Autozone starter and alternator test failed.

[jonesg]

Is this a Toyota forum? Nothing else breaks in your 20+ y.o. Swedes, so you guys chat about batteries and such?

i don't want to talk about my haldex.

[abscate]

The battery died left me stranded in the parking lot, luckily I had a friend who was able to give me a jump. Now the question is what kind of battery do I buy?

Auto zone has them in ranges of $100-250. Are the $99 "econocraft" batteries ok, or will they shortly fail? What about the $130 Napa one? How much money should I be spending on a battery? Are there other places where I can get a quality battery for relatively cheap?

About $150 price point is the cost for something decent. 5 year life typical, shorter in really hot climates, or of it is allowed to sit discharged through low use. I have a large fleet of cars that had varying use patterns due to work habits, Covid, kids going back to school. Any car that didn’t get used twice a week got a battery tender installed and was plugged in to keep batteries topped off

[02V70]

I got an interstate one from costco for $130. Starts much better now. The battery that was installed previously was not meant for this car and was a little too tall, therefore that metal cover thing was not installed.

I installed the metal cover, and it seems a little close to the terminals, and if the battery was jostled around, it may be able to short

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Is this normal, or should I take it off? I assume I need it to keep the battery from bouncing around and to have power for the airbags if the car rolls.

[abscate]

Just make sure the battery clamp is nice and firm. A battery that rattles around is bad and will have a short life from cell damage. I dabbed a plastic cover from a juice container to neatly protect that positive terminal

[V50M66]

AutoZone batteries are absolute garbage. Advance is similarly not great unless you shell out big $$$ for an AGM.

Walmart's Everstart is my go-to. Much cheaper and quite decent quality. I've got a couple of them and they just won't die.

The Napa ones are just ok. I have had one that's been fine, and another that I killed pretty quickly.

I've had great luck with Interstate if you want to spend more money - my V50 has had an Interstate for 6 years and it's still going strong, and my Land Rover has had one for over 3 and it's been great.

[02V70]

Just make sure the battery clamp is nice and firm. A battery that rattles around is bad and will have a short life from cell damage. I dabbed a plastic cover from a juice container to neatly protect that positive terminal

So is there a risk of shorting the battery with the cover installed? I checked it with a multimeter and it seemed that the metal hold down was not conductive, but I assume it may be if the battery jostled and scratched it.

[jonesg]

Just make sure the battery clamp is nice and firm. A battery that rattles around is bad and will have a short life from cell damage. I dabbed a plastic cover from a juice container to neatly protect that positive terminal

So is there a risk of shorting the battery with the cover installed? I checked it with a multimeter and it seemed that the metal hold down was not conductive, but I assume it may be if the battery jostled and scratched it.

something doesn't like right there.
i'd go out and look at mine but its 2 am and down to 3F.
it can wait for the sun to rise....hang on.

[jonesg]

So is there a risk of shorting the battery with the cover installed? I checked it with a multimeter and it seemed that the metal hold down was not conductive, but I assume it may be if the battery jostled and scratched it.

yes, the cover is very conductive, you are missing the plastic battery cover.
You can make temporary insulation with empty milk jug or similar plastic.
Get one from a junkyard or buy this one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325488994124?c ... HwQAvD_BwE