What Irked You Today?

[Tom Geiger]

13 hours ago, HomerS said:

My father got a post card from the bottom feeder "Doctor" that would come to the nursing home to charge $50/person to cut their toe nails.  Dad passed FOUR years ago.

My father was sent to a nursing home from the hospital and died there within a week. We got a bill for toe nail clipping. We seriously doubt anyone saw him, probably just sent that bill to all residents families.. 

[NOBLNG]

I made a couple of nice 2-piece molds today for some engine parts. As I began to pour the second half, I suddenly realized that I forgot to spray it with mold release. I now have one solid block of silicone with my parts inside.😡

[cobraman]

I bought a couple cans of spray bed liner paint to freshen up the bed of my F 150. Pulled it out of the garage ,spent some time sweeping out and cleaning the bed.  Did a little masking and got ready to spray. Popped the cap on the first an and found the nozzle was broken. I was still able to get it to work. I got about halfway done and used up all the first can. Popped the cab on the second and again the nozzle was broken. This time I was not able to get the can working. Out of paint with a half done project. Got the paint from Amazon and can not return it as it is hazardous material. That doesn't bother me much and ordered another can. It just irks me that I could not finish my project after all the prep work.

[slusher]

1 hour ago, cobraman said:

I bought a couple cans of spray bed liner paint to freshen up the bed of my F 150. Pulled it out of the garage ,spent some time sweeping out and cleaning the bed.  Did a little masking and got ready to spray. Popped the cap on the first an and found the nozzle was broken. I was still able to get it to work. I got about halfway done and used up all the first can. Popped the cab on the second and again the nozzle was broken. This time I was not able to get the can working. Out of paint with a half done project. Got the paint from Amazon and can not return it as it is hazardous material. That doesn't bother me much and ordered another can. It just irks me that I could not finish my project after all the prep work.

If you would have took picture or complained they probably gave you a refund or replaced the cans.

[cobraman]

True but by ordering one I got it the next day and they only cost 7 bucks. Not worth the bother .

[shoopdog]

Took the time yesterday to mask off the outside of my Chrysler 300 body and  sprayed painted the headliner. Looked great!

Painted the exterior today and forgot all about masking off the inside ruining my interior work! UHG!

[NYLIBUD]

My dam alternator on my Crown Vic died in the middle of rush hour.And In the middle of an intersection.I pushed the car into a 7/11 parking lot.I had to have it towed home.I do have AAA,but you can’t drive with the driver.So I had to walk about 5,6 miles,in 30 degree weather.Arrrrggggg🥶🥶🥶So now I gotta buy a new alternator.And it the meantime, something told me to take my Jeep.

[HomerS]

Went downstairs Sunday morning to ankle deep water.  We've had minor sewer back ups in the line but there were warning signs in the past.  Nothing this time and apparently it happened before I started the dishwasher and the wife showered Sunday morning.  Called the sewer district and they said they would send out paperwork and investigate but it they may not be able to do anything until later in the week.  Again, I'm ankle deep in 'dirty water' (I amazed myself that I didnt use the word for what was floating in the water).  I called my plumber who punched the line open.  The sewer district called Sunday evening said they were on their way.  I told them don't bother as I did what I had to do.

[peteski]

2 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

My dam alternator on my Crown Vic died in the middle of rush hour.And In the middle of an intersection.I pushed the car into a 7/11 parking lot.I had to have it towed home.I do have AAA,but you can’t drive with the driver.So I had to walk about 5,6 miles,in 30 degree weather.Arrrrggggg🥶🥶🥶So now I gotta buy a new alternator.And it the meantime, something told me to take my Jeep.

That sucks, but why a dead alternator would kill the car?  Makes no sense.  Those Crown Vics usually have pretty robust battery.  Car will run on just the battery.

You can't ride with a AAA driver in the tow truck cab?  WTF?  What good is that? Tow you car and leave you stranded on the highway or some street?!?  I never had a problem ridding with the AAA tow truck drivers here in Mass.

[NYLIBUD]

12 hours ago, peteski said:

That sucks, but why a dead alternator would kill the car?  Makes no sense.  Those Crown Vics usually have pretty robust battery.  Car will run on just the battery.

You can't ride with a AAA driver in the tow truck cab?  WTF?  What good is that? Tow you car and leave you stranded on the highway or some street?!?  I never had a problem ridding with the AAA tow truck drivers here in Mass.

Yea I guess it’s a new AAA rule with Covid.Some drivers will take u,but others won’t.Its lucky that I had a ride, or I would’ve had to call a taxi.And it’s got to be the alternator, because like I said I just threw a new red top Optima battery in the car.The car is a P71(police package, detectives car),so I’m surprised that the alternator took a dump on me.But it has to be the original alternator.All I’am sure of, is that it sucked getting stuck in rush hour traffic.Thankfully I was able to push the car into a parking lot,and wait for a tow.

