Any decent Batteries left in this world? Diehard? Optima?

[Brain75]

When I came of age to drive of course my grandad took me to Sears helped me pay for my first Diehard and said this is the brand you will be sticking with forever.... welll yes and no...
My GM car likes to eat batteries, $65 Walmart cheapies or $265 NAPA overpriced it will eat em all before the time is up... I am down to putting a switch in it like it was a seasonal classic and just cold outright killing power between driving dates, especially if I drive the Ranger at all. After Sears went to hell I switched to Costco based on some good articles online, well Costco quit doing their own Kirkland label and they just carry interstate (rumor was the Kirkland was just an interstate underneath the label anyhow, but they lasted better in my experience).

I average 2 years on any battery, 1 year rated, 5 year rated, anything...

So my last battery was a Wally world cheapie... sticker says July '23, bought in Sept '23, and I know they wont give me $1 worth on my warranty (anything over 30 days and the "prorate" means you get nothing - at every battery vendor now)... Was reading reviews and this caught my eye:

Major Car Battery Brands Ranked Worst To Best - SlashGear

Ranking top car battery brands: EverStart, Interstate, Motorcraft, AC Delco, Bosch, Antigravity Batteries, XS Power, Odyssey, DieHard, Optima.

www.slashgear.com

now option #1 (Li-Ion) is no for auto use, or at least not yet.. the technology just does not support cooking em under the hood 1.5" away from the exhaust manifold (Li-Ion hates heat). and both #1 & #2 are overpriced "racer" / "enthusiast" things but Diehard is back, did not know that....and it slid in at #3.

I take that article with a huge grain of salt, it is not a consumer reports kinda thing where they used em for 100k mi, cut em open for a post mortem, etc etc - this looks like any other blogger, go read a bunch of reviews, do a little math on the website's star ratings and make click bait money off people without doing any actual review just a "paper review".

So, anyone have any love for a battery brand that is RECENT - talking post-covid when all mfg. / everything went to hell and there is no quality anymore...?

 

[Terrys87]

I hear you. Seems like I buy a battery every other day. I too used to pay for the Sears Die hard battery and always stayed with them. Now you cant get one. I too want to see what others recommend.

 

[Brain75]

Don't know that you read the article all the way through, but the DieHard brand (which back in the Sears days was made by Johnson Controls which renamed their sub sub of their sub to "Clarios") IS available - only one vendor: advanced auto parts... which I will baby my mess along to get me to an advanced auto if I have to, or just drive the Ranger full time till I get to one... none local, nearest one is Brush (which says out of stock - that's the story of everything out here in no-where-ville), but looks like Loveland has some.

damn companies "DBA" (doing business as) or sub sub sub-ing so that they can declare bankruptcy of one sub and protect another...

 

[Brain75]

FWIW, not that I am going to spend Optima money on any vehicle, but in the 6volt world of the 1948 trucks, someone just asked and the unanimous there was Optima Red Top for 6 volt applications.

Unless someone screams "don't do it" I think I am gonna do DieHard Red label.

 

[Curious Hound]

I ran Optimas for years. But haven't found them to be any better than anything else. The yellow top that got replaced last year gave way to an Odyssey AGM that has been functioning nicely so far.

I did buy Diehard Gold marine batteries for the house batteries in my solar power system for camping.

 

[JoshT]

but Diehard is back, did not know that

The Diehard name is back, but IMO it isn't the same diehard. Diehard was a good battery when sears owned/sold it, but that died right along with the brick and mortar stores. Advance Auto batteries sucked, so they bought out the diehard name for rebranding, but the batteries still suck.

Price/performance I've actually had very good results with the Walmart batteries. That's what is in most of mine right now. After much studying and consideration that is what I put into my F-250 which takes two big batteries. I wanted locally available battery, not something that had to be special ordered. Walmart units are getting good ratings on the diesel forums, at least the ones I visit, and the few that have had to use warranty got no hassle about it.

The #1 alternative I considered for the F-250 is Duracell AGM batteries. Around here they are available at Sams Club. The limited availability and added price is what kept me away from them.

Probably the best thing you could do to prolong the life of your bettery is find what it is that is causing the problem. Either a constant high draw or a poor charging system. After that it would be to keep a bettery tender on it if it's going to be sitting for any amount of time. Been meaning to put onon the F-250 because it is like to sit for weeks to months at a time, but so far the Walmart betteries have been working like a champ.

 

[Uncle Gump]

"Any good batteries these days?"

Not any I've tried in the last 6 or 8 years...

 

[JoshT]

I ran Optimas for years. But haven't found them to be any better than anything else. The yellow top that got replaced last year gave way to an Odyssey AGM that has been functioning nicely so far.

