So since it has been cooling off here my battery started acting up and causing goofy electrical gremlins. It was an EverStart Maxx from wallyworld that I got in August of 2010. It seemed like it had lost a good bit of its capacity over the summer, but walmart would not replace it because it was still barely within their "replacement threshold". It finally kicked it when it started getting into the 20s and night here, so it was almost 3 and a half years.

I double checked all the connections yesterday and they were as clean as a whistle (I always put some motor oil on them so they don't corrode), so I looked around to decide what battery I wanted to get. I really didn't want to deal with walmart again (I tried getting them to replace this battery in August under warranty (it expired in August) when it started acting up some, but they wouldn't), but they didn't have the right one in stock here anyway, so that made things easy.

I went to AutoZone and told the guy this thing was bad, and sure enough my old battery came up bad within 5 seconds of it being hooked up, so I ended up getting one there. It's a Duralast Gold 27-DLG and it cost $129 all said and done. It's rated at 930CA, 750CCA, and 135 reserve minutes. It's also got a 5 year warranty (3 years free replacement and 2 years prorated) which is better than the 3 years from walmart too.

Sure enough with the new battery everything is back to normal, the gauge lights aren't flickering, the voltage doesn't drop with the fan on at idle, the remote works from more than 10 feet away again, the 15mph auto locking works every time again, the alarm isn't being cranky, and it starts much quicker than before too.

Here's some pics of the new battery installed (it's pretty damn beefy compared to the old one)

 

Just to let you know both walmart's and autozone's batteries are made by Johnson Controls... 3.5 years is pretty decent now days with how crap is built today.

 

Yeah I did know that, I just didn't want to deal with walmart again.

 

If you ever have a problem like that again just make sure it wont pass their stupid test like neutralizing the acid or replacing it with plain water.

 

I thought about doing something like that, but knowing my luck they still wouldn't take it.