Century Batteries

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by KobiXR6T

Bringing back an old thread here.

So this particular battery lasted 2 months from this post before I opted to replace it. That was September 22.

Here we are June 23 and for the last few weeks it has been getting moody. So strange where sometimes it lacks the grunt to turn the engine over on one turn. Wait a moment and it turns right over.

Today running erands. Pull up at one shop and leave. All good. Fast start. Stop at next and go to leave. Dead, dead, dead. 3 turns and won't even turn over. Try again and it slowly turns enough to fire up. I don't know how it will go from here..

But for a battery with a 40 month warranty, getting 9 months out of it is pretty crap.

I'll throw the multimeter over it and see whats happening if I can get home after work today.

Not really impressed aye!~

Sounds like intermittent electrical problem, checked engine and body earths plus starter motor positive terminal to make sure none are loose?

Get battery out of car, charge up and get it load tested with carbon pile load tester, not the electronic job. It simulates the load of the starter motor on the battery.

[ESPJG32]

Well Century lost me a couple of years ago, Had one on a pump on the farm, it got a dead cell, did warranty claim, refused because I had to drill a hole thru each terminal coz they couldn't supply a flat tab one when I bought it, I said the terminals are not the problem it has a dead cell, they said it was modified so no warranty - I said see you, no more century for me, we have lots of batteries on the farm but as they die they dont get replaced with century

[roKWiz]

Nah, I'll stick with Century, the only large capacity wide plate, non deep cycle suitable for offgrid solar/wind systems.
The wide gap plates make them idea for cycling charges in a demanding solar system we use.

Bought 2 N150's and a N120 for my truck today.

The 2 N150's will go into service backing up the winter amps needed in these low sun hour days.

While the single N120 will be a straight replacement for the existing 10 year old still in service one on the truck.
She showing signs of slow cranking atm on these 0 deg mornings here.

Used in all 6 trucks, boat and panel van.

[Citroënbender]

It would be interesting to know at what levels of management within the business, that such an approach of brushing people off is considered “good practice”.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

It would be interesting to know at what levels of management within the business, that such an approach of brushing people off is considered “good practice”.

Don't know about others but they always give me excellent service but I deal directly with the VIC/NSW distributor through a local auto electricians.

Don't think I've ever bought one from a auto parts retailer but saying that there is a lot of expectations for a battery to over perform for some customers requirements.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Don't know about others but they always give me excellent service but I deal directly with the VIC/NSW distributor through a local auto electricians.

Don't think I've ever bought one from a auto parts retailer but saying that there is a lot of expectations for a battery to over perform for some customers requirements.

Always buy through your local workshop or distributor, don't support the big chains.

The local independent is also a bit more flexible on the warranty rules

I used to rep Century hard but because of the quality issues these days I push Bond Batteries (premium range) or ACDelco and Supercharge (Gold)

Have bought one 'Omnicraft' one which is the brand Ford parts pushes, only because it's cheap as.

[KobiXR6T]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Sounds like intermittent electrical problem, checked engine and body earths plus starter motor positive terminal to make sure none are loose?

Get battery out of car, charge up and get it load tested with carbon pile load tester, not the electronic job. It simulates the load of the starter motor on the battery.

It certainly does indeed.

I've checked all the above. Earths and grounds are solid. Connections all good. I even went as far as pulling the starter motor out and bench testing it when one of the previous batteries threw in the towel.

I really need to dig further with the multimeter when cracking the engine over.

It's not like an immobiliser issue where it doesn't crank. It just doesn't have enough grunt to turn over quickly.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by KobiXR6T

It's not like an immobiliser issue where it doesn't crank. It just doesn't have enough grunt to turn over quickly.

Dad's BF had that issue with the previous battery. Was an R&J Predator battery. 90% of the time it would fail to turn over in a hot start situation. Drive from home to the shopping centre, stop for 10 mins and try to start. You'd get a whir, maybe a 1/2 turn of the crank, then a groan and stop. No solenoid ticking though.

Kept on load testing fine, multiple load tests. It once even failed to start immediately after a load test in the presence of the R&J guy. He just apologised and said he couldn't offer a warranty because the requirements to meet warranty weren't met. At that stage it was 3 or 4 months shy of its warranty period.

New battery fixed that for a few years until it started again. Onto the next new battery now. Nearly 1 year in on a Supercharge without issue.

The base model Century in POS Ghia is nearing 5 years old now. Has been rather reliable, but is starting to cause the same starting issues as yours and Dad's on hot starts. Cold starts you can feel its starting to get a tad sluggish.

[KobiXR6T]

Originally Posted by arm79

Dad's BF had that issue with the previous battery. Was an R&J Predator battery. 90% of the time it would fail to turn over in a hot start situation. Drive from home to the shopping centre, stop for 10 mins and try to start. You'd get a whir, maybe a 1/2 turn of the crank, then a groan and stop. No solenoid ticking though.