I did buy Diehard Gold marine batteries for the house batteries in my solar power system for camping.

No Optima's for me. They may be good, but something about the brand loyalty turns me off. More importantly I'd have to order it as no one around carries them.

Odyssey was a strong contender when I was replacing batteries in the F-250, but again I'd have had to order them and gotten shipped to me.

When I do my cargo trailer conversion camper, it's going to have battery bank and eventually a full solar system. Pretty sure I'm going to go with lithium instead of traditional batteries. Might have to go with a quiet inverter generator until I can get the system built out, but I was going to have one of those anyway.

 

[Brain75]

And this is why I love this forum.

The Diehard name is back, but IMO it isn't the same diehard. ...

Ask a question, get good info and saved me from doing something I would have regretted.

I hoped that DieHard was still just as good since they were still made by the same parent/child companies - but who knows if the child is even doing any mfg in the US... or even exists as more than just a business name/license.

Guess I will end my "rant at the clouds" and go buy a Wally POS and plan on replacing it in 2 years.

As far as figuring out the problem and fixing it. Apparently the #1 issue for this particular is "poor ground of BCM module" - which is the 'Body Control Module' in GM speak, kinda think of it as the Ford GEM+ PATS module, it powers courtesy lights, auto headlights, etc etc - radio runs through it (you can sit and listen for 10 minutes with the keys out until you open doors - like a courtesy radio or something, power window "park" (they roll down 5/8" when you open the door since it is a frameless window) - a whole butt ton of "convenience" things..
I've scoured through it and gone over the fuses 1 by 1 every single one, and solved everything I can find... Back when I lived in Austin at an apt complex thieves would come around and lift door handles in the middle of the night looking for one to pilfer (which causes the courtesy lights to stay on for 30 minutes or until you start the car.... which makes a dead battery)... I've been pulling relay #60 (clobbers the whole 2nd fuse panel in the cockpit - BCM, radio, basically everything in the interior).... but even then there is a small drain.

This lovely thing has a 3rd fuse block in the trunk too.

 

[Jazzer]

I’ve been buying Duracell batteries. They currently have a three year replacement warranty. One out of the last three had to be replaced due to not taking a full charge. No hassle, likely because I get them at a home store (Menards).

 

[Jazzer]

Based on some advice on bitog, I started bringing my Ancel battery tester to test the batteries before buying. I know that tester has its limitations, but I was surprised at the range of voltages and battery health in the same batteries, so I can choose the best one.

 

[SenorNoob]

Your GM sounds like a modern nightmare...

As for the Walmart batteries. I have one in my truck going on 6 years. I expected it to die over the winter, but it just keeps going. There is another 3 years old in my aunt's 2000 Grand Vitara.(She leaves a light on every few months. Usually kills any battery.) Both actually have labels that say Johnson controls. Both 24F. The 1st one in my wife's car lasted about 4 years. This one has been in a year already and the guy at counter said he'd seen lots of returns within 30-days recently when I got it. Considering the price compared to everything else, I'll keep using them.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

None of the batteries I’ve tried really hold up anymore. Last time I had to warranty a Walmart battery I had to get corporate involved. After that, I stopped buying theirs. All of my batteries come from Autozone anymore. I buy their “Gold” series with the three year warranty. I get a discount with my account and when they’ve died in 3 years, they send me down a new one. No prorate crap. Sometimes they hold up, sometimes they don’t. Like a lot of other things, they used to be good.

One thing that I have done is my green Ranger has a battery tray from an Explorer and I did some tweaks so I can wedge a 65 series battery in there. My Choptop, F-150, dump truck, 88 Bronco II, and 92 Ranger are all set up for 65 series batteries. Really simplified things a bit.

Not sure about currently, but back when I worked for Autozone supposedly all the batteries were made by Johnson Controls

 

[superj]

I still have an optima yellow top from 2013 in the 84 bmw in the garage. She still starts each crank. Only optima i have ever owned.


I normally just get walmart brand since they are everywhere if you have trouble

 

[Shran]

Walmart batteries for everyday use are awesome, just not the really cheap ones. Those suck, I only got a year or so out of several of them.

I have a Duralast platinum AGM in my crawler that I think I bought in 2011. Incredible lifespan. Doubt they make them like that anymore!

Diehard AGMs are terrible, I have one in my Explorer and have had it replaced under warranty several times. They just randomly crash and won’t hold a charge.

Almost everything I don’t drive on a regular basis is on a maintainer. Those help a lot. I’m getting 6-7 years on average instead of 3-4 years when I wasn’t using them.