[William Miller]

During my project something happened to my battery.
It's dead and won't charge.

Saturday I attempted to exercise my warrantee at NTB Germantown. I don't always hold on to recepts, but for some reason I had this one.

I was past the full replacement period and would get a prorated value on a replacement. Right? / Wrong.

They didn't have "the one I need" in stock.
This was a Die Hard so they suggested I take it to Sears or wait till Wednesday and they will have it in? They used to sell Die hard, but no longer. Now their selling Excide.

I called and they said my battery was there. Wrong.
They brought it out and it was smaller (length).

They brought out their battery book and showed me that this was supposed to go in my car.

When I bought my car it had a longer than normal battery in it and that's what I replaced about 2 years ago.

(Group 49) 805 cca

Anyway they didn't have it and said they wouldn't have it for a while. They told me to go to Sears again.


So whats up?
Sears will replace a battery I bought somewhere else?
Why is this battery so big anyway. Is it better, faster, last longer.
It sure is heavier than most.
I think my main ground strap might not be long enough for the shorter battery.

[Trak Ratt]

A lot heavier I got the smaller one, works great & the mounting hole is already in place (under the longer battery). I also like the Altima battery. More $$ but no out gassing to eat up the inside of the space, also lighter. And it can be mounted in truly ingenious ways.

[Jazzbass]

NTB used to be owned by Sears, but they sold them last year. Maybe the crappy service at NTB wasn't up the crappy service standards of Sears - who knows.

It seems that you got your battery there while they were still part of Sears, and in typical NTB fashion, instead of taking care of one of their customers, they're basically telling you to screw off and go to Sears. As if you needed more proof that NTB sucks. If they won't replace your battery, avoid them like the plague and never go there again*. You can buy batteries at Advance and tires are Radial Tire.

The stock battery in these cars is frickin' huge, and heavy, too. A lot of guys are running the gel-cell Optima batteries, which are a few pounds lights (but still pretty heavy). The nice thing about them is you don't have to worry about leaking battery acid corroding the battery area of your car. They're about $100 from Advance or Price Club, and about $5 for the longer ground strap. You'll also need an adapter place that you can make from $3 worth of aluminum or buy for $30 from somewhere like AJ USA.



* Can you tell I hate NTB?

[William Miller]

Thanks guy's.
Chris I didn't hate them till now.
In the past I knew they wern't the best but convienant.

There must be some good reason they put that big A$$ battery in the car.
It looks like it might have been standard in 78-79 and maybe went to the smaller one in 81.

My Euro had higher Compression is this a reason?
Better weight distribution/balance?

CCA was 805 I don't think the smaller batteries were that high.

I'm putting a few big amplifiers in with the project. Should I keep the big battery? It it just plain overkill?

[Don Wohlfarth]

Not a fan of NTB but I think you may be going a little overboard Chris.
NTB no longer has the Diehard battery. They pointed Bill to Sears which has the battery. Sears should honor the warranty.

[William Miller]

We'll see I'm going today.
I'm just debating what to replace it with and why.
Help!

[Jazzbass]

Originally Posted by Don Wohlfarth

Not a fan of NTB but I think you may be going a little overboard Chris.

No, I'm not. Especially with regard to the Germantown NTB, to which Bill and I are both referring to.

Case in point: I took my van there a couple months ago for two new tires. $350 later, I had the new tires, a broken glove box and the contents of all the storage areas in my van strew everywhere. When I went back and asked the manager if this is the kind of work his business usually did, he started yelling at me in the parking lot for questioning his business! I had proof right in front of him that his guys messed up, and instead of appogizing and making the situation right, he yells at me like I'm the a$$hole for not wanting the inside of my car torn apart after spending $350 at his business.

After telling this story to a few of my neighbors, including Pari who also lives near me here in MD, the responses were ALL the same - everyone who had gone there has had problems. Things on their car messed up, sales staff that are rude and complete jerks to the customers, etc. Not one single person near me that I talked to had a good experience there.

So no, I'm not going overboard. They suck, and I'll take any opportunity to tell people, esp here in the Germantown area. Businesses in this area all too ofter can get away with this kind of crap because there are so many people here that they always have more customers to take the place of the ones they anger.

[Jase007]

William:

Get the Optima Red top (yellow top is deep cycle) and never look back. Have them in some of my cars and NEVER have had a problem. How cold does Metro DC / NOVA really get? 805 CCA ...what for? I have the Optima red top in my E30 iX and took it to VT in the dead of winter skiing every year (0 - 10 degrees) with no problems. Plenty of juice, sealed, reliable, stands up better to vibration with spiral bound core, etc, etc...

FWIW

Jase

[Parenn911]

Like everyone else is saying, get the Optima red top. It is a great battery.
Oh, and NTB blows .

[William Miller]

It doesn't seem like there is any detailed info on Sears site. They do sell the red top so maybe the warrantee value can go twards that. I figure the prorated warantee is worth about $60.

While you guys are on board this thread, do they make several sizes or does one size fit all? If spacific which one did you get.
I'm not very trusting of the guy's in the stores for advise.

Chris you mentioned a bracket. Does the optima have the little angled feet that the original battery locks into?
What's the bracket look like? I'm sure I can make it.

BTW does Race rules require a hold down like in a boat?