i fought the Wal & I won....

[GREASE FIRE]

brought my 7 month old wal mart batteries back today with receipt in hand because they were clearly not working as well as a few months ago. The fellow at the counter tested them and said they were good but just needed a charge so i explained in detail the problems i was having. He was nice enough but did not want to refund them - instead he said he would put them on the charger which would also give them a more extensive test to see for sure if they are bad and it would take about an hour. I had things to do anyway and came back a few hours later, now this guy was gone and someone else was working there. One battery was still on the charger thing and there was all this green liquid all over it. The lady there did not know what it was till she sprinkled some baking soda and realized it was battery acid. They basically blew the thing up somehow and had to give me a refund for it, and while they were at it i convinced them to refund me for the other battery as well even though it evidently tested good so bought some Interstates on the way home with the money.

Anyone know what causes batteries to blow acid everywhere like that? did they give it too much charge or was it related to the problems i was having?

on a similar note, i returned the starter that was on the truck when i bought it because it burned out or something and i found out it was an autozone with lifetime warranty. I knew for a fact it was broke, plus i took it to napa for testing and it would not spin at all. So the assistant manager at autozone puts it in the testing thing they have after muttering something about how she knows nothing about these things. The clamp that holds it in place was kind of loose and she seemed concerned about it - so she gets the thing hooked up, closes the cover, presses the "Start testing" button and ducks her head under the counter as if she thought it would explode or something. All it makes is a thud sound and does not turn over at all. Results of the test: good starter. Sorry, no replacement....

Do these places have their testing equipment rigged up so it will always come out in their favor or what? It almost seemed like a joke, with me trying to explain that the starter is supposed to spin if it works. I remained very polite but had no intention of leaving without a new starter, then finally another guy there said just give him one so i thanked them and left.
I took a different starter to napa for testing one time because i thought it was messed up but they put it on the machine and it spun really fast and loud and they concluded it was fine. Anyone know if those folks at autozone were really that clueless or do their testing machines work different?
This all seemed very strange to me.

Paul

 

[The Warden]

It almost seemed like a joke, with me trying to explain that the starter is supposed to spin if it works. I remained very polite but had no intention of leaving without a new starter, then finally another guy there said just give him one so i thanked them and left.
I took a different starter to napa for testing one time because i thought it was messed up but they put it on the machine and it spun really fast and loud and they concluded it was fine. Anyone know if those folks at autozone were really that clueless or do their testing machines work different?
This all seemed very strange to me.

FWIW, I took a dying starter to Pep Boys to be tested a couple of years ago...the guy hooked it up and, upon testing, told me that it was drawing a lot of current...and then proceeded to tell me that, the more current it was drawing, the better it was. :***: I reiterated my symptoms and he finally decided to just give me (under a lifetime warranty) a replacement.

My sample size is limited, but I'm going to venture a guess that your experience isn't all that unusual...

 

[460429_freak]

out of all the times I have got one good guy took my 360ford starter in... would start cold but not when warm classic symptons right the guy checked it cold okay then he rechecked it agian and started to notice the amp being drawed.... later same store diff. starter and parts person (80 z-28 starter same problems .... guy checks it's it's good sir... (now I was buying a new one not a warrenty job) I politly told him if he would come and change the starter after I drove 20 minutes and it would not start because of a bad starter... he saw my piont and sold me a new strarter..

 

[92F350CC]

I no longer buy any battery that isn't from interstate, or any starter that isn't professionally built by a shop. Autozone/Parts Plus/Napa are all absolutely worthless. I replaced the starter in my firebird SIX times in a year. Not one time would they give me a replacement. At one store i keep getting this stupid employee of questionable citizenship status, and he hates me because I don't let him get away with ****. I've usually had to return stuff because he pulls little parts and pieces out to f*ck with me. I eventually had him fired.

