Battery

[Tool Pants]

AutoZone raised prices again.

From left to right, on the middle rack.

Size 47 for 79.99. 48 for 69.99. And the monster 49 for 79.99. Strange pricing if you ask me. When I bought my AutoZone 48 about 3 years ago all 3 sizes were priced the same, $59.99.

[Tool Pants]

What, no battery pictures for 2 weeks? :huh:

I was at the Santa Clara Costco looking for tires for my truck.

I organized the batteries on the shelf.

48 for $62.99 and 47 for $53.99.

I saw this outside the tire install shop. I thought it was an air compressor, but on closer inspection....

[FlashingBlade]

Talking of weight savings, have any of you ever seen a non lead acid car battery?

I gather that the Prius and such use NiMh or NiCd, so the technology does exist.

Probably wont be cheap as a cellphone battery costs about as much as a car battery.

[mbkisler]

I had my battery replaced under warranty - 05 997S w/43K miles by my local dealer. They hesitated at first and indicated I would risk paying the $265 installed price if my battery did not 'fail' their tests properly (it was like a Monty Python skit - dead Parrot). Talk about discouragement. I felt I owed it to all here to follow through and report.

When I arrived the service advisor blew me off for 20 minutes by walking around the parking lot with his cell phone, I'm certain it was an important customer. Interesting start. Long story short (we seem to not get along - no point in dwelling on it) he was not able to start the car to get it into service so they intalled a new battery while the car was in the parking lot and sent me on my way 1:45 mintues after I arrived.

No charge but -

1) Now my Sports Chrono clock on the dash is always lit up (especially annoying at night) and

2) I have a 'Raised rear brake light failure' message. In fact the 'non' moveable 3rd brake light is not at 100% (15% at best).

I hooked up my Durametric ODB2 tester via laptop and cleared out 'low voltage' faults from just about every system, likely due to the serious issues the battery was having trying to start the car. Is it correct that I should have been handed back my car in such condition?

FYI, it seems that one of the early symptoms is that the radio will shut down during starting (not be able to keep playing), in case you are looking for an early warning sign.

Anyway - my point is that the battery is under warranty but some dealerships are either not allowing this or trying their best (worst) to discourage such claims.

I will now need to return to see if any of the remaining faults (the lit up Chrono and the Raised Brake Light failure) can be resolved without more 'new' issues. It seems that service can be 'one step forward/ two steps back' process around here.

If anyone has run into similar faults and knows any other way to resolve them (other than a dealer visit) please let me know.

Drive Right -Cheers

[Tool Pants]

Need to give this old thread some juice.

I was picking lemons in the backyard today and there was a funny looking one. Tought it might make a good battery.

A galvanized nail, a copper penny, and a digital volt meter. The penny is positive so I marked it (+). The nail is negative so I marked it (-). Did not want to fry expensive electronics.

I expected to see about 1 volt but the meter said .429 volts. Bad juice I guess or I did not squeeze it enough before I stuck in the nail and penny. I would therefore need more than 24 lemons to get 12 volts, but I had hoped to make a lightweight battery.

I was not able to start the car with just the one lemon, but thought maybe I could charge the car battery with it.

Then, I thought, what would happen when the lemon battery ran out of juice. So I hook up the lemon up to my little battery charger for my motorcycle.

Believe it or not....

[geoff]

I was picking lemons in the backyard today and there was a funny looking one. Tought it might make a good battery.

A galvanized nail, a copper penny, and a digital volt meter. The penny is positive so I marked it (+). The nail is negative so I marked it (-). Did not want to fry expensive electronics.

I expected to see about 1 volt but the meter said .429 volts. Bad juice I guess or I did not squeeze it enough before I stuck in the nail and penny. I would therefore need more than 24 lemons to get 12 volts, but I had hoped to make a light weight battery.

I was not able to start the car with just the one lemon, but thought maybe I could charge the car battery with it.

Then, I thought, what would happen when the lemon battery ran out of juice. So I hook up the lemon up to my little battery charger for my motorcycle.

Believe it or not....

:lightbulb: Now to put this to practical use...

Does the lemon battery put out enough "juice" to pop the front trunk if your regular battery is dead? If so, maybe we need to start carrying pennies and nails as emergency spare parts

[Danyol]

A TRUE HYBRID!

[Tool Pants]

Today I hooked up the lemon battery to my volt meter again to see if it had any juice left. Yesterday the meter said .429 volts. Today it is .925 volts, almost the 1 volt I had expected yesterday. Weird. Do you think I have a lemon lemon battery?

