Car guys: please recommend a place to get a cheap car battery
 

My car hasn't started yesterday because of the cold. It makes a click noise but the car isn't starting my guess is the battery is no good. Wheres a good place to get a cheap car battery?

Cheap batteries are not good, and good batteries are not cheap.

at the store/thread

wish I could help; I was trying to find a cheap one and was shocked at how much a MF battery was.

Now that my sarcasm is out of the way. Go to Advance Auto Parts/O'Reilly/Auto Zone and they will put it in for free (most cars).

Just like blowjobs

And have you even looked at the connections?

Between blowjobs and batteries?

Cold weather will finish off a weak battery. You get what you pay for when it comes to batteries.

Probably not. Billay is as useless as tits on a boar.

Sorry, should have said terminals.

Everyone's a jackass... :)

Theres some corrosion

Autozone is the best place for batteries these days IMO.

Pour some coke on it then dipshit.

I'd recommend calling ahead. Went to O'Reilly's yesterday and ended up dropping $150 because the mid level batteries were all sold out. Same thing at the nearby autozone.

Yes, clean them.

Did you clean the terminals?








:)

Funny, I'm sitting in Firestone getting snow tires and they said I need a new battery because it's at 40-60%. I said no. It was -3 the other day and it started; I figure if it can handle -3 I'm good for a while longer.

From your neighbors...when they are sleeping.

I've called a few places so far all 104 bucks

Seriously, clean your terminals and see if it turns over before you run out and buy a battery.

How long has it been since you replaced the battery in this car?

Do yourself a favor and buy a good one!!

Did you try Sears?

Most of those batteries come from the same damn factory and are just rebadged.

Sears, Autozone, some of the Walmart batteries (MAXX batteries I think), and whoever carries the Interstate batteries are all made by Johnson, not sure about O'Reilly but I'd bet they are too. I usually get one from Sears because they offer the best warranty, same as Autozone but its usually a little cheaper at Sears. I stay away from Interstate because their prorate kicks in after 2 years, compared to 3, and they are always like $20 more expensive, which I find reeruned.

Did you pick up the money after being shocked that the batteries were sold out? And how much did you end up purchasing a battery for?

Do you not have a battery charger?

Dunno how old the battery is bought the car used last year.

Well, some manufacturers will put a sticker or etching on the battery that tells you the month and year it was manufactured.

Before you buy a new battery, go somewhere that sells auto shit, and buy one of these:

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/4969/hwpj.jpg

And some of this:

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/648/z5ec.jpg

That'll cost a total of ~$10.

Clean the hell out of your terminals. Try to turn it over again. Even if it doesn't fix it, those terminal cleaners will come in very handy in the future.

Well sitting here making excuses ain't gonna help.

Get off your ass & go look.

We're waiting.

Sears Auto

Also, if you go this route & try this shit yourself:

Negative is always on first, off last. (that's the black one)

And NEVER have rings/jewelry on when you do it. Good way to lose a finger or even a hand.

you need a ride?

They will quote you a price, tell you they have it in stock, and schedule an appointment for you. Apparently that is as far as you can really get without a lot of hassle.

Your old dead battery is worth $10- $15

Come to think of it, that would be a good way to make some extra bucks the last couple days.

If you can, make sure that there is sufficient water in the battery cells. The level should be above the plates in the battery (there should be inspection caps on the top of the battery). Get a battery charger, one that has 5/10/50 amp settings. Charge the battery, using the 5 amp setting first since the battery is cold, then bump it to the 10amp setting. then get the car started.

A quick way to check the health of a battery is to pull the car to a wall or garage door with the engine running and the headlights on. Check the brightness of the lights. Turn the engine off, if the lights dim (a little is okay) then the battery is sick.

There used to be some stuff at the AutoParts stores called Charge-it, it was a chemical fix for bad batteries. If you are desperate and can find it around your area it might be worth a shot

I dunno. I call the Junk yard and get a used battery for $20 with lifetime warranty. When it shits, I go get another used one for free. Of course the junk yard is like 2 miles away, so its supper easy. The one I got now is on year 3

Could be the terminals. cables, or solenoid even. Ultimately could even be the alternator not keeping your battery charged up. I have had the same problem as you describe and a good cleaning was all it needed...or a tightening of the terminals on the battery posts. Most places can check your battery but it needs to be charged up so you have to leave it there or charge it up beforehand. People here are right about cleaning the posts and terminals as a first step. Good luck.

Do they even make unsealed batteries anymore? I haven't seen one in years.

what size ball bearings you running?

Did you attempt to jump the car and charge the battery?

