Can't find my battery

Some low life broke out my window, accessed the engine compartment and stole my battery. Anybody know which are best?

Some low life broke out my window, accessed the engine compartment and stole my battery. Anybody know which are best?

I purchased a Energizer battery from Wal-Mart 2 years ago I think it was 50-60 bucks CDN. But I have to tell you that was one of the best purchases I made for my car. It cranks amazing in the harshest winters and has never died on me since..

I gotta say I like the Energizer battery too... but I am not sure if I was just sold on name brand recognition and that familiar little pink bunny.

Really, I have never paid much attention to brands. So long as it is the right size with correct amps it should do fine. That comes from a guy that lives in California that isn't too sure what a cold winter is really like...

If you happened to be a Sam's club member, I suggest buying from them. The brands vary ... sometimes Energizer, ..sometimes Champion, ...sometimes ??

They have such a liberal warranty policy ... it may be the last battery you buy for this car. (Unless Bubba comes a'calling again!)

I gotta say I like the Energizer battery too... but I am not sure if I was just sold on name brand recognition and that familiar little pink bunny.

Really, I have never paid much attention to brands. So long as it is the right size with correct amps it should do fine. That comes from a guy that lives in California that isn't too sure what a cold winter is really like...

I didn’t get it because of the brand, in fact I was not considering to get it at all. I was looking at motomaster eliminators but those are $20 more so I decided on this..I have no doubt that this well last a long time. If you are into performance/long life and value..go with this one.

Somewhere at AF there is another 'best battery ' thread done a few years ago. I recall that most people eventually agreed the AC-Delco was the best. Certainly that's been my experience over 25 years and many vehicles.

If the battery is 12 volt and fits in the tray I use it. Used a lawn tractor battery in a 3 cyl. Metro for years, and never had any problem. Got me to work every day. Never could see the need for the big batteries as I never use all the accessories at once anyway. As long as it starts the car what more do you want, Escorts sure aren't high compression engines either.

We're talking about a 6 year old car at best anyway.

One of the quirks of the escort is the fusable link is on the negative side of the battery. Unless the battery is in good condition it will not run well. It will not run at all if the battery is bad enough. I had one die while I was driving it on the highway. Get a good battery and it will pay off on this car.

I usually buy my batteries at Walmart too, because they are usually the cheapest. The battery I have in my '88 Pony had a 72 month pro rated warranty and it is now almost 7 years old. As for AC Delco batteries, I never had but one of them. It came in a new Buick that I bought back in '77 and it only lasted about 2 years.

Somewhere at AF there is another 'best battery ' thread done a few years ago. I recall that most people eventually agreed the AC-Delco was the best. Certainly that's been my experience over 25 years and many vehicles.

AC-Delco?..I think not..thats the battery I had to replace because it kept on dying on me time after time...

The battery "Bubba" took was a Wal-Mart Energizer. It was 2 years old. I never had any trouble with it. I left my lights on once for 3 hours and the car started right up. It was a good battery. You are right about an Escort that won't run at all on a bad battery. The reason I had a Wal-Mart Energizer was because I was down there, came out to the car and it was totally dead. Got a jump from the guy parked next to me and it wouldn't run at all. I think a cell was shorted out from plate sediment. Anyway, I was at the right place for it to happen. That's why I had a Wal-Mart Energizer. I got another Wally World battery today. I was lucky insofar as he didn't cut the cables. I still had the ends on them. For what it does, a battery is one of the best buys for your buck.

CostCo. I don't know who makes them but they last forever. Case in point, I bought a battery in June of 2001. A 72 month battery. I just replaced it. Not because it was dead. Because it was 8 years old!

Another reason Wal-mart and Sam's club are good for batteries is the turnover. The last Energizer battery I bought at Sam's was made the same month that I bought it. Your warranty starts from the date of manufacture not date of purchase. I've seen year old batteries on shelves at K-mart. Sam's has a 3 year free replacement, 7 year pro rate warranty, they install them for free and of course they are the lowest price, even lower than Wal-mart in my case.
Diehard batteries are great but my Sears is at a busy mall and I hate dealing with the traffic although I am like a kid in a candy shop when I'm in the tool department!

Another reason to shop for car batteries at Wal-Mart is that they have really good hours, as in many are open 24/7. I have a ~10 year old WalMart battery in one of my cars.

