Topic: reproduction Autolite battery

[cobrajetchris]

I purchased a group 27 Autolite battery from my local vendor about 2 months ago and it crapped out already. The battery will not take a charge and my tester indicates it has a dead cell. I called my vendor and he laughed and said he just took one out of the box and it won't take a charge either. This is a 60lb battery that is not easy to install in an already tight big block mustang. My vendor said that he called the manufacturer of the battery on his last week and they have yet to call him back. he also said that I would be responsible for the package and shipping to send it back which is probably no less than $50.00. My vendor said he was going to make some calls for me to see what can be done as I don't feel I should be responsible for shipping on a junk 2 month old battery. My vendor mentioned the name of who he gets the battery from and who makes it but I am going to wait to see what they do about this before I name drop. I was wondering if this is common with these batteries or just some bad luck? 

[Bob Gaines]

I purchased a group 27 Autolite battery from my local vendor about 2 months ago and it crapped out already. The battery will not take a charge and my tester indicates it has a dead cell. I called my vendor and he laughed and said he just took one out of the box and it won't take a charge either. This is a 60lb battery that is not easy to install in an already tight big block mustang. My vendor said that he called the manufacturer of the battery on his last week and they have yet to call him back. he also said that I would be responsible for the package and shipping to send it back which is probably no less than $50.00. My vendor said he was going to make some calls for me to see what can be done as I don't feel I should be responsible for shipping on a junk 2 month old battery. My vendor mentioned the name of who he gets the battery from and who makes it but I am going to wait to see what they do about this before I name drop. I was wondering if this is common with these batteries or just some bad luck? 

If you have kept the battery charged and not allowed it to go dead (which halves the life of a battery each time that happens ) then I would say just bad luck.I have had many over the years and still do . I have yet to have your kind of happening although I have had my share of forgetting to put a battery tender on a battery and after 6 months or so I come apon a dead battery which sometimes will charge and sometimes not depending on how long it is left dead.

[cobrajetchris]

The battery is 2 months old and no I didn't keep it on a trickle charge constantly but this is a running driving car with an alternator. There is no draw on the battery outside of the clock. These are supposed to be a modern type battery with a original looking case. If these batteries require this type of constant maintenance I am not interested.

[Brian Conway]

     I have gotten three of these batteries.  Two have been satisfactory one not.  So yeah a pricey crap shoot.  Brian

[jwc66k]

At one time, many moon ago, I had four reproduction Autolite batteries in my various cars. They were driven about every two to three weeks. The only drain on those batteries was the original Rally Pac clock. I used a battery disconnect switch (the removable green head screw type) to try and extend battery life and it seemed to work but the batteries still went dead. They lasted about two or three years. I now use regular batteries, the disconnect switchs and get four to six years of life, maybe more. A trickle charger is a good investment, if you remember to use it. I think that the repro batteries way back when were made by Exide, I don't know who make them now. The answer is to put pressure on the place you bought the battery, heavy pressure, and insist that they put pressure on the battery manufacturer.
Jim   

[Bob Gaines]

A consistantly running driving car should be able to keep a battery up if electrical system is up to par and no unusual drains . It is the long storage periods that some cars experiance that put battery life to the test. In those cases it is prudent to use a battery tender type system not to be confused with a trickle charger . The term trickle charger has become somewhat generic and some use that term to discribe both types like kleenax term is used for instance. Trickle chargers are bad if left on for extended periods of time because they do not turn off when battery reachs full charge (couple days on a meduium discharged battery. That will decrease the life of the battery because they over charge it. The "float chargers " (Battery Tender brand is my prefered choice ) will turn off when battery reachs full charge and turn back on when it drops a little below full.  With the tenders (opposed to trickle) I have doubled the life of the batteries (5-6 years others report more).

[jwc66k]

A consistantly running driving car should be able to keep a battery up if electrical system is up to par and no unusual drains . It is the long storage periods that some cars experiance that put battery life to the test.

True. The battery on my 99 E250 lasted 11 years, driving about 4200 miles per year. The problem is that I can't drive my van, my VW, my four (now three) 65-66 Mustangs daily (or weekly) just to keep the battery charged. This thread is about repro Autolite batteries which do not last. The original complaint was about a dead battery in two months. The prognosis was a dead cell, with a second battery having the same problem. That is a manufacturing problem.
Again - the answer is to put pressure on the place you bought the battery, heavy pressure, and insist that they put pressure on the battery manufacturer.
Jim   

[Bob Gaines]

True. The battery on my 99 E250 lasted 11 years, driving about 4200 miles per year. The problem is that I can't drive my van, my VW, my four (now three) 65-66 Mustangs daily (or weekly) just to keep the battery charged. This thread is about repro Autolite batteries which do not last. The original complaint was about a dead battery in two months. The prognosis was a dead cell, with a second battery having the same problem. That is a manufacturing problem.
Again - the answer is to put pressure on the place you bought the battery, heavy pressure, and insist that they put pressure on the battery manufacturer.
Jim

With all that said make sure you express your manufactuer defect concerns to the right company. Thee are currently 2 or 3 companies mfg a repro autolite battery.

[cobrajetchris]

True. The battery on my 99 E250 lasted 11 years, driving about 4200 miles per year. The problem is that I can't drive my van, my VW, my four (now three) 65-66 Mustangs daily (or weekly) just to keep the battery charged. This thread is about repro Autolite batteries which do not last. The original complaint was about a dead battery in two months. The prognosis was a dead cell, with a second battery having the same problem. That is a manufacturing problem.
Again - the answer is to put pressure on the place you bought the battery, heavy pressure, and insist that they put pressure on the battery manufacturer.
Jim   

Jim, You are exactly right and my vendor did step up and has a new battery on the way for me and all I have to do is return the old one to him vs. dealing with the manufacturer. That is his job to put pressure on them not me as I did not buy it from the manufacturer, I purchased it through him along with thousands of dollars worth of other parts over the years. He is no fool, so I am sure he is going to get his money back eventually or he will not be dealing with that company anymore.
P.S  I just replaced the battery on my 2004 F250 with 50,000 miles on it and it never had a battery charger or float charger ever hooked up to it.

Bob, I use the term trickle charge for a 2 amp deep cycle charge for 24 hours vs. a 10 amp quick charge just to get the car to turn over. The float charger is probably a good investment but that is not what I was dealing with in this case and appears others have had the same issue.