1-3-2-4 Posted April 11, 2009 Author Share Posted April 11, 2009 Most Subaru dealers are running a car care clinic this month and may have a free battery test promotion going on. It only takes about 5 minutes and it load and system tests the battery. Piece of mind is nice to have. I have seen a lot of brand new batteries under the hoods of Subarus that needed a Starter solenoid rebuild or the starter replaced. That click is usually the starter contacts failing or being dirty, corroded, etc. Its a cheap fix to do yourself too. While its nice to have a new battery you can be masking the problem by throwing more amps at it and getting by for a while. I know I had a 95 impreza that had starter contacts that failed I had to hit the stater for it to work.. the walmart battery was just no good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Dont mean to hijack this thread but I thought since this is on the subject of car batteries I'd like to make a product recommendation for a battery charger. Sorry, but I'm going to suggest my favorite battery charger too. I bought it at Harbor Freight two years ago for $60 or so and it's saved me a ton on batteries. Having bought my share of batteries at PAP, this allowed me to check out the battery quickly and return the junk ones within a short period of time for a refund. It will tell me if the battery has a shorted or open cell and watching the charge current go down gives me a good indication on whether the battery is taking a charge or not. Lots of other features available. http://www.battery-rechargeable-charger.com/vector-VEC1097A-car-battery-charger.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howards11 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 (edited) My NAPA battery made by Deka was good for this winter. Deka is made by East Penn battery. Whatever you use never use Diehard. While mine was 5 years old (6 yr warranty) it was venting that chalky white stuff all over. No matter my mechanic or I used it just came back. At times with my headlights and turn signal on, the headlights would go out once in a while while completing the turn. If I went back to Sears all I would have gotten would be $10.00 or so. I thought enough was enough and called it quits. Diehards are a total POS. On the other hand the AAA Club battery I have in my wife's Camry is doing just fine. It's about now 6 yrs old and due to be replaced soon. I don't want the wife getting stuck somewhere. ~Howard Edited April 12, 2009 by howards11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted April 12, 2009 Author Share Posted April 12, 2009 My NAPA battery made by Deka was good for this winter. Deka is made by East Penn battery. Whatever you use never use Diehard. While mine was 5 years old (6 yr warranty) it was venting that chalky white stuff all over. No matter what I or my mechanic used it just came back. At times with my headlights and turn signal on, the headlights would go out once in a while while completing the turn. If I went back to Sears all I would have gotten would be $10.00 or so. I thought enough was enough and called it quits. Diehards are a POS. On the other hand the AAA Club battery I have in my wife's Camry is doing just fine. It's about now 6 yrs old and due to be replaced. I don't want the wife getting stuck somewhere. ~Howard ha funny you should say that.. I had a 95 Impreza that I brought that came with the diehard battery.. I had the car for 3 years and it never failed me :-/ also my aunt she has one of those AAA club batteries so far it's holding up as well. It's not a year old just yet... the funny thing about this is her starter went out on her car and I was going to drive my car over and that's when i found out my battery was dead. I want to charge up the old interstate I took out from the car and use it in a battery box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Sorry, but I'm going to suggest my favorite battery charger too. I bought it at Harbor Freight two years ago for $60 or so and it's saved me a ton on batteries. Having bought my share of batteries at PAP, this allowed me to check out the battery quickly and return the junk ones within a short period of time for a refund. It will tell me if the battery has a shorted or open cell and watching the charge current go down gives me a good indication on whether the battery is taking a charge or not. Lots of other features available. http://www.battery-rechargeable-charger.com/vector-VEC1097A-car-battery-charger.html Thanks for the link Edrach. Some good info on that site. I may get one of those myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howards11 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 (edited) ha funny you should say that.. I had a 95 Impreza that I brought that came with the diehard battery.. I had the car for 3 years and it never failed me :-/ also my aunt she has one of those AAA club batteries so far it's holding up as well. It's not a year old just yet... the funny thing about this is her starter went out on her car and I was going to drive my car over and that's when i found out my battery was dead. I want to charge up the old interstate I took out from the car and use it in a battery box. The Diehard Silver that I had was OK. It did not fail but kept venting that white chalky stuff. I did not want to go through a winter around here with a old battery. Getting stuck somewhere especially at night or missing the train going to work is no fun. Plus the strange turn signal problem made me want to replace it before winter got too bad. I feel I got my money out of the Diehard Silver but I would never get another one. ~Howard Edited April 12, 2009 by howards11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted April 22, 2009 Author Share Posted April 22, 2009 Well the battery is still going strong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 I am getting older at age 64, but I can remember 25 to 30 years back when Sears made a big splash introducing their Die Hard batteries. It was their top of the line, and quickly gained a reputation as an outstanding battery that performed well for a long time. Then.............over the years the Sears marketing people got their way, and started labeling every Sears battery, even their cheapies, as "Die Hards." That is why you see Die Hards with color names like Gold, Silver, etc. It is really too bad. Sears had a superior product with their original Die Hards, but not now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howards11 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I am getting older at age 64, but I can remember 25 to 30 years back when Sears made a big splash introducing their Die Hard batteries. It was their top of the line, and quickly gained a reputation as an outstanding battery that performed well for a long time. Then.............over the years the Sears marketing people got their way, and started labeling every Sears battery, even their cheapies, as "Die Hards." That is why you see Die Hards with color names like Gold, Silver, etc. It is really too bad. Sears had a superior product with their original Die Hards, but not now. ROOSTER2: Remember Sears isn't really Sears. It's really K-Mart. K-Mart bought Sears and changed the company name to Sears Holdings. ~Howard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 ROOSTER2:Remember Sears isn't really Sears. It's really K-Mart. K-Mart bought Sears and changed the company name to Sears Holdings. ~Howard Yes, Sears is really owned by K-Mart, I was aware of that. However, Sears began calling all their battery line, including cheapies, "Die Hard," years before K-Mart entered the scene. I am still amazed that K-Mart came out of bankruptcy, and then within a year purchased Sears. Where did they get the capital, or credit rating to be able to do that? Yes, it was called a "merger", but K-Mart calls the shots for Sears, so you can tell that they bought Sears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I am getting older at age 64, but I can remember 25 to 30 years back when Sears made a big splash introducing their Die Hard batteries. It was their top of the line, and quickly gained a reputation as an outstanding battery that performed well for a long time. in my family, when we see a parked car with it's lights on we still say, "someones testing their die hard". i guess that makes me old as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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