With that kind of voltage increase I thought I should design a lightweight version for racing applications. So - I cut the lemon in half....

[Danyol]

I think the plating is coming off the nail, revealing a different metal

[demosan]

Today I hooked up the lemon battery to my volt meter again to see if it had any juice left. Yesterday the meter said .429 volts. Today it is .925 volts, almost the 1 volt I had expected yesterday. Weird. Do you think I have a lemon lemon battery?

With that kind of voltage increase I thought I should design a lightweight version for racing applications. So - I cut the lemon in half....

Just think of the power if the penny were of copper content of the past instead of the current steel alloy!!

[my996]

How about the Odessey battery? lightweight, no fluids or vent, better performance and 10 year guarantee. I've had one in my GT3 for 2 years. Pulled the anchor old type and mounted this on the front floor.

Why not keep it mounted in the factory battery tray? Just wondering. --Brian

Hey Ray - can you tell more about how you mounted the battery in this position? - ie cables used, mounting hardware and place fastened, etc. Thanks

[RayGT3]

Tough question, I bought bits and pieces from a few suppliers. The battery is mounted in a battery box specifically for this battery, Summitt I think. On rubber isolation mounts from Mc master Carr. The cables were from Speedway Motors. Drilled 3 holes in floor, didn't really need 4, to put the isolation mounts in and then mounted the battery to them. Used a hole saw to drill two holes in the fire wall and ran the cables through them using rubber grometts from Mc master carr. And some misc. cable ties, screws, bolts, etc.

I just bought the battery and box and figured out what I needed from there.

[jmj996]

As if there weren't already enough postings to convince everyone to buy aftermarket batteries, I feel I should add that I called a Porsche dealer about a replacement battery and was told by their service manager NOT to buy one from them.

I have a 1999 996 cab. The car was originally purchased in Hawaii and always operated there until December of 06, with the original battery its entire life (only about 42k miles). I've never seen a battery last that long, I was pretty impressed, but it couldn't survive the boat ride over to CA. The car was more or less stranded at the shipyard because it would easily die without the battery booster/starter connected to it.

**I thought it would be more than worthwhile to buy a factory replacement if they're going to last this long and called the nearest Porsche dealer, but the dealer said that PCNA switched their source a few years ago and that the new replacement batteries are not very good, according to them. Also, unless they previously prepared a battery for you, you can't simply drive/walk in and pick one up. They now receive the batteries dry, and must fill and charge them before they're ready to go. I would think that most dealers would keep at least one 996 battery ready to go, but this one didn't.**

I bought an Interstate battery for around $110 at an auto parts store near the shipyard/docks where I picked up my car (a big local autoparts store, but they only had one battery that would fit the 996). It was much shorter than the original, but it aligned to a mounting hole so I wasn't too concerned. Talk about a weight difference though - I wish I could have actually weighed the old and the new. There was definitely a huge weight savings. Sounds like I paid about $30-$35 more than the Duralast at Autozone has cost everyone else. I hear nothing but great things about the Interstate battery, so I hope to get what I paid for it. It's been four months now, no problems at all.

[wross996TT]

I just replaced mine as well with the Interstate...MTP-93...perfect fit and 850 cold cranking amps.

Edited July 27, 2007 by wross996TT

[Tool Pants]

No new battery pictures in a month.

First is an Interstate in a 2001 Boxstir. It was missing the vent tube adapter. The tube in my hand and the black plastic part went into the original Moll battery.

Second is a Sears International in a 1997 Boxstir. It had the vent tube adapter.

Third is interesting, on a 2003 Boxstir. Years ago if a battery was replaced under warranty Douglas was used by the dealerships as a replacement. It is easy to tell because it is all white.

Fourth is a Centennial group size 48/91 on the floor next to a Moll 70 amp hour. I do know know this company. http://www.centennialbattery.com/top.php

[CosmosC4S]

I was at Walmart the other day and saw a Everlast Group 48 battery (I think it's 48-3 if I remember correctly)

selling for about $53. Their catalog hanging on the shelf lists that battery for the 996's.

It has the vented tube package attached on the top, just like the Duralast, and it's made by Johnson Controls.

Anybody seen the Everlast, and know if it's any good?

I know the Everlast Maxx is highly rated and recommended by Consumer Reports, but not the less expensive Everlast.

