AC Delco ripoff screwed others too AC DELCO Battery Failure Grand Blanc Michigan

We as a society have gotten so conditioned to just jump in the car, turn the key and go. The words 'preventive maintenance' mean little or nothing to most American drivers. The time it takes to lift the hood, check the oil, battery connections, wiper fluid like our parents did, (or like the full service gas station did), just isn't spent any more. Instead, you see drivers talking on the phone, buying snacks, touching up their makeup, etc while they fuel their cars. If the folks with this situation had looked under their hood every now and then, the condition would have been evident and could have been remidied with simple water and baking soda to counteract the corrosion.

You have somewhat of a valid complaint. However the aftermarket and newer vehicles such as the 2000 model mentioned in this original complaint have batteries with the old problem corrected. Most likely the cause of this failure was someone overtightening the positive cable. This has become a problem on the newer model GM products (the only vehicles using side terminals) because of the dual positive battery cable assembly. If you use the wrench designed for these batteries it is only about 3 inches long and you cannot get enough leverage on it to overtighten the bolt thus damaging the battery. Since most people do not own this tool they use a adjustable wrench that is much longer or a socket and ratchet, both of which give you a lot more leverage making it very easy to overtighten the bolt. The bolt is overtightened it breaks the nut loose that is cast inside the terminal and the poor connection does the rest. You have excessive heat due to the connection which eventually causes the terminal to leak and come apart. In other words the terminal would fall out. The solution is to ensure you always use the proper tool, buy a quality product (AC Delco is one), and always install the product properly. I also want to mention I am a A.S.E. certicied Technician and have been since 1970.

The battery maker should have a better warrantee to avoid this problem. A-C Delco just puts their name on it. But it is a pretty common problem on side post batteries.

this has happened to my 93 chevy suburban,im a ase master auto tech with 20 yrs hands on and i see a lot of this out in the field kinda of bogus i think but what can we do theres bigger problems with the cars we drive than a battery