....and I live in Minnesota. And the truck (293 V8) is parked outside.

The old battery still seems to be fine; do I replace it anyway just
because, or try to get another year out of it? (I asked myself the same
question last year)

Bob

On Oct 8, 1:25*am, zxcvbob <zxcv... (AT) charter (DOT) net> wrote:
Bob:

I live in Yorktown, Virginia and leave the truck outside all the time,
my 2001 Silverado 4.8L is now 9 years old and the battery has never
hesitated once. Consumer reports November, 2009 issue states that
with todays improved ignitions, engines start much faster and the
stress on batteries has been reduced. Interestingly enough they also
state that hot weather deteriorates the battery more than cold
weather, it is in the winter when the battery has to put out more
current that this deterioration shows up. Keep checking your battery
magic eye, if it is getting smaller the battery is getting weaker and
since your vehicle starts quick your battery could give up
unexpectedly. My experience with car batteries with electronic
ignition systems has shown that you typically still get a momentary
loss of current when the battery is nearing the end of life. This can
vary from nearly undetectable to having to recycle the key to off and
to the start position again, even doing this several times before the
engine starts. Eventually the engine does not start at all as the
bottom of the battery has built up flakes that touch the bottom of the
plates and these flakes will discharge the battery overnight. The
ability to start the car by recycling the key most likely
redistributes these flakes to the point they do not take your cell
voltages down far enough to prevent starting the car. Other people
have told me they has their battery give no warning, I guess it
depends on just how "flaky" your battery is, pun intended.

davidlochr (AT) yahoo (DOT) com
EE

"zxcvbob" <zxcvbob (AT) charter (DOT) net> wrote

That must be the last year that AC Delco made batteries to their old
standards. I haven't gotten 2 years out of one in any of my newer trucks.
Come to think of it... the one in my 2001 only lasted about a year too
before the terminal fell off. Maybe you got an early 2001 with a 2000 model
year battery. LOL.

Put it on a pedestal and take a picture.

Sounds like I have a thing against AC Delco, but not really. Way back when
we had a hardware and auto parts store. We got AC Delco parts at WD pricing
through our True Value franchise for many years. In the many years we had
the store we sold a number of brands of batteries, but had the best luck
with AC/Delco batteries of all the brands we sold. By best luck I mean
least returns, least defectives, longest life. We didn't sell every brand
on the planet, but we sold 5 or 6 brands over the years. the AC/Delco
batteries were the best we sold.

When I was finally able to afford my first brand new truck in 2001 the
battery was one thing I didn't worry about until it failed. My 2002 truck
also had a couple battery failures until I switched to an 85 month Carquest
battery. (checker sucked) my 2003 Silverado got a Carquest battery also
when its Delco battery failed. My 2004 Colorado got one too. The 2002
Avalanche battery lasted almost two years, and then it got a Sears battery
which is still in it as far as I know. (My wife's truck.) Can't speak for
the battery in my 2008 Silverado as I had a disagreement on the road with a
wild burro and the burro won. However, I just replaced the batteries in my
2007 diesel Silverado. One was shorted internally and steaming out the
vent. Figured I better replace them both to be safe.

2001 Sonoma 1 year, 1 year, different brand
2002 S-10 1 year, 6 months, different brand
2002 Avalanche 1500 almost 2 years, different brand
2003 Silverado 2500HD 18 months, different brand
2004 Colorado 1 year, different brand
2007 Silverado 2500HD Diesel 2 years, different brand
2008 Silverado 1500 less than 6 months and a wild burro ate my truck

I have tried Checker 80 month warranty batteries, but they didn't last and
they gave me a hard time about warranty.

I had good luck with the Carquest 80+ month warranty batteries, but I mostly
used them because Bingham (the local Carquest dealer) was a client of mine.

I get a fleet discount from Sears now so I'll probably go with the Sears
Platinum batteries for a few years and see how they hold up. They have 4
years free replacement, and 4 years prorated.

Right now I am running the Carquest battery in my 2003 Silverado. The same
one I changed out from the Delco battery. Still cranks right over, and I
have caught my son out washing stuff, with the doors open and the stereo
blasting. The 2007 2500 Diesel got Sears platinum batteries the other day,
and both of our cars have Sears platinum batteries.

Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. The Chevy Malibu and the Pontiac Vibe had the
Delco batteries fail in less than 2 years also. Just replaced the battery
in the Vibe yesterday.

Now, somebody might argue that I could or should go over to the GM or Chevy
dealer and have all those batteries replaced under warranty, but I don't
want to have to replace batteries that often. My time is worth more than
that working, and I don't want a truck sitting in the shop for half a day
and a guy waiting around for a ride or taking up the time of two guys to
replace a battery.

Good batteries cost real money, but the time and headaches they save are
worth it.

So... again I say. Place that battery on a pedestal and recognize its
achievement.

On Fri, 9 Oct 2009 09:16:07 -0700, "Bob La Londe" <nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) no>
wrote:

For a while CostCo was selling Delco batteries. I put two of them in
two different vehicles, almost on the same day. Then almost exactly
one year later, both of them failed on THE same day. Even for AZ that
was a new record for short battery life for me.

The original poster should go buy some lottery tickets! :-)

Lately I get 2 years max out of several brands of batteries. I
literally just change 'em by calendar - cheaper than a tow or waiting
for a jump somewhere.

G wrote:

I had the battery tested a few days ago. They told me the battery
needed to be replaced because it was down to 485 CCA. (It's a 600 CCA
battery.) 485 sounds pretty good to me, so I think I'm gonna try to go
another year. I carry jumper cables with me -- good ones -- and it's
most likely to fail in the morning anyway, when I can put a charger on
it. If that happens more than once this winter I'll replace it.

Bob

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:13:44 -0500, zxcvbob <zxcvbob (AT) charter (DOT) net>
wrote:


I wonder if they tested a NEW 600 CCA battery what their tester would
show.