Kept on load testing fine, multiple load tests. It once even failed to start immediately after a load test in the presence of the R&J guy. He just apologised and said he couldn't offer a warranty because the requirements to meet warranty weren't met. At that stage it was 3 or 4 months shy of its warranty period.

New battery fixed that for a few years until it started again. Onto the next new battery now. Nearly 1 year in on a Supercharge without issue.

The base model Century in POS Ghia is nearing 5 years old now. Has been rather reliable, but is starting to cause the same starting issues as yours and Dad's on hot starts. Cold starts you can feel its starting to get a tad sluggish.

That is it to a tee.

I've owned the car since 2011 now.. Every few years the batteries get on a bit and the problem seems to start showing up more frequently. A new battery resolves the issue.

These cars do some strange things with low batteries too.

[arm79]

Originally Posted by KobiXR6T

These cars do some strange things with low batteries too.

Yes, definitely.

What prompted the initial new battery, within 3 or 4 days of purchasing the car, was the thing would turn off the transmission. Dad has a ZF in his car too.

He'd be driving along and it would just go into neutral. Or rolling down the hill near our home and it would go into neutral as he hit the bottom and turned the corner, so no drive as he was crossing the intersection. He'd pull over and restart the car and all would be fine.

We panicked thinking we'd bought a dud. But I remembered back yo my EL doing that 2 or 3 times due to a dodgy battery. Voltage got so low it disabled the transmission. Luckily for us is fixed the problem as well.

Like you I've swapped the starter to a brand new Bosch unit, cleaned and sanded all the relevant grounds and made sure they are tight. All to no avail, it always came back to the battery.

The one thing I never tried though was adding a second ground, on the theory that Ford wiring was only ever juuuuuuussssssstttt enough to get the job done.

I've always wondered if the issue is related to the variable voltage charging that debuted in the BF. I've never gotten the life out of a battery in a BF that I had in our other cars. Modern poorer quality price driven batteries aren't as capable surviving on a weaker charging rate long term.

[Hulsty]

I'm joining in on the battery replacement, unfortunately need a pair ( wired together factory). My nearly 4 year old Exide extreme is showing10.5V, its mating pair 12.6V, 3 months out of warranty. Going to check out what R&J Batteries recommend, probably go for Supercharge Allrounder though. Matched pair in another Landcruiser went about 9 years before one failed, good one is still going in my caravan.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by Hulsty

I'm joining in on the battery replacement, unfortunately need a pair ( wired together factory). My nearly 4 year old Exide extreme is showing10.5V, its mating pair 12.6V, 3 months out of warranty. Going to check out what R&J Batteries recommend, probably go for Supercharge Allrounder though. Matched pair in another Landcruiser went about 9 years before one failed, good one is still going in my caravan.

I wonder if this battery matching thing is a marketing tool for battery sellers.When I bought my caravan in 2016 it had the original Delco 95ah deep cycle.I wanted to have an extra battery,so bought a 105 ah Century and hooked them up in parallel.Sold that van last year still with original Delco and 4y.o Century.Both were still going strong so I call B.S on battery matching

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

I wonder if this battery matching thing is a marketing tool for battery sellers.When I bought my caravan in 2016 it had the original Delco 95ah deep cycle.I wanted to have an extra battery,so bought a 105 ah Century and hooked them up in parallel.Sold that van last year still with original Delco and 4y.o Century.Both were still going strong so I call B.S on battery matching

If your batteries are matched current ratings & wired correctly in parallel, it ensures they are evenly discharged & recharged at the same rate, otherwise mismatched batteries can lead to one battery to drain more than the other or one battery being charged faster than the other, this can cause a battery to prematurely fail or worst case scenario overcharging of one battery can lead to fires etc.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Itsme

If your batteries are matched current ratings & wired correctly in parallel, it ensures they are evenly discharged & recharged at the same rate, otherwise mismatched batteries can lead to one battery to drain more than the other or one battery being charged faster than the other, this can cause a battery to prematurely fail or worst case scenario overcharging of one battery can lead to fires etc.

Yes, will only ever replace batteries as a parallel or series bank and not individually. Learnt the hard way once before.

[Mechan1k]

Just has issues in my 2016 Territory with a 2 year old Century DIN65.
Intermittent non-start issues and loss of ICC memory, etc. ... everything checked over ... could replicate issues at the auto electrician. Battery testing showed weird issues where it reported OK sometimes and not other times.

Went to Autobarn where I bought it ... was told that Id have to leave the battery with them for a Century rep to come and look at it .... might take a week for them to rock and check it.

WTF am I supposed to do in the meantime when I need to use the car.
What sort of warranty replacement is that.

