How Time Flies!
 

A couple weeks ago, the first time out for this spring for the 78SC...the battery was dead. Charged it up and it worked fine for a few days and then the cold weather returned.
The battery is an AutoCraft and I couldn't see the age sticker because of the cables.

Today, the battery is dead again, so I decided to pull it and replace it. I was totally surprised to find a 11-07 sticker under the positive cables...I never thought it was that old.

Went to Advance Auto and bought a 650 cca AutoCraft for $189
If it lasts 16 years again...someone else will be replacing it. :D

The salesman at Advanced Auto said that AutoCraft and DieHard are the same now.
Not sure if true...

That would just mean they both suck :(. I used to only buy DieHards for decades ... a long time ago.

You musta been having some kind of fun these past 16 years tho' :)

16 years is not too shabby!

I'm in the process of building a 12v battery based on 18650 cells. I have most of the parts but I need a good/solid/strong/gas proof container. Thinking maybe the base of a regular battery with a custom top?

Long live DieHard...(or AutoCraft) :D

Here's a pic of the one I just replaced. The green date sticker might be hard to read.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1684707405.jpg

The last agm battery (red top Optima) lasted three years in my 84 Carrera.
I'll never..ever buy one of those again.

About 10 years ago I bought a Yellow Top Optima for my "daily" (VW Golf VR6)... That battery lasted about 18 months! Never again. I went back to a traditional lead acid wet cell and that battery was still in the car when I sold it 8 years later. It was tired but still OK.

You'll never see an Autocraft last 16 years again. Ever.

The Optimas, I suspect, have to be managed and tended to like they are little woke-ass bee-otches.

^^^ Prob not....but if it lasts half the time (8 years)...I'm a happy camper. :)

No kidding.

You saw my recent BMW battery post replacement from same era?

Freak instances.

When I bought my 84 it came with a one-year old red top. Thirteen years later, I figured it couldn't last much longer...so I replaced it with the same.
Same conditions...the new one died before 3 years.
They are not the same batteries as before.

Not sure...which thread?
I've been off-line for a week.

FWIW My "Yellow Top" was Made in Mexico. They're really expensive "Down Under" :(

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1138993-bmw-battery-lasts-15-years.html

^^^ Ahh yes...I see and remember my posts on the thread now.

That battery was in my 84 Carrera.

$22 core charge for the old battery....happily to be given.

"Back in the old days" batteries had much thicker plates, and they were tougher, but less cold cranking power. Batteries would just get weaker and weaker, as you would notice the starter spinning slower.

Modern batteries have a much thinner plate, but more of them. Now typically batteries are fine one moment, and just dead a minute later, and you can't even jump start the car as the batteries have shorted internally.

Batteries have a magic sense to know when the most inconvenient place and time possible for the owner for the battery to fail. I have just started replacing my batteries after the pro-rated warranty has expired by a year. I may waste a few more months of use, but saved myself the annoyance of a dead battery miles from home, on a Sunday night in the rain while in nice clothes.

^^^ I try to do the same as far as being pro-active....but three of my cars are only used half of the year. Throw in different age battteries and it's always.."Hey it started up fine this spring...it's good for the summer season."
Before you know it...you've had the battery for 16 years. :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1684787199.jpg

The thread title made me thing of this.