[peteski]

2 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

Yea I guess it’s a new AAA rule with Covid.Some drivers will take u,but others won’t.Its lucky that I had a ride, or I would’ve had to call a taxi.And it’s got to be the alternator, because like I said I just threw a new red top Optima battery in the car.The car is a P71(police package, detectives car),so I’m surprised that the alternator took a dump on me.But it has to be the original alternator.All I’am sure of, is that it sucked getting stuck in rush hour traffic.Thankfully I was able to push the car into a parking lot,and wait for a tow.

Ah, that makes sense - I totally forgot COVID for a moment. 
So you aren't sure yet if the alternator is bad?  No voltmeter gauge in that car?  Did the "charge" idiot light come on?  If alternator stops charging, there usually is some indication of it on the dash.  But you're a "car guy" - you know that.

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

...I just threw a new red top Optima battery in the car...

The quality of Optimas has been questionable for some time now. While they were at one time pretty much the gold-standard among performance batteries, today...not necessarily so. While SOME perform just fine, SOME seem to be garbage right out of the box. They're so notoriously bad (and I've seen several fail for no apparent reason) that I refuse to install them in clients' vehicles now. There's plenty of online info regarding this, and though I'm typically very skeptical of online "experts", having seen a few fail myself, like I said, for no identifiable reason, I've gone back to old-school wet-cell batteries for everything I stand behind.

NOTE: Improper charging is well known to have adverse effects on the AGM (absorbant-glass-mat) type of batteries, including the "spiral-wound" style like Optima. I've found the wet-cell batteries to be far more tolerant of abuse.

That said, an alternator failure should NOT, as stated above, immediately stop the car anyway (usually...barring a catastrophic internal failure leading to a dead short), and there should have been at least an idiot-light indication prior to engine-shutdown, giving more than ample time to get the vehicle off the road and in a safe place.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Ace-Garageguy

[Tom Geiger]

I replaced the battery in our LaCrosse recently.  Of course it went during the cold snap. And of course nobody was running any sales... Pep Boys and Autozone were out of the one I needed.  
 

Right across the road from Autozone is Advance Auto, who told me there was a warning in their catalog that my battery required “professional installation” and wouldn’t sell me one!  I told the young clown that yes, you need to remove a metal bar and a few other things but I already had done the hard part and the core was in my car!  

So final stop was friggin Walmart, who not only had a battery with the same warranty as the others, but it was $50 cheaper. 

[NYLIBUD]

6 hours ago, peteski said:

Ah, that makes sense - I totally forgot COVID for a moment. 
So you aren't sure yet if the alternator is bad?  No voltmeter gauge in that car?  Did the "charge" idiot light come on?  If alternator stops charging, there usually is some indication of it on the dash.  But you're a "car guy" - you know that.

The light did come on, the dash.And I have a volt meter pod gauge, that just dropped.It’s got to be the alternator.The car is a P 71police package, and I know their alternators are strong, but if it’s the original, which it is, then there is the possibility that it just took a dump.I had a friend charge the battery, and on the way home, the car just died.

[SSNJim]

The alternator on my 97 P71 went out at about 110K. 

[Dave Ambrose]

10 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

That said, an alternator failure should NOT, as stated above, immediately stop the car anyway (usually...barring a catastrophic internal failure leading to a dead short), and there should have been at least an idiot-light indication prior to engine-shutdown, giving more than ample time to get the vehicle off the road and in a safe place.

It might be rare, but I've actually had that happen to me. A new alternator fried and disabled the entire electrical system. Never did find out the fault. Took it back to the shop that replaced it. They shook their collective head in wonder and installed a new one. Usually, I do these myself, but was too overloaded with other things. Oddly enough, it did not blow the fusible link. 

[slusher]

11 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

The quality of Optimas has been questionable for some time now. While they were at one time pretty much the gold-standard among performance batteries, today...not necessarily so. While SOME perform just fine, SOME seem to be garbage right out of the box. They're so notoriously bad (and I've seen several fail for no apparent reason) that I refuse to install them in clients' vehicles now. There's plenty of online info regarding this, and though I'm typically very skeptical of online "experts", having seen a few fail myself, like I said, for no identifiable reason, I've gone back to old-school wet-cell batteries for everything I stand behind.

NOTE: Improper charging is well known to have adverse effects on the AGM (absorbant-glass-mat) type of batteries, including the "spiral-wound" style like Optima. I've found the wet-cell batteries to be far more tolerant of abuse.

