Guess who makes Walmart batteries?

 

Johnson Controls no longer makes batteries, the division was sold to the Canadian assent management/equity firm Brookfield and the Johnson Controls battery was renamed Clarios. So no idea what the end result of that will be on battery quality.

Most of all of NAPA's batteries are made by what is now Clarios and East Pen
Interstates automotive, truck and marine batteries are made by Clarios. Interstate Battery manufacturers nothing they just rebrand and resell.

There are 3 major players for battery manufacturers in North America East Penn, Clarios (formerly Jonson Controls) and Exide 99% of the automotive, truck and marine batteries manufactured in North America are from these 3 manufacturers.

 

Its just like motor oil, theres only a handfull of refineries that make motor oil the only difference is the additive packages that each brand adds to the oil ontop of the basic oil additive package. Most people dont know that and are actually fearful of running store brand oil.

I dont know who makes Diehard batteries but I have always had great luck with them lasting me 7 to 9 years, typically 8 years. Other batteries I have tried dont even make it 5 years let alone 3 years. The Duracell I used on my '56 lasted a year and a half but batteries plus cant get me that battery anymore. The napa brand battery that I use on my 56 now is lucky to get 1 year before it not good and wont hold a charge more than a day. On my 58 Ford tractor the continental battery it came with was good it was 7 years old when I finally had to replace it but went with napa brand battery as thats all that has that size battery local and it is still going 4 years later. On my 68 Ford diesel tractor it had a AC Delco battery that was 13 years old when it finally quit working. Got a napa battery it lasted 2 years and had to replace it but no one has that oblong battery besides napa and not going to pay $400 for the AC Delco one before the shipping fees for a 100lb battery.

Some batteries are hit and miss for longevity and its not always the brand but is the size and design of the battery, more obsolete sized batteries like on my '56 you just cant find a long lasting one outside of taking a risk on the gelcell reproduction one that is offered but thats a big risk to take for a $500 battery lol.

 

It's true that battery manufacturers come and go. They're bought out, merged and or go out of business. But manufacturing is only one piece of the puzzle. You have product development, specifications, marketing, service and distribution. That's really where the rubber meets the road.

Not all specs are equal either. For CCA there are three ways to measure them and at least 6 ways to cheat on the specs.

Stick to the name brands with good specs and customer service and then maintain levels and keep good clean protected connections along with adequate charging from your alternator and you'll go far.

I can say that Interstate has good specs, materials and construction. The longest lasting batteries I've used. 20 years is excellent for a battery. I have consistently gotten 10 to 15 years out of all my batteries when I used good name brands. Delco and DieHard were good. Diehard had me for a customer for a while with their lifetime guarantee. I tend to keep vehicles for long times.

Interstate CCA ratings are true ratings. I once bought some cheap batteries for my truck. The CCA rating was higher than the original spec. But the performance was horrible. Took em back and got Interstate batteries and the difference was night and day. Those batteries, with a lower advertised CCA, outperformed the autoparts store bargain brand and lasted for 20 years.

 

Same thing with continental batteries, we are about ready to dump them at work cause they just dont have the cranking amps. The right case size battery for a big block C10 pickup and it wont even crank the engine over it sounds like a half dead battery when cranking. Got with another brand same group size and the cranking amps are 200 to 300 amps higher and you can hear it when starting.

 

There's nearly a 2 volt difference in residual voltage after 30 seconds of cranking between the highest and lowest recognized methods of measuring CCA. That can make you or break you on a cold morning.

 

Yep, its why I personally would never use continental batteries, I see how horrible they are at work. Same with optima batteries. They are strong but they just dont last like they used to.

its kind of like the Group 29N battery for my '56. The one I use is rated at 420 cca and 520 cranking amps with a 70min reserve. But if I bought the reproduction battery which is like a optima in a period correct case, that battery has a rating of 750 cca and 900 cranking amps with a 95min reserve. Id really like to go with the reproduction battery but I dont know how good they are on longevity considering the high price tag for the battery vs the napa one I get now for $125.

 

Yes, you do have to consider cost and warranty in your decision. Customer service when the warranty isn't met is important too. If you're not driving the 56 much that's hard on any battery so perhaps 4 of the El cheapos are as good as the expensive one.

 

What about batteries manufactured elsewhere and imported to North America? Is that a thing? If I went to (insert name of discount auto parts chain) and purchased their cheapest offering, could I be getting a rebadged Fling Dung or Wok Hoam brand from China? Or are the economics such that nobody sells imported el cheapo batteries here?

This has been an informative thread. I also find it interesting how person A claims brand X has worked well for him, but then person B claims brand X is total garbage and only brand Y is worth purchasing. I wonder what the factor may be behind these wildly different results.

Myself, I have had excellent results with NAPA Premium, or whatever it is they call their top of the line (read: most expensive) offering. My thoughts are you really do get what you pay for with batteries. If a vendor is selling one line for $89 and another line for $159, the expensive one is going to have heavier duty details, better materials, etc. When buying a battery, it's a fool's game to buy the cheapest version and expect it to hold up.

I’m also partial to NAPA because they have branches practically everywhere, including many small towns, so hopefully I’m good during my travels to some remote areas. If I needed to replace Autozone battery under warranty, I’d be totally out of luck away from the big city.

For maintaining your batteries (I've go too many cars, 6 batteries total), I highly recommend checking their general health maybe twice a year with an inexpensive capacitance tester like this, an Ancel BA101. It will help catch a problem before it gets bad enough to leave you stranded somewhere:

 

Clarios makes Everstart, Duralast, Diehard, Motorcraft and several others. East Penn makes Interstate, Napa, Duracell, Super Start and a few more, Exide makes the ones from Tractor Supply, Rural king and a few other big box stores. In my experience Interstate is absolutely the worst brand that I see the most premature failures with, followed by Super Start, for that reason I avoid buying East Penn made batteries.

 

Thats basically how I am looking at it, the cheapie batteries from napa are prorated for 2 years so I just have been getting in the habit of replacing them before the 2 year mark. I would love to drive the car more but I need to have the transmission rebuilt something is going on inside where it falls out of gear when you come to a stop but all gears work though. I tried adjusting the band and it made no difference so I decided instead of trashing a hard part on the transmission I will wait till I get it rebuilt then go from there. I do want to get the reproduction battery eventually as I am going to restore the car to factory new.

 

Interesting that you have had bad experience with interstate when they have been the best performing batteries I have used. Interstate has had high ratings for many years in consumer and auto tech surveys. The best mechanics in my area also like them. So in any line of batteries experience may vary. No battery will perform well if not properly maintained and charged.

 

I don't know if it is just my local supplier or what but the rate of failure I see with Interstate batteries is truly amazing, it's more than all other brands combined. At one point last year I had 5 of them sitting in my garage out of different vehicles that were all bad, 4 of them were less than a year old. The do honor their warranty but based on what I have seen I wouldn't use them if they were free, I tell my customers the same thing.

 

The ones I get are definitely not free. I'm paying couple hundred each. For 20 years of reliability it's worth it for me. When my last set finally died I almost want to have a memorial service for them! Like old friends...

 

I'll have to agree, Interstate has been a top rated battery for many many years. But like everything. Nothing is perfect and there's always that one person who had a bad one.