I would have bought Supercharge GOLD at the time ... but in the height of COVID I could not get one for love nor money.

I now have a Supercharge Gold in the Territory ... the Century got binned.
At least i know if I have a problem with the Supercharge, it will be replaced on the spot in warranty.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Just has issues in my 2016 Territory with a 2 year old Century DIN65.
Intermittent non-start issues and loss of ICC memory, etc. ... everything checked over ... could replicate issues at the auto electrician. Battery testing showed weird issues where it reported OK sometimes and not other times.

Went to Autobarn where I bought it ... was told that Id have to leave the battery with them for a Century rep to come and look at it .... might take a week for them to rock and check it.

WTF am I supposed to do in the meantime when I need to use the car.
What sort of warranty replacement is that.

I would have bought Supercharge GOLD at the time ... but in the height of COVID I could not get one for love nor money.

I now have a Supercharge Gold in the Territory ... the Century got binned.
At least i know if I have a problem with the Supercharge, it will be replaced on the spot in warranty.

So why not leave the Century to get checked, if you replaced it anyway. By binning it no one will ever know what was wrong with it !

How long was the warranty on the Century ?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Went to Autobarn where I bought it ... was told that Id have to leave the battery with them for a Century rep to come and look at it .... might take a week for them to rock and check it.

WTF am I supposed to do in the meantime when I need to use the car.
What sort of warranty replacement is that.

Yep - thats the problem with these joints, no judgement calls to do the right thing by customers. Why even have humans in the joint? Just let customers use online listings, buy what they want through click and collects. No point putting humans there and not let them use their brain.

Also the fact they don't test them and rely on the Century rep to pop in once a week to do so is a ****ing joke.

If collectively we want head office to notice this bull****, go to their Google business listing and give them a heap of 1 star reviews about their **** product and customer service from their reseller network:



If there's someone at head office who is switched on and monitoring it then its a real nice kick in the *** because talking about it to all of us who know about it isn't doing much about the problem unfortunately.

Head office probably isn't even aware, they wouldn't even be monitoring it at a KPI level if the resellers are rejecting warranty claims left right and centre or making it hard for you to make claims.

If everyone here who has been burnt by Century does a 1 star review with a write up you'll get an audience at head office with the admin person who created the business listing in the company, they're monitoring the reviews because someones giving them all a thumbs up.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Yep - thats the problem with these joints, no judgement calls to do the right thing by customers. Why even have humans in the joint? Just let customers use online listings, buy what they want through click and collects. No point putting humans there and not let them use their brain.

Also the fact they don't test them and rely on the Century rep to pop in once a week to do so is a ****ing joke.

If collectively we want head office to notice this bull****, go to their Google business listing and give them a heap of 1 star reviews about their **** product and customer service from their reseller network:

image

If there's someone at head office who is switched on and monitoring it then its a real nice kick in the *** because talking about it to all of us who know about it isn't doing much about the problem unfortunately.

Head office probably isn't even aware, they wouldn't even be monitoring it at a KPI level if the resellers are rejecting warranty claims left right and centre or making it hard for you to make claims.

If everyone here who has been burnt by Century does a 1 star review with a write up you'll get an audience at head office with the admin person who created the business listing in the company.

Wow. From reading that post I didn't get that idea.
I don't get it, all the places I go to have battery reps drop in regularly to check stuff like this or replace it. Maybe these automotive retailers have their own agenda's to push certain items based on their mark ups or simply can't be bothered contacting the manufacturer.
I didn't read anyone saying they were rejecting a claim either.

[Mechan1k]

40 month warranty on the battery.

No use dropping off a battery to have to wait a week for someone to check it.
As it is the main family car and needed to be on the road. I just replaced the battery and didn't waste my time on it.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Wow. From reading that post I didn't get that idea.
I don't get it, all the places I go to have battery reps drop in regularly to check stuff like this or replace it. Maybe these automotive retailers have their own agenda's to push certain items based on their mark ups or simply can't be bothered contacting the manufacturer.
I didn't read anyone saying they were rejecting a claim either.

By making you wait a week they're disincentivising you to make warranty claims, its the oldest trick in the book.

The amount of Century batteries that BAPCOR buys from Century, you reckon they'd knock back their reseller network on warranty claims from their branches, even if they were bull****? (not implying that we have bull**** claims here in this thread, but spending that sort of coin with your suppliers buys you flexibility on these things to keep customers happy)

It would be no questions asked swap for a new one if an Autobarn was making a warranty claim on their Century wholesaler, they're part of BAPCOR, who have a national account, move huge volume and would be on contract pricing.

I know with my Century wholesaler, they'd never question my warranty claims and my volume was no way near national accounts, but I was the biggest in the Bendigo region for the past 20 years.

