Kawasaki Concours Forum
Mish mash => Open Forum => Topic started by: timsatx on December 18, 2015, 10:03:58 PM
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So today on the way home from work I pulled over to have a beer. I was listening to the radio and doing some reading. When I was done I went to start the truck and no joy. You could hear the starter relay clacking but that was all. It was about 2 miles of crazy terrain and it was getting cold so it weren't no fun walking home. I got my cycle and drove it back to the truck, took the battery out and took it to Autozone which is where I originally bought it.
It was their Gold battery that was guaranteed for three years. It didn't seem like it was that long ago I bought it but I couldn't remember. The guy tested the battery and said it was good but that it was low on charge. I asked him to throw a charge on it and I could bring my truck back tomorrow to have it checked out. He charged it for about 20 minutes and then checked it again. This time he said the battery was bad. It had the voltage but it wasn't holding the current. So as he was checking the system I saw that I had bought the last one 10/10/14. So he did his computer work and then told me that I was good to go. NO MONEY, YEAH.
So I took the battery back to the truck, put it in, tried it out, then went back home. I figured I was going to have to get a cab to get back to the truck and then thought about UBER. I remembered that I had the app on my phone and tried it out for the first time. It worked out quite nicely. He got here pretty quick and got me over there for about $7. Much more satisfied over using a cab.
I figure better to happen now than when I was on my way to Houston on Thurs. For the last two or three weeks I felt it wasn't starting quite the way it should but figured it was just me. I am tired now. Can't wait to get some rack time.
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Glad it worked out for you.
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What really bothers me is the fact that the battery only lasted a year.
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Same thing happened to me w/Autozone batt....except it only lasted 4 months. Interstate batteries ever since.
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They are darn expensive but I've had very, very good luck with Optima batteries:
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=optima+battery&tag=mh0b-20&index=automotive&hvadid=3482385862&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_a1cig2crw_e (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=optima+battery&tag=mh0b-20&index=automotive&hvadid=3482385862&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_a1cig2crw_e)
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I have always had good luck with car batteries at places like Rural King, Tractor supply, and Fleet & Farm. My wife had a battery suddenly die one night and we got one at autozone, mostly because Rural King was closed. It only lasted a few months.
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There really aren't very many battery makers. They are all made by the same few companies.
I bought a new Interstate for my Dakota a couple years ago. The old one still worked, why buy a new one? It was ten years old. Within two weeks the AutoZoo battery that came with the Taurus croaked. The cheapest battery in town was from Ford and it was identical to the Interstate in the truck except for terminal location. They were both made by Johnson Controls but Ford guaranteed theirs for seven years, no pro rating.
BTW, the AutoZoo unit was also made by Johnson Controls, but there is a reason they cost less.