Hey Guys,
Just a quick question , are all Delco batteries designed to go bad after 2-3 years? Maybe its me or just bad luck but, after 3 years they are junk!

Now I have been around cars , trucks , Motorcycles , Equipment , Street rods , Race cars my whole life and I have never seen a battery with a shorter life span than Delco.

I use a battery tender plus on everything I own , plus in the winter , batteries come in the nice warm house , and sleep all winter (with a battery tender on them)(no concrete either) but still they die , no shorts draws or anything on the corvette , I just like having a delco in there , call me ****.

Now its time to purchase my 4th battery in 10 years for my 92 coupe , but this time I am buying a Red top optima , I have them in the race car and street rod , they never go bad.

signed a frustrated Delco owner
Desert

 

I don't have any real input as far as using or selling Delco batteries, though I just pulled one from my father's car yesterday. 6 years old and the charge was fine. But, the positive terminal was so coroded that when I tried to unbolt the cable, the threaded contact part of the battery came right out with it! I guess Delcos are know for this from what I've read on the forum.

 

The OEM AC Delco battery in my 92 lasted untill I decided to replace it in 2003 just before I drove across the country in the National Corvette Caravan and back home. I figured that after 11 years, it was a safe bet that it may not last the 6600 mile trip and I might be forced to buy a $800 jumpstart/tow/battery/alternator from Bubba's All-Nite Garage and Tatoos.

So I gave the original battery to a friend for his truck and it's still in there starting his truck every day. Now I have not has that luck with every Delco. At one point Delco contracted for a bunch of batteries that were made in Korea. Most of these were the ones that leaked and otherwise failed.

I had bought one of those Korean jobs for my 87 and it leaked all over the tray and frame rail. Replaced it with another one marked Made in USA and it's working fine.

I would be hesitant about Optimas. Do a search on boththe C4 and C5 sections and you will get a bunch of horror storiea about Optimas not lastingeither. A friend bought one for his 90 ZR1 and it lasted all of two weeks. He got it replaced and that one stayed alive almost two months. He now has an Interstate battery in the car.

 

My only problem with Delco's is that they leak, I have had two leak in under a year of operation. But both were replaced under warranty and all is well, knocking on some real thick wood right now.

 

I have had my Delco over 3 years and I got it used.

 

Most of my Delco batteries lasted longer than the warranty period, but the last one in my 87 vette was a 6 year guarantee battery that died at 3 years and the pro-rata value wouldn't buy me an ice cream cone so I bought a WallFart battery for $38 which gets replaced free for three years and pro-rata after.

BTW, concrete or any other surface has no effect on the life of a car battery whatsoever !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

36 months, throw them in the lugger, regardless of how they appear to be holding a charge. My last two vehicles, new 1999 Blazer, 37 months, dead sticked, and my most recent, a 2004 Colorado, 30 months, almost to the day.....dead.

Like you, I like to keep an AC Delco in my Vette. Today, on a battery that is only about 14 months old, it almost didn't want to start, and it has only sat for a week. However, it is getting pretty cold already, so I'm sure that may be part of the issue on a vehicle that isn't a daily driver.

 

My other car, a 96 monte carlo, just gave up its factory installed delco last winter....after 10 years and 246,000 miles!
(I like 'em )

 

For the most part, AC Delco batteries suck, the terminals fall off of them.

But remember, they are made in batches, sometimes you get a good one, but most times you get a bad one.

 

There are better batteries than Delco and there are worse. With a battery if you buy a better one it will almost always last longer. If you buy an original equipment grade battery, and only drive the car occaisonally, it will last about 3 years. You can extend the battery life by keeping all connections clean and tight. If you only occasionally drive the car putting it on a trickle charger once a month overnight is a good idea. Hope this helps.

 

Nothing IMHO beats a Sears DieHard.

 

a friend's chevy avalanche (the transformer truck) hit 2 years i believe and the delco battery was stone cold dead.

'

they replaced it with an interstate.

I have an optima in my Vette. Its never died on me. The few times I drained the battery, a trickle charge over night, or just jumping it and driving it a bit brought it right back to life. It's never left me stranded or had any issues. best battery ever!

 

The AC Delco battery on my 96 LT4 died today, it was 3yrs 5months old and had 40K miles on it. Replaced it with a AutoZone DuraLast, 3 yr replacement, then 5 yrs of proration.

Had lots of fun changing them out. Took about 45 minutes, most of that time was trying to get the positive battery cable started.

 

Mine always seem to last 5 - 6 years.

 

3 years and mines done. Looking to buy one this week

 

The old-school Delco Freedom batteries from the 1980s were BOMB.

My Mom had one in her '80 Buick Electra that lasted every bit of five years O.E.M!

 

Three years is good compared to the last 3 autozone durajunk batteries I had
Not one made it over 1 year

 

All my Delco's died like clockwork, if not sooner.

 

How long is "sooner than clockwork"?

Larry
code5coupe

 

I was infering that they some had expired like clockwork at the number of months they were rated for, and some didn't last that long.

I think you knew what I meant tho