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Battery Life - READ ONLY

77 messages,  Last post on Jul 19, 2003 at 6:14 PM

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Messages Page 8 of 8

#68 of 77 by alcan

Jun 13, 2003 (5:08 am)

Scott, I completely misinterpreted your previous post as "hidden agenda". My apologies.

#69 of 77 Battery replacement ...swschrad by haspelbein

Jun 13, 2003 (8:17 am)

"haspelbein's friend was pure and simple victimized, and it is not right."
 
Victimized may be too strong of a word. He was definitely taken advantage of. (Until he switched dealers.)
 
It's very regrettable, but at least my friend was able to afford it. He just doesn't care that much about cars. In contrast, his wife drives a BMW 540i. He just doesn't care about cars at all.
 
I'd save a lot of money if I could develop the same attitude. *laughs*

#70 of 77 10 year battery by skid3

Jul 01, 2003 (8:26 am)

I purchased a new 1991 Nissan Sentra and when I sold it in April 2002 the original battery was still in it. This is my best personal experience to date. I have a little over six years on a replacement battery in a pickup.

#71 of 77 by MrShift@Edmunds HOST

Jul 01, 2003 (8:48 pm)

What's your overall climate where you live? Do you use a/c a lot or other power accessories?

#72 of 77 how long do batteries last these days? by wyoreb

Jul 04, 2003 (6:30 am)

i have a '98 mercury villager. last night, we're at the local fair, late at night, and can't get the car started. AAA comes out, checks the cable connections, and one of the metal connectors was so badly corroded that it was preventing a start. the guy cleaned it up but advised that we get new metal connectors. it started okay after the clean up.
 
question...for peace of mind, would it be wise to get a new battery at the same time? we live in a hot/cold climate, the car is garaged year round, but batteries aren't that expensive, and maybe this was a sign that "it's time". it seems like previous battery issues that i've had occur at the 5-6 year mark. thoughts?

#73 of 77 by MrShift@Edmunds HOST

Jul 04, 2003 (9:13 am)

I don't like those add-on connectors. I'd prefer you replaced the entire cable if you have signs of corrosion. And sure, it might be a great time to replace the battery, clean the tray, replace the cables. The battery corrodes from leakage so it's less than perfect now.

#74 of 77 mr. shiftright by wyoreb

Jul 07, 2003 (8:29 pm)

thanks for the advice on the battery!
 
another question...for this same car, mercury villager '98, i had it into the ford/mercury dealer for some maintenance in march, and the service advisor said to schedule a time to replace the timing belt, since i'm at about ~62K miles. the villager was a joint venture with nissan, and has a 3.0 V6 nissan engine. i do not believe the mercury owners manual says anything about timing belt replace. what board can i go to, to determine if this engine has a timing belt that needs to be replaced?

#75 of 77 uh-oh, that's an interference engine per gates rubber by swschrad

Jul 07, 2003 (8:45 pm)

meaning if the timing belt breaks, you have serious, major, expensive engine damage.
 
schedule that appointment. I don't know when the nissan-designed engines usually go for belts, but gates recommends 60,000 miles, and ford engines in 1990 recommended 50,000.
 
get it done.

#76 of 77 Need A Battery ... by carmaker

Jul 19, 2003 (5:34 pm)

1999 Ford Contour 2.5L V6 vin=L , local autoparts do NOT have a battery for this car , motorcraft # BXT-40R , AC- Delco # 41-7YR . What I was wondering , if another series battery would fit this car ? This type battery also fits a lot of the Ford Focus models , even Sears did not stock this battery ? The battery is approx. 10.5" long x 6.75" wide x 7.25" high , with the + terminal on the rear left , - terminal rear right , cca 590 . Any help finding an alternate battery or website to explore , appreciated .

#77 of 77 in addition to those by swschrad

Jul 19, 2003 (6:14 pm)

interstate has a battery
 
www.interstatebattery.com
 
and so does napa
 
www.napaonline.com
 
and you can find dealers nearby who stock or could order what you need in a couple days at those websites, and also at
 
www.motorcraft.com
 
www.acdelco.com
 
generally, dealers stock the most common batteries, and order in the rest. around here in the twin cities, worst case, and that's ordering an old 6-volt battery for a classic or a tractor, is about a week.

Messages Page 8 of 8

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