DirtyZ06

My battery is dead as a doornail. I tried to jump the vette with my 4Runner and no dice - it turns a bit but isn't getting anywhere.

I've been pondering calling AAA (I have the platinum or whatever it's called) but am not sure if they have a more powerful jumping method. Also, I see on their website that they carry batteries they'll sell you; does anyone know what brand these are, and if they are any good?

c4cruiser

AAA batteries are most likely made under contract by a number of manufacturers.

If your battery is really dead and a jump start won't really turn the engine over, then there is most likely a short in the battery or enough dead cells that no amount of power will get the engine to turn over. Jumping with a known good battery in another vehicle should start your car easily.

It's not a good idea to connect the jumper cables and let the jumping vehicle run for any length of time before trying. Too hard on the alternator and if there is a short in the dead battery, it could suck voltage from the good battery.

I would go with something like an Interstate, Sears DieHard, or maybe even an Optima.

dbaker

My pal @ AAA says Johnson Controls makes their batteries....Optima is a JC brand too.

\db2
Carolina

DirtyZ06

Cool, thanks for the info. Has anyone ever used the AAA batteries? I dunno, they come with a 3 year warranty so I'm not sure it's much different than buying any other battery with a warranty...

dbaker

Yep,I have the "Autocraft Gold" batt in 3 of my 4 rides.Seems to be as good as any.They install for free.

Where ever you buy,have them do a charge check before you buy to make sure it's a fresh batt @ 100%.

\db2
Carolina

DirtyZ06

For anyone who cares, I did go with the AAA battery. It was $110 and came with a 3 year free replacement warranty and another 3 years prorated on top of that. Absolutely killer warranty, and they came to my house and put it in for me. I was about to buy an OEM from Chevy with only a 1 year warranty and do it myself, but they told me the warranty would only be a year, which paled in comparison to the usual NTB deal I used to get. So, I think the AAA setup is a fantastic deal.

billray68

My field service AAA rep says Penske makes (or at least supplies) the AAA batteries sold in the Lexington, KY area at this time. All the ones I saw had 3-yr replacement garantees and exceeded the 2007 Nissan 350Z battery specs. My Z battery had lasted over five and 1/2 years.

The rep said mine probably died because I had not driven over two miles in any one day for the past month, and therefore would make it a little longer, but probably not worth the hassle. He did a good job testing and installing and was easy to work with. TOTAL cost of the new battery installed in my garage: $116.60. I'm convinced!

I had exhaused the 'net looking for the best deal. IMHO only Sam's beat AAA in this area, and I would have to travel to Sam's and wait, etc.