A local chiropractor.....Gotta make note of that!!!

 

As far as bad mouthing a whole company,it was the distributor for the a very large region in Maryland that I was dealing with, not a retailer or mechanic shop. If this isn't representative of a company mindset, they should choose their people better then. I believe I am just sharing my experience and feel it's my duty to share it with people who may be in the exact same situation as I am , and after paying a premium for a product that has a stated warranty, that warranty not being honored because of the type of engine my truck has, it should be shared with people who have the exact engine.

The truck being used to plow in a city where the average snowfall is 12.8 inches a year hardly qualifies it as a commercial truck. Less than 1% of it's time is spent in commercial duty, the rest of the time it is my daily driver.

 

Come see me man.

 

I don't think you are wrong expecting a better deal in your warranty. I had about the same response from a napa dealer (my last set of those also) and bought Duralast which are doing fine. Didn't you change out both batteries, as they should be changed in pairs as explained in the owners manual. The old battery will pull the new one down.

 

I'm now a full year in to my set of Refurb Interstates, and have had NO problems with them at all. $30 bucks a pop is definitely worth it so far. Starts my 7.3L no problem in ~0* temps. (block heater broken, too)

 

Jase, a little off topic but I'm curious, are you certified for Active Release Technique?

Stewart

 

start buying your batts at sams club. they are energizer(made by interstate/johnson controls) 75 each and they do honor the 3 year FREE replacement

 

Recall that one mfg (Johnson Controls) makes many batteries - including (at least in the past) Die Hards and Interstate. They also make 'Toyota True-start' - with which I've had great luck. Batteries are a crap shoot, no matter who makes them.

For Interstate brand batteries, try to buy them at the Interstate distributor/warehouse, rather than at your local gas station. That way, they have fresher batteries and can back you up on warranty issues. I bought a 'take out' (used) pair for $45 each and the dealer game me a local-shop-only 2 year free replacement warranty. They have been great so far in my 7.3. The Interstate in my plow truck is neglected and abused, and is at least 5 years old. I now have a trickle charger on it, but it has held up very well.

In conclusion, I'm sure Interstate sells a few clunker batteries, but so does everyone else. Their warranty treatment of you is shabby, however.

 

Sorry to hear about the problem with the Interstates. I've had a pair in a diesel (non-Ford) for 5 years, with no problems. The truck is a 1997, and the originals had to be replaced in 2000. I put a pair of Interstates in then, as well, and they lasted 5 years. I bought my 2001 F250 last September, and the batteries needed to be replaced. I put Diehards in it, so we'll see how they work.

 

I bought my truck in April of 99 and it still has the orginal motor craft batteries in it.

 

I went with the Odesseys (Odessies?) because I relocated the batts to the passenger frame rail and needed to turn the batts on their sides to make it work. Replaced all wiring with .06 welders cable too. Soldiered all the connections and covered them with shrinkwrap.

I've had good service out of them but the truck starts a little sluggish in the cold weather we've been having here in NC. I think it's more that the truck may soon be needing new glow plugs, injectors and maybe the starter motor as I'm running over 257k miles on the stockers.

 

I must be turning into an old man... if this had happened to me I PROBABLY would have jumped across the counter and kicked some a$$, caused some property damage and wound up in jail!

 

Prepare for a slight thread hi jack....

I hurt my back about two years ago rolling a log. After a month of dealing with the pain I decided that I might have damaged something so I go to the doctor. I found out after an x ray that I had compressed my L 3,4,5 and was recommended surgery to fix. That wasn't a route I'm willing to go down yet. I did some research on Al Gores wonderful internet and found this old Doctors blog. She wrote that surgery is a last resort. ( I wish I saved a link, I haven't been able to find her site again). She also said that if you are overweight, which I was, to loose it. Too much pressure on your spine and lower back. For back troubles, strenghten your core specifically do Yoga and Pilates type exercises. Well, I'm a guy and men just don't do that!...or so I thought.

So I joined a local gym. Here I was, 290 lbs size 44 waist. I'd spend a couple of minutes on the treadmill then alternate upper body lifting one day and lower body the next. A real noob. This goes on for a couple of weeks. One day, this guy walks up to me. I've seen him before, he was in great shape, early sixties late fifties. As I was taking a break between sets he comes over and say to me, "What are you doing?" I replied, "Just a few sets of leg presses." "Look at you'" he said, "You're fifty pounds overweight, quit wasting your time and follow me" He took me out to the main floor and pointed up to the second level. "See that machine, get on that and build your time up to and hour a day and come in here six days a week. Loose the weight, tone what you got, then build from there." He was pointing to whats known as a step mill. Just a revolving staircase. So I took his advice. Some days an hour, some less. I lost 30 lbs the first month. After three months I was down to a size 36 waist and 228 lbs. Hang on, I'm not done yet....

The step mill was my everyday exercise but it does get boring fast. Mind you, you are on the second level and you can gaze down on the "shapely things in spandex" if you know what I mean but I watched as people came out of spin. I had to try it and I was hooked.

Spin, is indoor stationary biking, set to music. You have a leader that sets the pace. By far, the best cardio exercise I've done to date. The interesting thing about spin is that you see the same faces day in and day out. After an hour you are covered in sweat. Now if you're still reading along I bet you're wondering what this has to do with a chiropractor. I'm almost there, stick with me.

I still had that annoying pain in my back. Not a strong pain, but almost constant. One day, after a spin class I was walking out with a friend. As we walked by the Yoga studio she asks, " Have you ever tried that?" "Me, do Yoga??" I scoffed. She laughed, "Yeah you probably couldn't do it anyway." WHOOP WHOOP alarm bells going off. Attack on manhood, can't have that can we. "I meet you in there 930 Friday morning, it'll be fun" she says. Fast forward to Friday morning. I get set up in the far back corner, the only guy in the class. My friend never shows. ( she had to work I found out later). Lights are dim, incense burning, weird music playing and then the chanting starts. I'm thinking to myself WTF am I doing here. Can't back out now though, this is going to be the longest 90 minutes of my life. Five minutes later I was drenched in sweat, using muscles that I never knew existed in my body, thinking "I dont if I can do this!!" At the end of the class I felt that I had gotten hit by a train. Funny thing was....My back didn't hurt anymore. Not one bit. I've kept up doing the Yoga.

Now I bet you're wondering why I posted this. I can't pass on a multitude of 7.3 knowledge but what I can do is post what worked for me. I never felt better after I lost my weight, and at 44 I feel great. If you are young reading this my advice is to take care of your body, esp your back.

Sorry for the hi jack.

 

HKusp & everyone --

You make a good point when you say these batteries are not being used in a commercial vehicle. From what you describe, your warranty should be honored for personal use.

Even though I've read through this thread, I'm not sure whether you've talked directly with our distributor in your area or if you've just dealt with the dealer. So here's what I'd recommend:

1. If you haven't talked to the Distributor yet, give them a call and take the batteries to their warehouse to be tested. They might only need to be charged, which is common with batteries in snow plows. If you need a number & address for your distributor, let me know in a reply or email james.pecht@ibsa.com.

2. If the batteries are actually defective and your warranty isn't being honored as being for personal use, call our Customer Service department in Dallas at 1-888-772-3600. Ask for Dan Lane, who's been made aware of this thread.

We want to do the right thing for you, so please let me know what's happening.

Thanks!

James

 

Welcome to FTE, James.

Glad to see you post in this thread. Jason is one of the major people in this forum and lots of people are wondering why this happened. I don't know if he still has the batteries because of the core charge.