Hi all, so both my camaro's don't get much use currently. I have gone through so many batteries. I have used Sears Die Hard, Duralast yellow top, exide...I have the batteries on a trickle charger on a timer and I have a battery cut off switch on the battery wire (only a little power stays connected to the car).

No matter what, my battery dies every couple of years. Literally I have a stack of batteries in my yard. One cell always dies (usually the first).

I have been looking online and at AGM batteries. I saw that AC Delco use to make one for our cars but it doesn't like it is being made anymore. I have seen a lot of Optimum battery red top failures. From all I have read, the quality of the red tops is not what it use be.

Anyways thoughts on best batteries to use? AGM batteries? etc.

 

I had a a/c delco that came with my car 5 years ago,still kicking.

 

Daily driver or occasional? The crappy batteries they make now a days can last so long as its been used on a daily.

 

A couple thousand miles in the nice months,I have a company truck so it only gets off hours use.
It gets disconnected from Thanksgiving untill the end of April,no tender,just in a cold shed.

 

You are not cycling your battery enough for it to have a long life. The cheap trickle charger ain't gonna cut it. Maybe something like a computerized Shumacher charger might do the trick.
As far as long battery life, I got something like 94 months out of a 74 month NAPA battery in my GMC K1500 truck. But, I upgraded to the kick-a$$ CS-144 alternator. I think that has a lot to do with it.

 

I found that Sears premium ones (but not the gel) are quite reliable. Stay away from auto-parts store self-branded batteries IMHO.

 

The original Delco in my '89 lasted 11 years, the next Delco lasted 9 years, in the past 8 years, I've gone through 3 Delcos.

Definitely a decrease in quality.

 

My Original ACDelco Battery Lasted 10 Years.

 

Still on my Red Top.

Car is driven once or twice a week. Never on a tender.

 

You West Coast Guys Are Lucky,You Can Drive Yours All Year,Us East Coast Guys Have To Put Ours To Sleep For 3 Or 4 Months During The Winter.

 

You obviously have not been in Los Angeles rush hour traffic. LOL. Although, it does put our cars to the test with the cooling system. I've stopped using the Autozone batteries as every three months I had to replace them. I went to O'Reily's and have not had a problem with them so far.

 

Here's what I use.= https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart...e-75S/21984264
The first one lasted 6 years and the one I have know is on year # 3.

Your alternator and the connections to and from the battery must be in good condition and tight or even the best battery's will fail.

Autozone and others offer a free test of your hole charging system including alternator, battery, and starter in about one minutes time.

Just pull in and ask for the test.

 

90+% of the batteries sold out there are all made by just three companies. Johnson controls, Exide, and East Penn.

Sears, ACDelco, Optima, Die Hard, Interstate.... these are just retail labels. They mean nothing.

They are ALL junk. ESPECIALLY Optima. Johnson Controls bought them out, stripped all the quality out of them for mass production, fired all the talent, sent the manufacturing the Mexico. Completely garbage now.

If you want a decent battery, find one made by Enersys. Odyssey is their major label. I believe Die Hard Platinum is an Enersys. There may be a scant few other rebranded. As far as I know they are the only manufacturer using 99.99% pure virgin lead in their AGM's (like Optima used to before the acquisition and gutting).

This one for cars that sit:



Sadly that's the situation. The vast majority of everything people have stated above is just anecdotal - almost all those batteries are made by Johnson Controls and came from the same factory.

GD

 

I don't have much to add to the topic of "the best" car battery , I just must be the luckiest guy on earth because Optima , Die hard , and "Duralast" batteries have all given me at least as many years of service as I expected of them , and most have lasted even longer than my expectations .

But when I saw the thread title "Battery eating monsters" I just had to laugh , ya wanna talk REAL battery eating monsters ??? You gotta go upbrand and look at the Caddys and Lincolns of the early to mid 1980s instead of third gen F bodies , in stock form the rear defroster on my Caddy likely drew more power than the entire electrical system on my Bird !