 

[typ4]

when I have had to go to the autozone in the area I cringe, then I asked the counter guy who owns that nice toyota, lifted ,VERY!! muddy truck in the lot, this young pimply kid says "I do", I asked him what was done and who did it, he went thru the list and said "I did all of myself sir". thats who I go to for my parts and problems. So far very little grief

 

[mackiexj]

I can say that few wal mart batteries work as intended. The cold winter here eats batteries and eveyone seems to think that the new cheap one from wally world will be just fine. I work for a towing company and i jump and or replace more wal mart batteries than any other kind. On the other hand my experience with the sealed chrysler batteries has been excelent.

 

[160k87F250]

I would guess that the battery acid came from them charging the batteries too quickly. They are suppose to be "slow charged". If some one put the charger on fast charge or "boost" (i.e. to help start a car) in can cause the acid to leak out of the vents by being overcharged.
John

 

[camo85]

Another likley reason would be that a core was fused inside the battery, this causes alot of heat and boilover results, especualy in the summer when theres alot of humidity.

 

[92F350CC]

I can say that few wal mart batteries work as intended.

I assert that walmart batteries work EXACTLY as intended..................by Walmart.

EDIT: The only time I have ever bought a walmart battery was at 3 AM on my way home from Cali, in Mesquite, NV. I had stopped to take a quick nap, and when I went to start the car, it was dead.

 

[4x4TruckinGirl]

I have walmart batteries in there right now... had to have one warrentied over the summer, but they wouldn't replace the other one, and now I think they are both not doing their job.... they test ok (with one unhooked) Each one reads about 13 volts..... :-\ but still when I go to start the truck in the morning and hit the GP's it draws the power down to/below the low side of the voltmeter gauge in the truck... oh so frustrating, wish I had the money for intersstates!!!

 

[Riley]

Well,

I have used a number of auto batteries from Walmart over the years in cars, trucks, tractors, dozers, deep cycle marine type, etc. So far no problems. I believe I have three right now that are in vehicles that are five years old at least and work fine. No idea at all why there seem to be problems for others.

My son uses the jell type batteries and swears by them. I'm thinking of trying them, but man are they pricey.

OBAMA/BIDEN 2008

 

[gonecrazyi]

Ive used walmart batteries and went through four of them in a summer before I took them back and got a refund. Bought two duralasts from autozone and have had no problems in over two years. I have also bought 4 starters for my truck when mone went out. I went through three of them in 4 days. The first on didnt work at all, the second on lasted two days, the third lasted one start, and finally the forth has lasted well over a year and has yet to give me any problems. All of these starters tested good and would spin on the machine. As soon as they were on the truck, wala no start. I have had to deal with real a-holes over at autozone, but eventually I found a person I liked and upon going to him I have had no problems returning parts and getting discounts for having to put up with parts that dont work.

 

[Exekiel69]

I have walmart batteries in there right now... had to have one warrentied over the summer, but they wouldn't replace the other one, and now I think they are both not doing their job.... they test ok (with one unhooked) Each one reads about 13 volts..... :-\ but still when I go to start the truck in the morning and hit the GP's it draws the power down to/below the low side of the voltmeter gauge in the truck... oh so frustrating, wish I had the money for intersstates!!!

This information I have from someone whom I like to receive advice, go to a battery dealer and ask for the group 31 blem's intersate batteries (there are also other brands that sell the blem's as well) . They cost much less and they are just as good.

 

[Riley]

Just as a coincidence, The November 2008 Consumer Report did extensive testing and ratings of auto batteries. They tested 5 different groups sizes. In every size the Everstart battery, sold by walmart, rated even or ahead of the Interstate batteries, for less cost.

For cold rated climates, Kirkland and Everstart were rated best buys. For moderate climates, best buys were Everstart and Autocraft.

 

[subway]

well having worked for auto zone there testing equipment (in my store at least) was good and we usually erred one the customers side if the part was questionable. it takes more than a starter spinning though to test good. you have to look up the amp draw and make sure that is at or below the acceptable rating.

now i have run into (and had some at my store) people that didnt really know how to use the test equipment properly. be it hooking parts up or reading the right test results, thats where you run into problems. quite honestly they dont pay enough to pull in a real mechanic so you get what you pay for.