charge battery or replace it?

[Eric Toften]

I would buy that battery if he lived anywhere closer than Chicago. I am a fellow member of the wolfpack. I would put that battery in my own truck, ride it, and post updates on how long it lasts. Ditto on Richards comments. And as I said earlier carbon pile battery testers are almost dinosaurs. The new electronic testers that places like the part stores use are more reliable and take the human error out of the equation. Let's restate the problem. Your friend comes to you and says the guy at my shop said I need new tires. You say oh yeah I didn't notice you had a flat. Are they bald? Friend: No. Tech said they were old though. Out lived the warranty. And his gauge said they had nine pounds of pressure. Would you tell him cool go get new tires. Or would you get another gauge and check it? There just isn't enough info here to justify telling a man to trash the battery. That's all I am saying. Noone here even asked if he checked the water level in the battery or if it were maintenance free before telling him to throw it out.

 

[Jackson Ellis]

e_toften - Go 'Pack! Nuclear Engineering '92.



I never told him to keep it or replace it, just noted that it won't necessarily make it through the summer. Despite the fact that I heard it first from my mechanic dad 40 years ago, and a plethora of evidence on the web, most people still think that battery problems are mostly (or only) a winter thing.



I also mentioned that good first starts do not tell the truth about a bad battery - until it's too late. Freeport knows best whether he thinks his mechanic knew what he was doing. My advice to freeport - if he wants to do it - is to go to Advanced Auto (or wherever he plans to buy his next battery), make sure they have the one he needs, and then go outside and start his ST several times. If it starts 5 or 6 times with no problem, then drive away and watch for sales on batteries.