[High Technology]

Third is interesting, on a 2003 Boxstir. Years ago if a battery was replaced under warranty Douglas was used. It is easy to tell because it is white.

I rarely see the Douglas batteries around -- it came oem in my 1999 Mercedes that arrived on these shores in October of 1998. That battery has 129k miles on it, is driven daily 50-60 miles round trip in NY (where we have all 4 seasons), and is coming up on its 9th birthday. I have NEVER seen a battery last that long...

[CA_Boxster]

Long, old thread but through the power of "search" it helped me pick my replacement battery this week so I'll add my info:

Autozone Duralast 48-DL group size 48 was $85 today. Exact fit replacement with the vent tube included and the little plastic coupler that came with the tube fits the tube in the car fine.

Autozone also had one of those memory things to keep all your settings while the battery is disconnected for $5. You just attach a 9v battery to it and plug the other end into your cigarette lighter. That way you don't have to reprogram the radio, clock and whatever else you may have. I don't know if these things prevent the radio from needing the radio code when you're done (I don't have the stock radio) but I bet it works for that as well.

Edited July 29, 2007 by CA_Boxster

[Tool Pants]

My 1997 Boxstir and Autozone Duralast group 48 branded batteries do not get along.

Back when they had the black top the first one was put in 1/22/02. Second on 11/29/02. Third 4/27/04.

They all had the same problem. They would be dead after sitting overnight or after 2 days. This is after I had been driving the car for hours or had put my 10 amp charger on the battery for hours. The battery showed it had the voltage, but it did not have the amps. Used my amp meter to check the draw of the electrical system and it was normal.

So for #3 I pulled the caps and put it on the charger. Checked with my hydrometer and 1 cell was much lower than the rest. To me that means there is a short in that cell which causes a drain. On the 10 amp charger all cells except that one would bubble.

Back to Autozone for them to test #3 on their machine. I ask him if the machine does a load test. No answer. I don't think they know anything other than how to push the start button on the machine. The guy says the battery is low, whatever that means. I saw a load test button on the machine but I do not know what button he pushed.

Now I have to talk to the manager. He says the battery needs to be charged so a load test can be done. Told him it had been on my 10 amp charger for several hours and I drove it over from my house which is 5 minutes away. Told him I used a hydrometer and one cell was dead. But that if they wanted to charge it then go ahead. Then the manager said I was too much trouble and to pull the battery from my car in the parking lot and it would be replaced under warranty.

So I did. Pulled the battery. Showed him my receipts and when he went on the computer he saw that I was on #3. Told me that the warranty would be prorated. Told me I would get a $20 credit towards battery #4. #1 was $59.99. Now Autozone wants $84.99 for the battery. With the $20 credit I would pay 39.99 for #4 if I wanted it. If I went to Costco for a new battery then it is $53.99. Thought about Optima and all that stuff.

While I was waiting I saw a pallet of defective Durlast and Jumpstart batteries at the rear of the store behind the counter. Wish I had taken a picture.

To make a long story short. I have Duradud #4. At least it is the latest red top racing version. So I put some mustard in #4 when I got home. Acid level was a bit low. Put it on my charger and the charge was low. I was going to tell the manager to do all the tests they wanted to to on #4 before I put it in my car, but it was time for me to get out of town.

[CA_Boxster]

Let me know if #4 dies so I can put a jumpstart battery in my car :)

Edited July 31, 2007 by CA_Boxster

[CosmosC4S]

Err...pardon me, but I don't get the part about putting mustard in the battery?? :huh:

Am I missing a private joke? Or is there some battery secret I need to know?

[Tool Pants]

Local owners would know.

It is a plastic cleaned out mustard squeeze bottle filled with distilled water. I bring it to the local work on cars days in case someone needs to add water to the battery.

Whenever I buy a new battery I pull the caps and check the acid level.

[CosmosC4S]

Geez!!! You almost got me there for a minute! :lol:

[PDL996]

My battery died today. Thanks Loren for having such a great resource!!!

I know that it is a old thread but there are probably others getting into the

same situation.

Paul

My DuraLast 48-DL was $79.99 at Auto Zone, the DieHard International Group 48 was $119.99 at Sears.

Thanks again!

:renntech: :cheers: :drive:

[blinkwatt]

Just an update.

The DieHard International battery is now $129.99 w/o core charge at Sears and is rated at 700 CCA at 41lbs.

The Duralast 48-DL is $69.99 w/o core charge at Autozone,rated at 700 CCA as well and weighs 37lbs.

What makes battery prices jump around so much