 

I had the same issues until I went with a better trickle charger. I was putting a new battery in my boat every year and one in the f body every couple years. Went with a 2 bank Deltran Battery Tender and I remove the batteries each fall and set them on a rack in my garage. I'm on the fourth year for the boat so it was well worth the $130 investment.

 

I'm with you on this one. I've had Deltran Battery Tenders for years. I got 8 years each out of the two sets of batteries in my Suburban (DuraCells from Sam's Club), I'm on the 3rd year for the AC Delco battery in the T/A (which wasn't new when I got it), I think this will be my 5th season with the deep cycle in the travel trailer, several on the one in my Olds, etc. etc. I buy good quality American Made batteries, and keep them charged with a good quality trickle charger. I've never had a spiral cell, a gel cell, an AGM...just good old fashioned flooded lead acid batteries.

 

Beat me to it almost word for word, or is it word for thought since I hadn't typed it yet? Yup, AutoZone batteries are Johnson along with Optima and those are the two brands that I run. Anymore you're just buying the same battery just with a different company name on it. I am content with a 3-5 year warranty from an auto parts store. Just buy the one with the best warranty and take care of your battery. I keep the Camaro on a computerized battery tender and the batteries last over five years. If you think the battery is headed south then have the battery checked and check your car for parasitic voltage loss while the car is sitting. Most places if the battery registers as being OK but with low output they will replace or refund what is left in the warranty. I've done it twice.

All that being said, If you were not able to have the battery on a tender or monitor the battery or check for parasitic draw I would definitely invest in one of the better batteries and probably the $50 a year for a AAA membership.

 

Hey guys great thread. I have had both my batteries on schumacher trickle chargers. I have now just picked up a Battery Tender for whatever battery I get.

I have also done the warranty replacement via autozone twice. They only give you 1 replacement after that its prorated. Totally junk and annoying.

I am thinking of getting that AGM battery mentioned, but hell that is expensive! Trying to see if I have any other options for the AGM battery. ACDelco no longer makes the right size I believe.

 

The original delco battery in my daily is going on 10 yrs.
Optima (red) in my 89 formula 350 is over 10 yrs old (driven 2-3 times a month?)
Napa battery in my wifes ra trans am is 7 yrs old
And I have a few other random stragglers that are atleast 5 yrs old or so.
I do put a cheapie trickle charger on them while in garage for the winter for a few days a month.

 

I have had good luck with all of the optima batteries I've owned over the years, but knowing that they are not made the same anymore is sort of deterring me from buying another one.

The two Interstates in my diesel seemed a little weak this last winter so I have been throwing the idea around of buying a new set before this winter.

 

Interstate is just a re-branded Johnson Controls. They also own Optima.

Go with Odyssey.

GD

 

Who makes Delco batteries?

 

The same people that make napa batteries (I think)

 

 

Well, that explains a lot.

 

I'll give them a look. I'm just not looking forward to the cost of two big batteries for the diesel lol!

 

MY Yellow top is 10 years old. Still kicking strong. (1 of the ole USA made ones)

 

I have a 17 year old Die Hard in the Camaro. When it's not being driven it's hooked up to one of these:

http://www.batteryminders.com/batter...er-desulfator/

 

17 years, well that maintainer must do what it promises.
It's only $29.99 right now at Northern.

 

I have 3 East Penn (Deka) AGM batteries and so far I am happy with them, but I have only had them a few years. They make a lot of different batteries, forklifts and such, and I think the warranty's are pretty good.
I had one USA made Optima and it was great, outlasted the warranty by several years, even though I killed it few times, even worked after being frozen and dead twice. Got another car with a Mexico Optima and it was garbage. I have been reading more and more about how poor they are now. Some people try to justify the need to have a "special" charger for the Optima, I just read it as justifying a junk battery since an alternator doesn't care what battery or type is connected to it.

 

I just read it as justifying a junk battery since an alternator doesn't care what battery or type is connected to it.

Good point.

 

I have a lot of experience with the Odyssey "stereo deck" batteries. The little guys with 550 cranking amps but not much reserve... use them on race cars a lot. I can't tell you how many times we kill those units dead flat. They ALWAYS come back. It's pretty impressive.

GD