Fornication has no business here. Plus, he may frostbite his pee pee.

Jump yes. Was able to get a tiny bit of power but not much.

If you are in kc metro area, best batteries just north of downtown.

I buy from Ford.

Downside of living in brookside is that there are no "big box" retailers anywhere close. O'Reilly's on Troost is my best close bet for auto stuff.

Nearest Sears to me is either in Independence/Lee's Summit or off of Metcalf. Makes it harder to get things done over lunch break when you work from home.

I was pretty frustrated that the mounting bolt for the battery was located in the least convenient spot possible. Needed a 10" extension to get that sucker out of there. Stupid Honda engines.

You can't jump-start the car either?

I'm not too far from you. Surprisingly the best deal i've found was a place in midtown.

Yea no luck.

Weird.

I just walk in and buy one and put it in myself. 1 bolt and 2 leads, it doesn't get much easier than that.

My mothers car wouldn't start after she got out of the store from shopping so I drove over and told her we weren't going to tow it. I pushed it to the back of the parking lot, went to Sears, walked in and walked out in 5 mins with a battery, drove back to her car and put it in, and within an hour of her calling me she was driving away.

What exactly does that mean? You can just keep swapping in and out batteries for free for the rest of your life, but all of them are used?

Some manufacturers bury the ****ing battery down in the engine compartment these days. My Mom's battery required taking off several brackets, the washer fluid container, etc. It's not always as simple as unscrew a bolt and lift it out.

This sounds like an excellent plan.

Lol.

Off to Sears to get a new one tonight myself.

Stranded me about a mile from house today at lunch.. because I ignored the warning signs and figured it would make it a bit longer. Could have been much, much worse though.

Go get one in Lake Sherwood. Cars are stuck in snow and you grab the batt and haul ass

and get a tug while your at it.

Which car manufacturers bury the battery way down in the engine compartment?

I know a place off of steel road in KCK. Budget battery. You get a warranty too. 28$ for a side post battery for my Chevelle.

Budget Battery Exchange
2422 S 51st St, Kansas City, KS

Had my battery go out on me around 2:30am before work yesterday. Such a mother****er. My own fault for not actually listening to a Midas guy in the fall.

Bought one at O'Reilly's for $150. They typically put it in for you free too. But, because of the weather yesterday corporate wouldn't allow them to.

Their least expensive that I saw was $125.

Several put them in the cabin or trunk these days. My Deville had its battery under the rear seat. I know several Mercedes models do the same thing and BMW has a penchant for dropping them in the trunk.

Please don't follow this advice.

I've seen them on Dodge, Ford, Chevy, etc. If you raise the hood, all you'll see and have access to are what's called remote jumper terminals. Basically a terminal you can hook up jumper cables to, but it's really just a cable that runs to the actual battery. The actual battery is buried with no direct access.

Clean the terminals first then. Unless the battery cables were pure ass or you didn't achieve a good connection, you aren't getting power from the battery to your starter.

This. And **** those one who sucks the peniss.

I remember fondly the good old days of my youth (translation=didn't know shit) and my Fiero doing the same thing. I spent a good portion of the day first changing out the battery, then the solenoid, and then the starter. I remember distinctly how big of a moron I felt like when it turned out to be a $10 battery cable.

I got it jumped drove around for 15 mins turned it off and now i wont start again lol

alternator?

It wouldn't be the alternator if the battery was dead and it kept the car running until it was shut off.

Sounds like battery. Easy way to tell is to pull it out and take it to autozone for some free testing.

Yikes

Yup probably needs a new battery. Thanks for the help guys.

Buick Enclave battery is under the floorboard on passenger side center seat row. Handy as one jaw pliar

It's gonna be about $100 no matter what you do.

Had replace the battery in my truck yesterday. I was shocked at the price since I haven't had to change one out in years.

Also from what I was taught to remove old battery neg off first then positive. Put new battery in connect pos first then neg.

If you want cheap, go to Walmart. Don't expect it to last.

Interstate does, which is what I hang in my rigs. I always get the highest CCA model that fits in the hole and they have always been bullet proof.

wal-mart

This is correct.

If you go to take the positive off first and accidentally touch something metal under that hood that is grounded with the wrench it could cause a spark, which could cause a battery explosion. By taking the negative ground off first you eliminate the possibility. Same when putting the new battery in so reverse the process, positive first, then negative.

In my Sebring you have to pull off the driver side tire and remove the panel to change the battery. Pain in the frigging ass when it went out on me in the mid of a frigging blizzard.

Uck. My Cobalt's is in the trunk, down by where the spare tire is.