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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

Wal Mart Batterys

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Old Dec 6, 2003 | 05:14 AM
  #1  
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bigreave
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From: Bryan Texas
Wal Mart Batterys

Here's The problem 12 days ago i came home from hunting and very tired left my dome light on killed the battery. Swaped with brand new battery started fine for three days then acted like the starter was hanging so i changed starter and solinoid didnt fix it . Took the battery back had a dead cell got another battery truck starts fine till tonight i leave my house drive 3 miles to work and shut it off dead.Roll start it home, The strnge thing is radio lost no power and headlights still work . I think a dead cell again but two dead cells in two weeks do they have a bad lot of batterys or is my electrical system bad the, truck is a 85 f150 300 with 4 speed does anyone have any ideas?
 
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Old Dec 6, 2003 | 07:11 AM
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From: Right Next to U
Are you adding distilled water to the battery acid....? If your Voltage regulalor isn't putting isn't regulating the voltage to the battery )i.e. High voltage would kill any battery....low voltage wouldn't allow the battery to charge esp if you are driving at night with lights on and radio with amp with bass speakers...(don't know your setup, just guessing here) Alt needs to charge the battery....so if you only drive it 3 miles, its not going to be charged very much after a installation like that.
 
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Old Dec 6, 2003 | 10:22 AM
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From: Hallettsville, Texas
Hey neighbor (bigreave). How`s the new dirt track (Hot Rod Hill) working out over there? As locknkey said, could be voltage regulator. Does it boil any acid out of the battery when it is running? Have you cleaned the terminals going to your battery? What`s the condition of your starter cable and ground cable? Any loose connections? Sounds to me like your alternator is running your truck and lights once you get it push started. Would the lights come on bright while the truck was sitting there dead but not starting? I used to buy batteries from Wal-Mart several years ago but kept having problems. The two year warranty is great if you want to keep changing batteries out once a month. Got tired of that. Can`t beat a name brand even though they cost more. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
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Old Dec 6, 2003 | 12:55 PM
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From: chino valley az
that battery was made by johnson-control. one of the best battery manufactures out there. it far exceeds the exide. i would take a look at everything else two bad batteries, usually means you have something else wrong..
 
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Old Dec 6, 2003 | 01:25 PM
  #5  
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From: Hallettsville, Texas
You must have had better luck with them than I have. I guess one can make their own determination as to the quality of the Wal-Mart batteries. The only problems I had with my vehicle at that time were the batteries. Granted, I`m not saying that his battery is his starting problem, but it is possible to get several bad Wal-Mart batteries in a row. Of course it has been several years since I`ve quit using them so maybe the manufacturer has changed or maybe the manufacturer has fixed the problem they used to have with the batteries. I must also say that once I bought a different brand battery, I never had the problem again. My vehicle problem must have fixed itself. I have to agree that Bigreave`s problem does sound like something other than the battery itself though.
 
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Old Dec 6, 2003 | 01:31 PM
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From: chino valley az
wal mart till about 2-3 years ago used exide. i too have had my share of problems with the exide batterys with bad cells. i stopped using them in the shop, and went to trojan and johnson control batterys. i have yet to have one fail. the lower end wal mart batteries are still exides, so watch which one you buy. the maxx-start, i think thats what they are called, state in the top that they are made gy johnson control. the cheaper line dosen't state who makes them.. by the way all of the batteries that napa sells are made by exide, and i really like napa's parts.. Kurt
 
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Old Dec 6, 2003 | 01:59 PM
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From: Hallettsville, Texas
Yeah, I pretty much use all Napa parts now also. I`ve had pretty good luck with them for the most part. I used to buy all Ford parts until they got so high I couldn`t afford them. Plus the Napa quality is just as good as the Ford parts have been last couple of years. I don`t remember who had manufactured the batteries I was getting from Wal-Mart at that time. Probably was Exide, I can`t remember. I guess sooner or later they will all make a bad battery or two. Have a good one.
 
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Old Dec 7, 2003 | 02:29 AM
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has anyone tried the new technology gel batteries?
 
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Old Dec 7, 2003 | 02:29 AM
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has anyone tried the new technology gel batteries?
 
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Old Dec 7, 2003 | 05:22 PM
  #10  
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From: Bryan Texas
Thanks for all the input after swaping out batterys on saturday morning in the parking lot. The battery right off the shelf was dead. I mean 8 Minutes and I went right back in and had a wonderful chat and 2 minutes latter new battery not dead. Went straight to the zone and got voltage regulator and alternator tested, regulator was good alternator was puting out enough juice to outpass the gauge. I guess the alternator was overcharging then cooking the battery. Plus Horton-Racing I can Throw a rock and hit Hot rod hill From my moma's back yard
 
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