I got the truck back from the body shop. The battery was dead. It jump starts. But once you turn the truck off, it won't start again without a jump. I took the battery out, and the battery charger shows that the battery is charging to full. Now let's see if the battery will hold the charge. I have to unplug the charger, and let it sit overnight. Then measure the voltage. I've seen this before. Batteries will take a charge, but not hold the charge. Very disappointing. This battery lasted about 20 months.

Here is what I learned. Typically, the battery seller is supposed to test the battery to determine that the battery is bad. On every Optima battery, there is a barcode sticker on the side. It indicates who sold the battery. Optima batteries are sold by auto parts stores, battery stores, etc. And they all have their own unique bar code. If that retailer did not sell the battery, they will not even touch it. If the retailer sold the battery, then it's up to them to honor the warranty. If you did not buy it from that retailer, they will not honor the warranty. If like me, you have a battery that you bought online, no retailer will help you. And Optima does not have their own Optima outlets. So you can't go to an Optima shop. Not even the local Optima distributor will help.









Since I had to replace the battery, I decided to take care of a few other deferred projects under the hood. I installed a new fan control unit for the electric fan. It was just time. The old style controllers had relays and the new style is a solid state device. I also installed a relay onto the transmission cooler fan. It also gave me a chance to clean up the wiring attached to the battery terminals. Strange that the transmission cooler fan is designed to be powered directly from the battery. The fan would keep running from the temperature sensor, even after the truck was turned off. Sure, there's residual heat, which activates the fan motor. But the truck is off, so the transmission pump is off, and there's no ATF in the cooler. A relay activated with an ignition source wire fixed that. I was just dismayed that for the prices that these parts sell for, a simple relay was not included.


As usual, my Dad had to point out the obvious. I've got $$$$$ in tools, and I did the job with the cheap Harbor Freight tools. The socket set usually has a coupon for $5, and the wrenches usually have a coupon for $10. Why? For the same reason that I buy tools from Harbor Freight. Because they work. I've found that I could do most jobs with Harbor Freight tools. You really don't need the world's most expensive Snap-On tool set, for most jobs.

I do use my Snap-On tools...... sometimes. And sometimes I use my Sears tools. I started out life with Sears tools. It was where my Dad bought tools from, and he took me there when I was a kid. As an adult with my own money..... I spent it. I bought Snap-On tools. Somewhere along the line, I discovered Harbor Freight. I couldn't believe how cheap everything was. And I bought everything they had a coupon for. To my surprise, they're not bad tools.

 

I used to have a roommate that had wired in an electric fan on his Jeep. It was connected straight from the battery to the temp sender on the radiator. It took a while to convince him that he needed it relayed from the ignition switch. It was just annoying, at least to me, to have the fan come on over and over after he'd parked it. It would cool the coolant in the radiator enough to turn off, then the coolant would cycle through the engine due to the temp differential and fire up the fan again- over and over. That just can't be good for the battery over the long haul, and was annoying to me if I was working on one of my cars nearby.

 

I started out buying Craftsman tools from Sears also. I loved being able to go into any Sears store with a broken socket, or ratchet or whatever, and the salesmen would tell me to pick out another one and be on my way. I have since switched to Harbor Freight. Almost all my tools are from HF except a set of Stanley Tools I bought from Amazon. And I have had those tools (Stanley) over a year now and only used one screwdriver so far. LOL. Of course, not much use for them when your truck has been sitting at various shops waiting for lazy mechanics to work on it.

Jim

 

I always bought Craftsman for the same reasons. I typically buy Snap On now since I have a buddy with two franchises. He gives me a solid cash discount and drops the tools off on his way home.

 

That is cool. I remember when I was taking automotive courses at Cypress JC, all the tool companies would send their trucks to the school every now and then. I tried to get an account with Snap On but by that time I had already screwed up my credit. Which was why I bought Craftsman until relatively recently. Since I am so limited on what work I can do on my vehicles, I see no reason to have a lot of expensive tools taking up space in my already small apartment.

