wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Yea. I'm not confirming if there was a quality inflection of their product, but if there was, I would look at the corporate takeover and related penny-pinching for a smoking gun first vs. where the manufacturing happens.

+1 A much better reason than correlating to quality.


So... if a Japanese car is rice, what is a Canadian car?

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

Picked it up today and it was cheaper than I originally thought. $123 after taxes.
Fired right up but my battery meter seems to be reading lower voltage than before. Could anyone explain this?
Also the plastic piece that bolts down the battery doesn't really even hold down the battery very well.

Majestic9C1

iTrader: (19)

Bacon?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

You are testing the battery with the car running?

Is the battery the same group number as the old one? What do you mean that the hold down isn't holding the battery well? Is it engaging the lips at the bottom of the battery? Sometimes the clamp that bolts in to the coolant tank or the clamps built in to the coolant tank break. So, you might check those.

ThatOneKid

Syrup

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

That's how my car was when I bought it from the previous owner. A quick search on eBay and I got a used tank/hold down. Easy, cheap swap

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

I didn't test the battery. I just looked at my battery gauge on the dash and it is reading under 13 volts while the car is running. Normally it would be in the 15ish range.
I bought the right battery. I ordered it from the dealership and double checked online to make sure it fits. This is the one..http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...0423&ppt=C0005

It lips over the lip on the battery but I am still able to pull back on it and the front side of the battery is able to lift up if I pull on it since there is only a bolt on one side of the battery. If that makes any sense.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

That should be the right battery. I'd take it out and check those lips again. I had a similar issue once where part of the "hook" molded in to the tank broke part way. The hook was still there - but it just wasn't full size any more and the battery moved around.

I wouldn't worry about the voltage you are seeing. That's your total system reading and only shows you the battery when the engine is off. Having your AC/Defogger running etc, will cause that reading to drop - so having that gauge show a range from 12-14 V is normal.

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

So I might need a new piece that lips over the battery?

I haven't been running the AC or Defogger and it still reads low. It normally was a lot higher, now it's borderline on the yellow zone.
Think it could be the alternator?
Another thing I forgot to mention was as soon as I hooked up the battery and started it up the car idled funny and makes a whining noise now, similar to a supercharger but not that loud.

It's been a few days and the whining noise hasn't gone away. It definitely noticeable when I go up in rpms and come back down in rpms, it keeps whining. I don't think it's the serpentine belt...Kinda hard to narrow it down.
I just don't want it to leave me stranded.

On top of all this I drove the car yesterday and the SES light came on. Took it to get it checked and it's an 02 sensor, bank 2 sensor 2.

This is getting very frustrating.

dailydriver

Maple syrup, that is.

dailydriver

IF the lip nearest the front of the car is broken off, your only choices are either get a whole new, or used, overflow tank (the battery tray/hold down are INTEGRAL, molded in/bonded on parts of this), or buy, or fabricate yourself an aluminum hold down strap like the one sold by Year One for 4th gen f bodies.

Some may have hot plastic 'welded' on a new palstic lip, but I would not expect this to last very long through heat cycles, vibration, bad roads, etc.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

No kidding - you can get some really great high-quality maple syrup north of the border. The high grade stuff great for deserts and baking. (I know you all are in to that kind of thing.) I've got a great Carrot Cake w/ Maple Cream Cheese Icing recipe if anyone wants it!

Oh, yea. We're talking about batteries - right?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

^ Yea, I recall the tank is Polypropylene or something like that - really hard to glue/weld. I changed mine and recall it was really inexpensive and easy to do.

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

What's the best place to get the battery tray? The threads on the bolt that secure it down are also stripped. I checked ebay and all the battery trays looked like that plastic lip were also broken.

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

I actually just found it on amazon for $30. Not sure if I want to get that or just get the metal tie down bracket and never have to worry about that plastic piece breaking again.

Silverbird01

Might be a little pricey but your NAPA store can get it new.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...419_0374045033

dailydriver

Not that I'd trust Dorman parts, but they may also make one, and I believe that Hawks Third Gen also carries the actual GM part as well.

demonspeed

iTrader: (7)

I'm really not sure how people end up breaking them. It's not like one really has any need to be messing with that area under the hood.

trans_am7935

iTrader: (15)

Just get a regular battery from Autozone or some auto parts store, that way you can exchange it if you have a problem. The biggest problem with batteries is not the brand you get, it is how you maintain and take care of it. Quickest way to kill a battery is discharge it and not charge it back up immediately. The battery occasionally requires the fluid to be filled back up and the outside needs cleaning so the battery acid doesn't build up on the outside and cause it to discharge faster. If you are not doing these things then your battery will die quicker.

I have a red Duralast battery that i picked up for my car the week after i bought it in 2007, been in there ever since and never lets me down, cause i maintain it and when not started for more then a week i put it on a battery tender. You can get a good quality one for $40 and your battery will last years longer. A charged battery is a healthy battery

dabest09

iTrader: (1)

Well it had to be broken before I got the car because this was the first time I touched the battery.
My guess is that the cheap material it is made out of cannot withstand a mixture of heat, cold, and everyday bumps that you encounter on the road.