2001 Silverado still has original battery

In the Rochester, NY area. I find batteries last about 6 months less than whatever the pro rated warranty is. I'd replace it. Friends swear by Interstate.

On Oct 8, 1:25=A0am, zxcvbob wrote:

Bob:

I live in Yorktown, Virginia and leave the truck outside all the time, my 2001 Silverado 4.8L is now 9 years old and the battery has never hesitated once. Consumer reports November, 2009 issue states that with todays improved ignitions, engines start much faster and the stress on batteries has been reduced. Interestingly enough they also state that hot weather deteriorates the battery more than cold weather, it is in the winter when the battery has to put out more current that this deterioration shows up. Keep checking your battery magic eye, if it is getting smaller the battery is getting weaker and since your vehicle starts quick your battery could give up unexpectedly. My experience with car batteries with electronic ignition systems has shown that you typically still get a momentary loss of current when the battery is nearing the end of life. This can vary from nearly undetectable to having to recycle the key to off and to the start position again, even doing this several times before the engine starts. Eventually the engine does not start at all as the bottom of the battery has built up flakes that touch the bottom of the plates and these flakes will discharge the battery overnight. The ability to start the car by recycling the key most likely redistributes these flakes to the point they do not take your cell voltages down far enough to prevent starting the car. Other people have told me they has their battery give no warning, I guess it depends on just how "flaky" your battery is, pun intended.

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com EE

That must be the last year that AC Delco made batteries to their old standards. I haven't gotten 2 years out of one in any of my newer trucks. Come to think of it... the one in my 2001 only lasted about a year too before the terminal fell off. Maybe you got an early 2001 with a 2000 model year battery. LOL.

Put it on a pedestal and take a picture.

Sounds like I have a thing against AC Delco, but not really. Way back when we had a hardware and auto parts store. We got AC Delco parts at WD pricing through our True Value franchise for many years. In the many years we had the store we sold a number of brands of batteries, but had the best luck with AC/Delco batteries of all the brands we sold. By best luck I mean least returns, least defectives, longest life. We didn't sell every brand on the planet, but we sold 5 or 6 brands over the years. the AC/Delco batteries were the best we sold.

When I was finally able to afford my first brand new truck in 2001 the battery was one thing I didn't worry about until it failed. My 2002 truck also had a couple battery failures until I switched to an 85 month Carquest battery. (checker sucked) my 2003 Silverado got a Carquest battery also when its Delco battery failed. My 2004 Colorado got one too. The 2002 Avalanche battery lasted almost two years, and then it got a Sears battery which is still in it as far as I know. (My wife's truck.) Can't speak for the battery in my 2008 Silverado as I had a disagreement on the road with a wild burro and the burro won. However, I just replaced the batteries in my

2007 diesel Silverado. One was shorted internally and steaming out the vent. Figured I better replace them both to be safe.

2001 Sonoma 1 year, 1 year, different brand

2002 S-10 1 year, 6 months, different brand 2002 Avalanche 1500 almost 2 years, different brand 2003 Silverado 2500HD 18 months, different brand 2004 Colorado 1 year, different brand 2007 Silverado 2500HD Diesel 2 years, different brand 2008 Silverado 1500 less than 6 months and a wild burro ate my truck

I have tried Checker 80 month warranty batteries, but they didn't last and they gave me a hard time about warranty.

I had good luck with the Carquest 80+ month warranty batteries, but I mostly used them because Bingham (the local Carquest dealer) was a client of mine.

I get a fleet discount from Sears now so I'll probably go with the Sears Platinum batteries for a few years and see how they hold up. They have 4 years free replacement, and 4 years prorated.

Right now I am running the Carquest battery in my 2003 Silverado. The same one I changed out from the Delco battery. Still cranks right over, and I have caught my son out washing stuff, with the doors open and the stereo blasting. The 2007 2500 Diesel got Sears platinum batteries the other day, and both of our cars have Sears platinum batteries.

Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. The Chevy Malibu and the Pontiac Vibe had the Delco batteries fail in less than 2 years also. Just replaced the battery in the Vibe yesterday.

Now, somebody might argue that I could or should go over to the GM or Chevy dealer and have all those batteries replaced under warranty, but I don't want to have to replace batteries that often. My time is worth more than that working, and I don't want a truck sitting in the shop for half a day and a guy waiting around for a ride or taking up the time of two guys to replace a battery.

Good batteries cost real money, but the time and headaches they save are worth it.

So... again I say. Place that battery on a pedestal and recognize its achievement.

