Buying aftermarket battery

[Alexrahl]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

^^^^^ Update from previous post. Finally wiped down the battery and took the car in to Wal-Mart. The car sometimes hestitates slightly before turning over, but has started every time since the AAA call on April 25th. On that call, the test the driver performed (per the printout he gave me) showed the battery results (under load) to be 11.41 volts, 49 cold cranking amps (rated at 550) and temperature 78 degrees. Then it says charge ____ retest and the word there in the middle (___) has faded so much it is illegible.

Below the battery results on the 4-25-13 printout, the next section reads 'starter test' , then reads 'batt. voltage too low' and lists the voltage as 9.430 and the amps as 129.84 .

Below the 'starter test' on this printout, the final section reads 'charging system test' and then 'no problems' and then reads 'no load' 14.000 and 'loaded' 13.620 .

That driver cleaned off quite a bit of built up corrosion and then sprayed the battery with the kind of anti-corrosion spray that one can buy at an auto parts store.

Fast forward to now. I had the battery tested at Wal Mart and they said it is fine. They said in is registering the full CCA measurement that it should and I asked hat the voltage reading was and they said 12.7 (I didn't ask if that was under load or not). As I was getting back in the car, one of the techs said I shouls get some of the anti corrosive spray and use it and another tech couldn't find a stray can of spray to use then, but grapped a wire brush to remove the slight bit of corrosion that had built up.

Given the above, should I believe that the battery is good, or should I go to AutoZone and see if they'll test it for me and then go back to a different Wal-Mart if necessary?

The battery is the Wal-Mart one with the 1 year replacement warranty (new September 2012) code 26R. The receipt shows 26R-5S .

Sounds like it is okay, can't hurt to double check to make you feel better though.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Alexrahl

Sounds like it is okay, can't hurt to double check to make you feel better though.

Thank you.

[Stew Baker]

I would stick with the Toyota battery. Mine lasted 9 years. I priced replacements at 2 other outlets and the Toyota price was the best. Never used a block heater, car always started in temperatures down to minus 25C.

[Frank the Tank]

Mine is starting to go and Toyota wants $160+ for the battery. Seems kinda high.

Anyone have any recommendations for a battery make/model? Needs to work well in freezing temperatures like -24* Celsius lol