Karma, a battery, and then a surprise.

[Andymax]

So three days after I post in another threead that my truck must have a "unicorn" battery because the original was still going even after 5+years and 140K miles, karma reared its head. While not my first choice, circumstances lead me to get it replaced at Walmart this morning. Not the fastest service, but here's the surprise - two surprises actually:

First, their price for an AGM with 4 year full replacement warranty ended up being about a hundred bucks cheaper than at the usual auto parts stores (part of the savings was the sales tax holiday happening in Ohio right now).

Second surprise...of course my dash was lit up like a Christmas tree and the truck would not shift out of first gear, similar to most folks with a bad battery. My expectation was to live with this for several hours or even a day with multiple on/off cycles, after which these things typically resolve themselves. So then I'm watching the Wallyworld technician, who, by the way, looked like he was 15, and whom I watched eat a bag of potato chips for breakfast, goes on to shut my truck on and off about 5 times. Naturally I assumed he was trying to get all the telltales to shut off, so I'm figuring that was just futile because it takes hours based on every battery replacement thread ever. Turns out that worked! All my dash lights are dark, no CEL, truck starts and runs as normal. Maybe this has been other's experience, but it shocked me!

I'd be curious if anyone has ever tried this. or knew about this.

Anyway...have a good day.

 

[Jako]

So three days after I post in another threead that my truck must have a "unicorn" battery because the original was still going even after 5+years and 140K miles, karma reared its head. While not my first choice, circumstances lead me to get it replaced at Walmart this morning. Not the fastest service, but here's the surprise - two surprises actually:

First, their price for an AGM with 4 year full replacement warranty ended up being about a hundred bucks cheaper than at the usual auto parts stores (part of the savings was the sales tax holiday happening in Ohio right now).

Second surprise...of course my dash was lit up like a Christmas tree and the truck would not shift out of first gear, similar to most folks with a bad battery. My expectation was to live with this for several hours or even a day with multiple on/off cycles, after which these things typically resolve themselves. So then I'm watching the Wallyworld technician, who, by the way, looked like he was 15, and whom I watched eat a bag of potato chips for breakfast, goes on to shut my truck on and off about 5 times. Naturally I assumed he was trying to get all the telltales to shut off, so I'm figuring that was just futile because it takes hours based on every battery replacement thread ever. Turns out that worked! All my dash lights are dark, no CEL, truck starts and runs as normal. Maybe this has been other's experience, but it shocked me!

I'd be curious if anyone has ever tried this. or knew about this.

Anyway...have a good day.

News to me.

 

[BowDown]

I replaced mine at 3 years with a Sams Club Duracell AGM, $180 ish (3 or 4 year full replacement). I pulled the old one out rolled it in for the core charge then bought and installed the new battery in the parking lot. No lights, no codes, no erratic activity. I then ordered a new battery blanket (replaced with an H8 battery) and disconnected then reconneted the battery again, same thing. no codes, lights or erratic activity

 

[Andymax]

I replaced mine at 3 years with a Sams Club Duracell AGM, $180 ish (3 or 4 year full replacement). I pulled the old one out rolled it in for the core charge then bought and installed the new battery in the parking lot. No lights, no codes, no erratic activity. I then ordered a new battery blanket (replaced with an H8 battery) and disconnected then reconneted the battery again, same thing. no codes, lights or erratic activity

Interesting. Was either battery "bad" at the time you replaced them? I think the problems are a result of a BCM/ECM reaction to low voltage. At the time of replacement my battery would only read 9.1 volts, even after a 60 mile highway drive where the voltage monitor was showing 14.4VDC out.

 

[BowDown]

Interesting. Was either battery "bad" at the time you replaced them? I think the problems are a result of a BCM/ECM reaction to low voltage. At the time of replacement my battery would only read 9.1 volts, even after a 60 mile highway drive where the voltage monitor was showing 14.4VDC out.

The factory battery was bad when I replaced it however each time I disconnected it then reconnected it, there were no issues.
Came outside from dinner one night the the battery unlocked the truck and lowered the running boards but nothing, got a jump then changed the battery the next day. I have a C5 corvette and this type of battery behavior is notorious in those cars, wasnt going through that in the truck when I knew the battery may appear to be ok but would leave me stranded again.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Interesting. Was either battery "bad" at the time you replaced them? I think the problems are a result of a BCM/ECM reaction to low voltage. At the time of replacement my battery would only read 9.1 volts, even after a 60 mile highway drive where the voltage monitor was showing 14.4VDC out.

Sometimes it seems random on if you will get lights or not. I've unhooked my battery many times, and only a few have I gotten any check engine lights. I do lose certain functions until the computers all reconnect, but it's expected

 

[Andymax]

Sometimes it seems random on if you will get lights or not. I've unhooked my battery many times, and only a few have I gotten any check engine lights. I do lose certain functions until the computers all reconnect, but it's expected

Yeah, this is why its curious to me. It seems specifically related to low-voltage vs. normal or no voltage. I've disconnected/reconnected my battery also with no issues. The morning my truck wouldn't start I did not have all the lights/malfunctions until I had driven it a fair bit, during which I had to jump start it a couple times. Only then the light-up happened. and thats when I noticed the voltage reading ~9VDC (while not running).