Jim

 

Not much to see. Collision repair is finished. The body shop installed an aftermarket grille and guard.







The electric fans on the truck were purchased from Mike Troyer Performance. The F-150 Fan Kit was a very popular modification, and often posted about. The fans and the new controller work flawlessly. If done correctly, electric fans are more efficient on older cars that were built with a mechanical fan. I've done this on several vehicles I owned in the past. I was happy with the results every time.

 

I've never broken a Craftsman ratchet handle or socket. I can't imagine breaking a wrench. I broke one Harbor Freight socket. I suspect it was user error. Me being the user. As I recall, the store replaced it without any hassle.


I'm still disappointed that all of the local Sears stores have closed. They did sell off their most popular and profitable brands. Stanley, Black & Decker, DeWalt now owns Craftsman and sells the brand in home improvement centers. Advance Auto bought the DieHard brand from Sears. Kenmore was sold to a hedge fund.

 

This is my final battle with the Optima RedTop. I've read whatever Optima has posted about being able to recharge their deeply discharged batteries, and how to charge them.

Like a dummy, I have a battery charger which is supposed to desulfate and recover depleted batteries. It has a special setting for charging AGM batteries. I read everything that the manufacturer has posted.

So I hooked up my car battery voltage reader, and ran the battery through the "repair" mode.








I have never actually seen a bad battery brought back to life. I have my doubts about being able to reverse stratification and sulfation. Like an idiot, I bought an expensive battery charger which claims to be able to fix bad batteries. So now, I have to use it and hope that it could work. I am 0 for 2 with this. My 6 year old Optima Yellow Top did not come back to life. My 10 year +, Harley battery did not come back to life. This battery is only 20 months old. But I do not have high hopes. I have no faith in miracles. My Dad says that it was a waste of $100 to buy a charger for fixing dead batteries, because you can't fix a dead battery.

 

Happy Saturday! No new news today except it is supposed to rain tonight around 6pm.

Jim

 

Today is the anniversary of the insurrection. There's that.

 

That's why I have steak in the refrigerator. As time passes and history is rewritten by the victors, that event could be a national holiday. July 4th in January. A symbolic day of bravery and patriotic heroism. For now...... It's a failed action. I will eat the steak, nonetheless, because it's in the refrigerator. No sense in throwing away good steak.

 

The battery is no good. Charged it for 8 hours with the charger sending 13.4 volts. It read 12.1 volts immediately off the charger. The next morning, it's only 7 volts.


That's just like jump starting it, driving it, and not being able to start it again.

 

Bummer, Batteries are expensive these days!

 

Every car battery has gone up in price.

Supposedly, all car batteries come from a few manufacturers. So the quality is not much different. It got real expensive real fast with a motorcycle and two cars all needing batteries.

With the truck in the shop, I was able to find a lower price battery online. I didn't save much. A GM AGM battery for slightly less than a Ford conventional battery. The van got a Ford battery. The dealership had it in stock and at a lower price compared to local auto parts stores. No waiting for shipping. It didn't make sense for me to drive an hour to Wal*Mart. Although I believe that the Wal*Mart battery is a Ford battery, priced at $25 less.

The problem with battery warranties is that you have to go back to the seller. I don't want to think about driving back to Wal*Mart if there's a problem. Imagine shipping a dead battery back to an online company for the core charge, and then shipping a dead battery back for a warranty claim.

 

Every battery is expensive now, but Optima batteries are higher than any other. I had a red Optima in my F350 dually and had no issues with it. However, I doubt very seriously if I will buy one for my current truck. I guess you have a heavy paper weight now or door stop or whatever use you can find for it. Core charge eliminator? LOL I went to the second church today and volunteered at their food drive. Scored a ton of food. I have ten or so individual Honey Cheerios boxes. A big package of chicken drumsticks, two cans of chicken meat, one small can of tuna, six packages of Mac and cheese, and a few cans of veggies, apricots, and one can of shrooms. On another note. My income went up $49 this month, but Section 8 raised my portion of the rent $48 so I gained a dollar. Unreal...

Jim