Any of the batteries I've had were all lead-acid, and all leaked from the vents. Removed the battery and cleaned up the battery tray with baking soda; leaving some in the bottom. Reused a large heat-resistant bag from one of the Fried Chicken places like Popeye's, dumped a bunch of backing soda in the bottom then put my battery in it. No more rusted-out battery tray. Speaking of which, it's been a few years since I've added water to it... should do that when I replace my clutch master cylinder... (leaving brake fluid puddles at my feet in the driver-side passenger compartment)

Good tip on the foil bag and baking soda!

Thanks. Bag is plastic. But they're designed to carry hot foods. My car doesn't get very hot though.

Whatever bag is used, be sure it doesn't block the vents. But positioning it to cover the terminals also helps to slow corrosion dramatically due to reduced airflow.

Escorts like a solid battery and ground connection. Keeping those terminals clean with a good connection seems difficult, but is important for running smoothly.

Additional Tips:

To clean up the terminals, I use the same thing mentioned to hone out the brake caliper slide-mounts. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=5990639&postcount=13 That does a quick and *complete* job. Be sure to hit the bottom flare on the terminals as well. Several drill attachments are suitable for cleaning the battery posts. Be sure to hit the base flare as well.

I used silver bearing solder, (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062717) (solder iron to the front-inside part of it) not the typical 60/40 lead crap, as a wedge because the terminals had "grown" too large to securely mount to the battery terminal posts. Screw driver and hammer was used to lightly tap the terminals into place before tightening them. (made sure maximum surface area was in contact with battery posts)

Once tight, covered the terminals in a light machine oil to help limit exposure to air. Then dumped a bit backing soda on them before covering them. Machine oil makes the baking soda stick to the posts and terminals.

Some low life broke out my window, accessed the engine compartment and stole my battery. Anybody know which are best?

Don't keep anything valuable in the car but they broke in anyway. Now you know where I'm coming from. :(

Make damned sure you get that hood switch option for your alarm system. They attempted this with my Escort but that saved me.

Since most modern vehicles come with factory alarms, they're relegated to targeting vehicles too old to come with them... like ours. Who would've thought that they'd target an escort !?!? That's what I used to think.

if your still looking for a battery..walmart canada has the energizes on sale this week for $20 off. Maybe they have it in the states as well.

This sale is not in the US. Just bought one yeaterday.

Just an update for lowlifes who steal people's batteries. I've chained by hood down with a lock. I don't keep anything of value in the car and I leave my doors unlocked. You can get a used battery at the boneyard that is dated on the case. Why do you have to break my window out ($100) for a $10 battery?. Sorry guys. I just had to get this off my chest.

Vent, vent, vent some more. Vent away... I perfectly understand where you're coming from. Just once it would be nice to catch one of these ________ in action.

Just an update for lowlifes who steal people's batteries. I've chained by hood down with a lock. I don't keep anything of value in the car and I leave my doors unlocked. You can get a used battery at the boneyard that is dated on the case. Why do you have to break my window out ($100) for a $10 battery?. Sorry guys. I just had to get this off my chest.

Hey Dave

There have been alot of break-ins in my area to. It's probably a bunch of low life kids looking for extra crash.

My aunts corolla had her windows smashed in and all they took was her sons hat...people should really get a life..

Vent, vent, vent some more. Vent away... I perfectly understand where you're coming from. Just once it would be nice to catch one of these ________ in action.

What would you do if you catch them in action? lol

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:Egj5NBNOgYN48M:http://m1.ourstage.com/tb/CJPJWYGYXZZN-large.jpg + http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:tfNdqbDl1CqNlM:http://blog.kir.com/archives/images/tackle%2520football.jpg = http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:cdArSPypLe6K3M:http://www.camelclutchblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/mirface.jpg

Seriously. Depends mostly on their age and culpability. Some of these break-ins are simply young teenagers acting as vandals. Just chase at least one of them down and restrain them long enough for the authorities to arrive. An older individual I'd try to reason with unless it became apparent (often identifiable by voice inflection) that they may have mental issues. Another adult my age with proper wits I just might try and inflict some... consequences... so-to-speak... before the cops arrive. If it's more than one individual then you simply make sure that there's a cop silently waiting around the corner for them and if not, follow them in another vehicle until they can be tracked down and pulled over.

I understand where you're coming from. I used to rehab houses in the "getto". About 4 months ago, they pryed open my hood with a crowbar or something and got the battery. Through this website, http://www.cheapcarbatteriesguide.com/ , I found a place to find cheaper car batteries. It's AutoZone. Found a battery there for about $80. No sense in spending $120 on batteries anymore.

Sick and tired of replacing batteries!