dry-cell for around 80 bucks but I can't find enough info to decide if it would be good for daily-drivers.

[FB71]

to my knowledge, no, they weren't associated w/JCI, but I could be wrong.

[FB71]

OK, did a little digging on Interstate Batteries....

Its a privately held company, based in Dallas, TX, and has a manufacturing / distributuion center in Des Moines, IO. They do not have any affiliation w/ JCI.

Toyota has recently adopted a privately-labeled Interstate battery as a warranty service replacement (TrueStart). This supplants the OEM Furukawa batteries in Japan-built vehicles, and the Delphi/JCI batteries in US-built vehicles. The Furu's are too expensive to import for service replacements, and the JCI's are not meeting Toyota quality requirements.

Hope this helps...

[darkdan]

My motorcraft battery is still working 9.5 years later in my truck. =)

Of course, it only has 64k miles on it, but that's a lot of sitting around and starts in the dead of MN winter.

[fastivaca]

Here's a funny battery story for you...

I had a 64 Galaxie convertible and was visiting a local speed shop. Came back out to the car and found I needed a jumpstart. One of the guys at the store came out to help saying "damn Fords". Pulled in front of my car with his Chev pick up popped the hood and lo and behold he had a Motorcraft battery then popped my hood to reveal... you guessed it... an AC/Delco battery. I just smiled and said thank you

[ericsmith32]

:laughing3: I have ac delco in the f150 now but it's leaking worse than any battery i've ever had. The motorcraft in my sister's focus was 5 years old and still working good, she was getting nervous so we changed it out still using it in the older f150 though. Anymore I think it has to do with luck. Well Interstate has 550cca/75 months for 71.95 or a reconditioned for 25 (basically has a little use and a one year warranty, but I won't go that route), or 640cca for 77.95, I probably go for the bigger.

[ericsmith32]

hmm put the exide in the corolla and it started right up, I wonder if I should trust Advanced Auto's battery tester?