I had gone with the Auto Zone over a couple of years back. Then last November 2006, had to exchange it under the Duralast's Gold 3 yr. free exchange. Not sure if it is brand unigue, but I have a suspicion that they do not like the cold of winter very much>>LOL. This year went to J.C. Whitney (Online) and bought this charger/maintainer that I have previously posted about, and loving it. Now it can sit and sit and sit, since IMO the Miata is primarily my fun, good weather, head to the beach car. And when I start it up now, that battery turns over like it is run daily, all the time.
P.S. teammiata.com is within 25>30 mi. of me, Martinez, Calif, and I could have driven there and bought a Westco. They try to keep at least one on hand. But Auto Zone is less than 1 mi., much more convenient :-).
I tried to start it tonight and it gave a brief gasp and .... nothing.
No dash lights, no crank, no nothing.
The Westco will arrive Friday according to UPS, unfortunately UPS comes by here very late in the day so it'll be Saturday before I get to install it. Meantime I have to see if it'll take enough charge to start and move the car since it's in the way... :-(
On my third Westco. The second one didn't last very long, but the local place I bought it replaced it at no cost even though I had no receipt. There is a sticker on the battery that indicates when it was manufactured and that was good enough for them,
As far as I know, the first Westco battery that I bought around 6 years ago is still working. It ended up in somebody's Miata, I can't remember who. The one I have came with the car and is about 5 years old and running strong.
Westco will be here tomorrow according to UPS tracking site.
I hoped I could get the old battery to charge enough to move the car, when I tried to hook the charger to it I found the ground strap broken between the battery and the clamp that holds the cable to the body, right above the battery.
A quick trip to AutoZone, new ground cable and now the car cranks over like a new battery! The battery is a Mazda one, it looks fairly new.
I think I just wasted a whole bunch of money.... I should have looked before ordering....
Where is this grd strap?? I assume without looking on the negative clamp side???
Maybe you might get one of those charger/maintainers, like the one I got at J.C. Whitney (Specifically for the Miata), and keep that new battery maintained until the day you need it. Was only 29.95 or 29.99, with shipping came to around $38.99.
Just see my post about "Charger/Maintainer," for specifics.
No I mean keeping your new Westco battery, soon arriving on the maintainer, on your work bench, wherever. So that in the future when you need it, it will be ready :-).
Not a bad idea but I'm going to install it right away. I suspect the old battery is good for who knows how much longer but I'd prefer a new battery and one that doesn't require venting to the outside. I wish now I hadn't spent the money but I did so I'm going to take advantage or the benefits of the new battery and maybe keep the old one on the charger as an emergency backup. It's small size will allow me to use it as an emergency battery for my other vehicles if one of them should suddenly die, it will fit in almost anything and has enough power to start almost anything...
Why doesn't the Westco require venting to the outside? I thought that that was necessary being in the trunk, and fumes being able to maybe get into the passenger area. I would really be leary of that.
Because it's a sealed AGM (absorbed glass mat) design, not the typical automotive lead-acid type. WestCo claims it produces so little hydrogen gas that venting is not necessary. In fact, there are nipples for attaching the Miata's existing vent tubes, but they dead-end inside the battery case and don't really vent anything.
Yes. I can't say whether they were vented; when I bought my car used, it already had a replacement lead-acid battery. Presumably, some AAA knuckle dragger had ruined the factory AGM attempting a fast charge.
A simple light minder would've saved thousands of Panasonic AGMs from needless ruin. All it takes is leaving the parking lights on while at work, then getting "help" from someone not familiar with AGM technology.
Weird.... I've slain some gremlins with the new Westco battery. My driver's side window is no longer slow, I've not had the headlights refuse to pop up and a few other very minor things are no longer happening since I installed the new battery. OK, I know it's not the battery, it had to have been the partially broken ground strap no allowing full power to window motors, headlight motors, etc.
Oh, golly gee whiz how I wish I'd looked carefully at that ground strap and maybe I would have noticed it was frayed????? Or maybe not, it broke right where it passes throught the body ground strap right about the negative terminal and next to the power antenna, it's pretty well tucked away out of the light.
I guess that I was lucky. Shortly after getting our 2000 Miata, we went to the Mammoth Lake Jazz Fest. And where we were staying, you were supposed to park in the space assigned to your room. Well, when we got there someone was in our covered space. So I kept an eye out for the IDIOT to finally move, and when they had, I moved my car to the proper spot. Planning on leaving it there. Everything was within walking or the free shuttle distance. Anyway, after moving my car, I had taken a brochure or something to look at, it this under the inn, covered parking area. Four days later, when we were ready to leave, I discovered that I had left the over head light on the entire four days. Needless to say>>>>>ONE DEAD BATTERY. So dead, in fact, that the helpful guy next to me, even leaving his car running, while he went to finish packing, did not help. I finally called the local Allstate Motor Club guy, probably also the AAA guy. And he got me going straight away. I had to leave my car running while we gassed up, couldn't take a chance of being dead again. Then headed home, Back across Yosemite and home. Battery lasted its' life time. I replaced it after 5 yrs. not wanting to push that little toy battery>LOL. But after sitting days, especially during winter, you could definitely tell the difference of start ups, etc.
One time after driving to a friends for lunch, maybe 40>50 miles away, upon leaving, he asked, "Have you had that battery checked?" I said, "Nah, that is normal for this car/battery." Glad I have it hooked up to my charger/maintainer now. Each time, like driving out a store with a brand spanking new one. Now even though summer was just a few months back, my memory can not recall how well it started after a week or nearly two of just being parked, whether or not I will leave the maintainer connected year round or not, I haven't decided. Sure was well were the $38.00 cost (WITH shipping, under $30.00 for the charger itself).
When the service/parts guy at the dealer ship once told me that with that car/battery, you need to run it at least once a week, he was not kidding :-).
To all of you that use your Miata every single day, as your commute vehicle, probably will never be a problem. But being retired with three vehicles to keep running, it's another matter :-).
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