Saturday, April 25, 2015

I Win!

There was an on air contest, and I won (listen here)!
Earlier on the show, there had been a discussion of how to pronounce Ohio governor John Kasich's name.
Mike, a Croation from Ann Arbor insisted it was pronounced KasITCH, where later in the interview the governor said it was pronounced KasICK.
Thus my little joke with Bill.

In other news today, Scherie is doing much better.
I have finally seemed to get over the three week sore throat/cough that has plagued so many people hereabouts without giving it to Scherie!

And.
I have been struggling with an automotive problem for a couple months now.
When it was freezing cold my Taurus' battery would die after a few days of inactivity (Scherie not driving it).
Then as the weather warmed up, it continued to do so.
I took the car to an auto parts store where they "tested" the battery.
It tested good.
I then took it back to the shop I bought it at.
It's a 65 month battery and I only have 36 months on it, so I wanted some warranty relief.
They took me in to the shop and showed me that the battery was testing good.

You can skip this paragraph if you want.
I repaired the amp meter function on my voltmeter.
It had blown a fuse the last time I tried to diagnose something similar on my friend's car and he opened the door under test. The dome light came on and the meter couldn't handle that much current.
The meter showed more than normal parasitic drain (.75 amps), but not enough to kill a good battery in so short a time.

Wednesday I took the car to work as I was fixing the brakes on my truck.
Nine hours later I needed a jump. That night was church so I didn't get to the truck.
Next day I need to jump it to get to work and jump it to leave.
Thursday night I installed a new battery over the protest of my friend at the auto parts store.

Here it is two days later, and the car is behaving itself just fine.

On a side note, two purchases I do not regret, and only regret not being able to repeat them, are my 1999 Taurus 3.0 (not SHO) that is still a rocket ship and my 2001 Ranger (3.0) which is not.

17 comments:

  1. Glad Scherie is doing better. Are you convinced your battery was bad?

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  2. Good news on Scherie.

    Nice bit of assertiveness there when BB challenged you. "Who do you have to contradict me? ...Thought so."

    And did you feel the battery case prior to it going flat? Internal shorts can be intermittent so it tests well, but the heat generated by a short is a tattletale.

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    1. I felt it had to be an internal short, but couldn't prove it.
      Didn't think about case heat. NOW you tell me. :)

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  3. Batteries will test "good", when the battery is bad. Convincing parts house pogues is another story.

    The 3.0 Ford engine was almost indestructible. Even good mechanics were impressed.

    A raw mustard green leaf will work miracles for ongoing sinus/sore throat/cold symptoms.

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  4. My local Advance Auto Parts store in Dekalb, Illinois would have taken that battery back and given you a new one, no questions asked.

    I think you simply need to find a new parts store, Ed. Problem solved.

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    1. Well, I wanted an Interstate battery, and it was only available at a repair shop. I don't blame Interstate.
      I won't deal with that shop again.

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    2. Just a suggestion, Ed: batteries are batteries. AC/Delco, Sears Die-Hard, or Interstate - same same. They all work exactly the same, have all the same exact components, and in all likelihood were manufactured in the same battery plant with just different labels slapped on them.

      Much like paperclips, brand names in aftermarket auto parts are irrelevant. They only matter in larger purchases, such as buying a Porsche Boxster rather than a Geo.

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    3. Part house employees don't test batteries. They charge the battery, then let a machine tell them whether it's good, or not, but the machine fails to detect a weak, or bad cell.

      To really check a battery, every cell should be tested, which involves checking the specific gravity of each cell, the voltage, and the load capabilities. I've only seen that done one time during my career.

      The last time I had the same problem you had with a battery, it involved one of the large twelve volt batteries in a twenty four volt system. After dealing with the subordinate employees for way too long, I went and found the manager, who I've known for years. He immediately told the employee to give me another battery, which solved my problem.

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    4. But I can't use a hygrometer on a sealed battery.
      I used to do hilo batteries.

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    5. I realize. But for the price of a 2 year warranty I got a five year (not that it did me any good) and the Interstate marketing campaign and business ethos is decidedly Christian.

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  5. Glad to hear Scherie is doing better, as an earlier commenter said, most of the batteries out there are functionally identical. I dump the 'stock' batteries after a year and put in Optima batteries and change them every four years.

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    1. Last year I changed the OEM battery in my 2001 Ranger. 13 years of Michigan winters!

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  6. Glad to hear Scherie is feeling better and you have whipped that parasitic drain. As for Bill BenneTTch, I don't think he got the joke until later, but those are the best kind.

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