For a while CostCo was selling Delco batteries. I put two of them in two different vehicles, almost on the same day. Then almost exactly one year later, both of them failed on THE same day. Even for AZ that was a new record for short battery life for me.

The original poster should go buy some lottery tickets! :-)

Lately I get 2 years max out of several brands of batteries. I literally just change 'em by calendar - cheaper than a tow or waiting for a jump somewhere.

If you spend the extra money for the ones with a longer "free" replacement period you should be able to go about 2.5 years and then take it back and get all your money back and then get a new one. (I always forget and miss the free period). In the last few years I've been getting about 4 years out of a battery. Not sure why they are lasting longer, maybe they finally decided they were losing money selling crap that was coming back after a year.

On my 03 Silverado, my Original battery lasted a little over 3 years, and I was stranded and so I got a COSTCO battery. It did even worse, but this time I had a better choice and got myself a Interstate Battery. I'll see how long this one ends up lasting me. PLUS I currently only have around

35,000 on my truck. Not a good track record so far.

This got me thinking about my 99 Mustang. It's 10 years old and it has only had the battery replaced once, about 4 or 5 years ago with whatever CostCo was selling at the time, so it's been doing pretty good on batteries. Only has 56K on it though.

I sold my 2000 sierra after 8 years with the original battery. I live in canada. So maybe the comment about heat being worse than cold has some credibility to it.

G

I had the battery tested a few days ago. They told me the battery needed to be replaced because it was down to 485 CCA. (It's a 600 CCA battery.) 485 sounds pretty good to me, so I think I'm gonna try to go another year. I carry jumper cables with me -- good ones -- and it's most likely to fail in the morning anyway, when I can put a charger on it. If that happens more than once this winter I'll replace it.

Bob

I wonder if they tested a NEW 600 CCA battery what their tester would show.

I found out my Chevy 8.1 used 450 cranking amps. my '04 OEM AC Delco just crapped out last spring - 6 yrs old. Replaced it (prorated price) with an AC Delco which lasted 1 yr here in Houston. But, while it was "largest" the dealer had, must have just been about 600 CCA. Got an exchange for "Best they could find in the area" with 6 yr warranty & 800 CCA. Well, figured that was 7 yrs altogether. Meanwhile this last dealer found a constant current drain from the speedometer panel, which obviously was the main culprit. So, now $500 later for a new front panel, all is good again.

Marv

I've had 4 batteries in my 03 Chevy TB 4.2L i6. Original was recalled by Delco and crapped out in 2006. Dealer wanted $90 labor to replace a free battery! Went to Autozone and purchased the correct replacement. In 2007 I had trouble starting when temperatures dipped below 10F. The start is a tap and release, the engine disengages the starter when the motor fires. If I used a 1.5 amp charge maintainer overnight that helped. That Spring

2008 back to Autozone to check the charge, 90 amps at idle. Replaced battery no charge. Winter of 2008 same thing. Temp dips below 10 and it's lucky to start. Used a charge maintainer overnight and that made it start- able. Springtime 2009 arrives and I take it in for battery #3. Same deal back to Autozone, replace the battery for free. Same deal winter 2009, hard starts. Replaced the start relay because now the starting made a zing noise occasionally (not releasing quick enough). New relay cured that. Went back in Spring 2010 told them I was tired of this shit. The stock CCA is 750. Autozone had to pro rate now because it had been 4 years since the purchase of the original. I bought the best Autozone had. 1000 CCA (supposedly). Winter of 2010 was a breeze. 8 below zero, engine fired right up. I paid $40 difference for the larger capacity battery.

I'm sure the Autozone batteries are constructed cheaply. Thin plates, lead alloys etc... Moral of the story, if you want the correct capacity in cold weather and you buy a chinese made battery from Autozone make sure you up the CCA by at least 250.

I had to replace the battery in my 1994 Cadillac last year, so I swapped it with the 10 y.o. truck battery and bought a new one for the truck. I thought I might have trouble with it (the caddy) this winter because it had 10W-30 oil instead of 5W-30, but it made it thru with flying colors. So I should be good for another year.

Next year I really ought to put thinner oil in for the winter cuz I'm pushing my luck...

Bob

I always buy the highest amp rating battery I can get to fit in the battery tray. You're talking about 20-50 bucks and a lot of extra years . Once I ripped the battery tray out of a Ford Contour because I couldn't fit a bigger battery in it. Generally I let them go dead once or twice in winter. From sitting too long. And I put a charger on them and leave it for a week, and I still get about 10 years from them.

Diesel.

The one I just bought was $123. Inflation, EPA, disposal??