Do you peel out the little date stickers when you buy a car battery?

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Dune

Dune

Minister of Fire
Jan 14, 2008
3,145
Commonwealth Of Massachussetts
www.irondesign-ne.com
I do, and I am glad. The dune-mobile started running crappy, and the battery idiot light was ocasionaly flashing. I called my mechanic, and he said "no more freebies", so I figured I would live with it for a while, until someone paid me. Then the starter started not starting good, which sometimes means the battery cables are corroded. While I was cleaning the connections, I noticed that the little date tags were peeled and checked. Sure enough, I had last changed that battery in 7 03. Genius! I popped a new DieHard in and it cured everything. Amazingly, if I had to, I would have sworn I put a new battery in that truck in '08.

While I have your attention, I decided to change the oil again, even though it has only been a year and about 4,000 miles. I found a bunch of oil in the tool shed, so why not. So my question is, seeing how the old girl has over 135K miles (88 350 chevy), should I stay with 10 w30 or should I upgrade to 10 w40?
 
I pop the year and month bubbles. Otherwise I would forget for sure. Got to say though, the battery light flipping on tells me that your alternator is going out as well. Not certain it was just your battery since a properly running alternator will keep everything happy while the engine is running.

Stay with 10w-30.
 
No need. There is a sticker on the side of the case with a letter and number. The letter is the month (A is Jan, B Feb, etc) and number is the year.
 
Dune said:
I do, and I am glad. The dune-mobile started running crappy, and the battery idiot light was ocasionaly flashing. I called my mechanic, and he said "no more freebies", so I figured I would live with it for a while, until someone paid me. Then the starter started not starting good, which sometimes means the battery cables are corroded. While I was cleaning the connections, I noticed that the little date tags were peeled and checked. Sure enough, I had last changed that battery in 7 03. Genius! I popped a new DieHard in and it cured everything. Amazingly, if I had to, I would have sworn I put a new battery in that truck in '08.

While I have your attention, I decided to change the oil again, even though it has only been a year and about 4,000 miles. I found a bunch of oil in the tool shed, so why not. So my question is, seeing how the old girl has over 135K miles (88 350 chevy), should I stay with 10 w30 or should I upgrade to 10 w40?
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Throw some amsoil in and change it once a year! As far as the battery, I always charged any new battery I bought over night or until it showed it was fully charged. If a new battery is only charged half way, once you use the battery or put a draw on it, that battery will take a memory and always stay as a half charged battery. We use to replace alot of Harley voltage regulators , because they were running under charged new batteries. The batteries would then always call for a charge and eventually burn the voltage regulator out. Unless you got rid of the battery, you'd continue to eat up regulators. So with any new battery, make sure, you charge it yourself and know it's been fully charged. Thats how you get good life out of your charging system and battery. Sorry for the long response.
 
Highbeam said:
I pop the year and month bubbles. Otherwise I would forget for sure. Got to say though, the battery light flipping on tells me that your alternator is going out as well. Not certain it was just your battery since a properly running alternator will keep everything happy while the engine is running.

Stay with 10w-30.
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Thanks for the info Highbeam. I mentioned what you said to my mechanic and he said it could happen if the battery had a short in it. Pretty sure the problem is solved, but am digging out my spare alternator just in case.
 
I would put my meter on the battery with the engine running to assure 14 volts at idle. Easy check and you don't want to ruin the new diehard by draining it.
 
Thats sounds easy, thanks again.
 
Stick to 10/30 but consider adding some STP oil treatment to it at the oil change. Chevy V 8 s are known for valve stem seals hardening up and getting oil past them and smoking at start up. Not saying stp will stop this issue,but it will stick to the bearing surface a little longer than 10/30 alone. Just my 2 cents.
 
I've ran amsoil for the last 15 years in everything I own. Everything still runs great. Check out the ball wear tests they show, comparing different oils. Film strength is what keeps metal to metal contact from happening. That's what keeps a motor from wearing out, not how heavy the oil is. You want initial lubrication on start up, not heavy oil, yet you want the film strength, once the oil is up to operating temperature. Just a little heads up as to what amsoil provides.
 
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