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Ironically my last 3 SUV's (Pathfinder, Suburban, Expedition) all had the battery fail at 4 years and in the summer.
I'd think the battery being in the engine bay has to be harder on it in the summer. Plus I tend to idle for extended periods at boat ramps etc. Like this summer at least once a week the Expedition was idling in line on a black top boat ramp sometimes in 105 plus degree heat for 15-30+ minutes. That has get the battery nice and toasty.
My '67 Catalina is the most brutal on them, but my LeMans and the two New Yorkers do it too. I don't notice it as much on my '85 Silverado, but then maybe it's because it has a smaller engine (305 versus a 350, two 360's, and a 400) and a wide, open engine bay, so the heat dissipates better?
How many amp batteries do you use in your old cars? I remember the rule of thumb used to be something to the effect of matching the cold cranking amps to the cubic inches of the engine. So a 350 would need at least 350CCA etc. Now days does any car have less than 600CCA battery? I've got 850CCA in my Expedition.
But I remember years ago on a hot restart some cars would pause a second while cranking.
Whenever I drive one of the old cars to a show, I always pull a battery out of one of the other cars, just in case...
Never had a battery fail yet, at a car show, but there's a first time for everything!
Back in the summer of '09, my '76 LeMans left me stranded at the liquor store on a hot summer day. I had to leave it and come back after dark, about 4 hours later. It was still hot and stifling, even at ~9:30 pm that night. But luckily, that time it fired right up. I had the mechanic mess with it after that, and it's been better, but still not perfect. About as good as a 70's car can get though, I guess!
Apparently it is in Audis and VW's, up to 1 quart in 1,000 miles. Good luck with that.
Lots of different engines will burn oil. Back when my wife and I were first married she had a '92 Saturn SL2. She had purchased the extended warranty from GM and around 60k miles it would burn a quart of oil in 400-500 miles. Saturn did the oil consumption test and all that bs. Confirmed the oil consumption and stated it was within what GM considered normal use and they didn't do anything about it.
It's not like GM cars are immune to oil consumption.
That is one thing that can be scary with extended oil change intervals. In reality, burning a quart of oil every 1-2k miles isn't a big deal, unless of course you don't check the oil and go 10k on an oil change.
I admit I've gotten lax on checking the oil. I never check the oil in wife's Taurus and she goes 7-9k miles on an oil change. I check my Expedition once in a great while. It's never been low, but now that it's over 100k miles, that could certainly change.
I haven't experienced any significant oil consumption on any vehicle I have driven or had experience with (through my business) in well over 20 years.
That includes Ford, Nissan, GM, Chrysler and MB. That includes vehicles up to
and over 150,000 miles.
I see that VW/Audi now have engine oil level monitors. They obviously need it.
Not too bad so far! No check engine light in 58K miles. I'm not used to that!
The dealer keeps begging me for maintenance. I do the oil changes myself with M-1 oil and filter every 10K miles. Changed the cabin filter myself at 30K. The dealer did the A/T and diff. oil change for the AWD at 45K/50K respectively.
So far about $500 maintenance + $90 for the battery (changed myself).
How much is that per mile? $0.01??? :shades:
Regards,
OW
Depending on how he drives, and whether or not a lot of that is highway driving, brakes and rotors could last a pretty long time.
I was pretty impressed that my buddy's 2006 Xterra didn't need new front brake pads until around 72,000 miles, and I think the rears were good to around 85,000 or so. He has a bad habit of doing jackrabbit starts and short stops...his previous vehicle was a 1998 Tracker, so I think all the extra power went to his head! The Xterra is a heavy little sucker too...something like 4200 lb. So, I'm impressed that he got the life he did out of the pads.
BTW, at 86,500 miles, the mechanic told me my 2000 Park Ave needs new rear pads and rotors. He also threw a really high price at me, so I'm going to get a second opinion. I bought the car with 56,372 miles on it, so I have no idea if the rear pads are original or not. I had to do the front brakes, and have the calipers rebuilt, about a year ago, around 75,000 miles I think.
Man, that sounds like a complicated battery to change.
The cold weather was probably more to do with it since '08 we had extreme winters until last winter, which was mild in comparison.
Anyway, I'll just say the '94 Suburban ate batteries every 2 years and finally the dealer said the alternator was bad around 60K miles.
The '03 Yukon Denali had a battery-drain recall and ate batteries every 3 years.
So, 4 years for a Honda CR-V battery is quite the advancement in my GM-Diseased Life!
Thank God I'm cured! :P :shades:
Regards.
OW
Ditto Chrysler, but Sergio just doesn't attract the wrath that GM does, and Chrysler is a two time loser.
The pros are - I figure I have free batteries for the life of the car!
The cons are - It's still a pain to have to replace a battery this often
Does that mean your car is going to go bankrupt? :surprise: :P
Regards,
OW
I am not sure the words "GM" were spoken. I believe a PR term "the auto industry," was used a couple of times for selfagrandizement without the negatives in many people's minds of the 'gifts' to GM for support with their tax money on his watch. AND it sounds better to have saved the _whole industry_ rather than just one US company in trouble at the time.
I think the lightning effect to some "undecideds" of using the words "GM" would have outweighed any gains.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
And, I'm sure it's a few pounds lighter than lugging around an extra battery!
Thanks for the scorecard.
I've thought about getting one myself.
That's actually industry standard. They all say the same thing.
The auto bailout came under Bush, here's Dubya announcing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N5kRVfmMoE
Repeating something bogus over and over again does not make it fact.
Not to get political, but GM and Chrysler sales are up and the Volt is selling well, yet the topic wasn't even brought up.
Chrysler division is up 53% so far this year. The whole group is up 24%.
GM is up 3%.
So much for doom and gloom.
Plus last year their competitors had supply choked due to the tsunami.
Bush, who signed the auto bailout, deserves a pat on the back for that one.
Normally, I'd agree. However, my '06 Saturn ION has gone almost 78K on the original pads - the last 44K has been predominantly city driving.
Another one reportedly made by Johnson Controls. Your other two choices in the US, store brand or not, are usually Delphi and Exide.
And sort of on topic, Wiki reports that Bob Lutz "was appointed Exide's Chairman of the Board in 1998. In 2000, Exide acquired GNB Technologies, a leading North American supplier of automotive batteries. Two years later Exide filed for bankruptcy after compiling a debt of $2.5 billion as a result of the recent acquisitions."
There is no sludge in toyotas.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The way you bring it up you'd think they all had it.
There are no Americans in Baghdad.
Americans don't buy hatchbacks.
Climate Change does not exist.
Obviously the vast majority of talking heads disagree with you. :shades:
I'm wondering when the wave of Chinese car batteries will hit; guess the freight cost is the issue.
I like that idea of the Costco battery. Next time I have a dying battery I'll be sure to bring the car (and the battery box) over there.
So true.
How many times have you heard people say, in a Darth Vader voice, "Luke, I am your father".
Guess what? He didn't start with "Luke"!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6JnGTXCkHA
Of course nowadays it would be "Who's your daddy? I'm your daddy!"
The way you bring it up you'd think they all had it.
And don't forget, all Honda's built in the last decade had their auto trannys fail, too. :P
The thing that's funny about that is that I just told them about it and they promptly took it in exchange. It's not like they tested it or anything. It strikes me that *ahem* you could have an endless free battery program, if you are willing to change it often enough.
But their battery longevity (for two samples) appears to be not so good.