That said, an alternator failure should NOT, as stated above, immediately stop the car anyway (usually...barring a catastrophic internal failure leading to a dead short), and there should have been at least an idiot-light indication prior to engine-shutdown, giving more than ample time to get the vehicle off the road and in a safe place.

What is the best brand of battery?

[peteski]

13 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

NOTE: Improper charging is well known to have adverse effects on the AGM (absorbant-glass-mat) type of batteries, including the "spiral-wound" style like Optima. I've found the wet-cell batteries to be far more tolerant of abuse.

Well, the info that is included with the battery, and other online info about AGM batteries, clearly indicates that they are much less tolerant of abuse. I like the fact that they don't ooze out sulfuric acid, which attacks the nearby metal surfaces.

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 hours ago, peteski said:

Well, the info that is included with the battery, and other online info about AGM batteries, clearly indicates that they are much less tolerant of abuse. I like the fact that they don't ooze out sulfuric acid, which attacks the nearby metal surfaces.

1) Most people don't bother reading instructions on anything, so there's that.

2) Yes, the no-leak part of AGM batteries is a significant plus, but on the client vehicles where I install batteries, I almost always put the battery in a vented polymer box with a drain tube running entirely out of the vehicle anyway. Problem solved.

[Ace-Garageguy]

6 hours ago, slusher said:

What is the best brand of battery?

I can't endorse any particular brand. My current understanding is that most of the US-made wet-cell batteries come from the same manufacturer anyway, so the real differences are minor.

For my own vehicles, I buy the best parts-store wet-cell battery I can afford, the biggest one that will physically fit in the space for it.

This usually works pretty well. The group 24 battery in my '89 GMC truck has been going strong since 2011.

Sometimes, however, the same battery in a different application may have a much shorter life. For instance, I've only been able to get about 3-5 years from the same batteries in a PT Cruiser that has MUCH higher underhood temperatures, lots of electronics, AC, makes constant short trips, and in general puts more stress on a battery.

At this time, I think the best thing any consumer can do to prolong their battery life is to fit a smart solar trickle-charger that's compatible with the type of battery in the vehicle.

But again, I can't endorse any particular brand.

[Danno]

17 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

So final stop was friggin Walmart, who not only had a battery with the same warranty as the others, but it was $50 cheaper. 

I've had excellent experience with the over-the-counter batteries WalMart sells. As you said, Tom, usually much less expensive than tire changer shops or parts stores, and, their warranties are quite good.  Arizona heat eats batteries, but when I've had a failure within the warranty period (I always shoot for at least three years), they swap out a new for the old with no questions asked.  I went several years with a couple of different cars on one battery purchase apiece. 

I have a WalMart 24 series battery for my '78 Malibu. It shows no sign of giving up. I don't even remember how old it is.

And, I endorse what Bill said . . . like tires, nearly all (wet cell) batteries come from a couple of manufacturers who slap different labels on them depending on who's buying this run.  There's very little competition left at the manufacturing end, it's all at the marketing end where different sellers push the same product.

🌵😎

 

[iamsuperdan]

Car batteries are a strange thing. We have a 2016 Kia Soul, just had to replace the battery. 

Kia wanted almost $450 CDN to do so. To heck with that idea. Did it myself for the cost of a battery and 30 minutes. 

 

Anyway, wifey's 2006 Volvo XC90 has way more electronic bells and whistles, is still running strong on the original battery, with no signs of weakness, and no issues when we've done a battery test on it. 

 

I used to run Optima yellow tops in my Jeeps and a couple of my VWs. Then I realized I get the same or better CCA for significantly less money. And I've never had a battery take a dump on me or leave me with problems. Well, except for the Kia.

Just put a Delco battery in my Tahoe. Over 900CCA, less than $150CDN.

 

[cobraman]

I try to buy the best battery I can also. Here in Arizona batteries can die an untimely death.

[Tom Geiger]

My 2006 LaCrosse had 22,000 miles on it when we purchased it in 2014. Had a Interstate battery in it, that’s the one that just failed, that’s 7 years and 60,000 miles later. Can’t complain !

I need a battery for my PT Cruiser, which is a smaller battery that is squeezed up in the front left corner.  Where most batteries today have 3 year warranties, the only one Walmart sells for it is a ONE year warranty. I never even heard of a one year battery before!

[Danno]

9 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

I need a battery for my PT Cruiser, which is a smaller battery that is squeezed up in the front left corner.  Where most batteries today have 3 year warranties, the only one Walmart sells for it is a ONE year warranty. I never even heard of a one year battery before!

They KNOW.

🌵😎