I know one of the terms we had as a supplier to GPC Asia Pacific was no fault warranty claims, they didn't even need to send goods back they'd just make warranty claims and we'd credit them - no ifs, no buts, no maybes.

As soon as that warranty paperwork hit my email inbox, they got credits for all their branches nationally.

You want to sell to GPC Asia Pacific and the likes of Repco/NAPA then you accepted their warranty terms, BAPCOR is similar, if they've got outstanding warranty claims then they just don't pay invoices to their suppliers, but they won't send the stock back to you to check either.

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

40 month warranty on the battery.

No use dropping off a battery to have to wait a week for someone to check it.
As it is the main family car and needed to be on the road. I just replaced the battery and didn't waste my time on it.

See, this is exactly why they pulled the trick with the rep, most people can't have their car off the road for a week for something that costs circa $250.

Depends on the incentives structure with the staff, but these days no one in the parts game is on incentives on sales figures/GP, you get a set rate and it doesn't matter how much GP you turn, so there's no real incentive to **** customers because you don't get paid extra for it.

Maybe the branch manager might but there's not many independent Autobarn stores left, the majority of the franchise holders got burned and then the stores reopened as corporate stores owned by BAPCOR.

[Mechan1k]

Autobarn mentioned .... no such issues with Supercharge ... if there is an issue.
Swapped straight out ... no questions asked.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Autobarn mentioned .... no such issues with Supercharge ... if there is an issue.
Swapped straight out ... no questions asked.

I wouldn't expect any less either, that's how it should be.

Warranty claims is where you lose customers if you make it too hard, look at all the people talking about it in here.

You do the right thing by someone and they'll talk about it when given a reminder like in conversation,

You wrong someone and they'll shout from the rooftops to anyone who'll listen, next minute Tracey Grimshaw is knocking on your door and you got TV cameras and some reporter in a pantsuit chasing you down the street, then finally they'll haunt you after they've died and it'll be on their gravestone about how you wronged them 50 years ago.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

40 month warranty on the battery.

No use dropping off a battery to have to wait a week for someone to check it.
As it is the main family car and needed to be on the road. I just replaced the battery and didn't waste my time on it.

I still can not see why you couldn't get a 40 month warranty battery checked to find out what went wrong with it by leaving it with the retailer and still had bought another brand in the meantime as what you needed to do.

At 2 years old I wonder if Supercharge would just replace it at the retailers. ?

I would be contacting the ACCC if they are not honoring an almost 4 year warranties.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

I still can not see why you couldn't get a 40 month warranty battery checked to find out what went wrong with it by leaving it with the retailer and still had bought another brand in the meantime as what you needed to do.

At 2 years old I wonder if Supercharge would just replace it at the retailers. ?

I would be contacting the ACCC if they are not honoring an almost 4 year warranties.

Problem is say it takes a week and they honor your warranty, now you have a replacement battery you don't need because you got the other new one in the car you bought to tide you over

They need a kick in the *** for sure.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

I still can not see why you couldn't get a 40 month warranty battery checked to find out what went wrong with it by leaving it with the retailer and still had bought another brand in the meantime as what you needed to do.

At 2 years old I wonder if Supercharge would just replace it at the retailers. ?

I would be contacting the ACCC if they are not honoring an almost 4 year warranties.

I agree if you need another battery to keep going,buy another,then when the warranty is approved.hand it back and ask for either a refund or credit.why just walk away from a couple of hundred dollars

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Problem is say it takes a week and they honor your warranty, now you have a replacement battery you don't need because you got the other new one in the car you bought to tide you over

They need a kick in the *** for sure.

Does it matter about the time if you already have the much needed replacement in the car. I always find it a good idea to have a back up battery charged and ready to go in Winter anyway.

That's why I just bought the N120 knowing the one in the daily truck is going on 10 years old and slow cranking on extreme cold starts we are having at the moment.

My point was, I doubt the warranty thing is just Century, I'm sure Autowhateverworld retail dipsh*t isn't just giving you a new for old battery
after 2 years.

I would want to find out why it failed and if it wasn't related to something else.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Just has issues in my 2016 Territory with a 2 year old Century DIN65.
Intermittent non-start issues and loss of ICC memory, etc. ... everything checked over ... could replicate issues at the auto electrician. Battery testing showed weird issues where it reported OK sometimes and not other times.

Went to Autobarn where I bought it ... was told that Id have to leave the battery with them for a Century rep to come and look at it .... might take a week for them to rock and check it.

WTF am I supposed to do in the meantime when I need to use the car.
What sort of warranty replacement is that.

I would have bought Supercharge GOLD at the time ... but in the height of COVID I could not get one for love nor money.

I now have a Supercharge Gold in the Territory ... the Century got binned.
At least i know if I have a problem with the Supercharge, it will be replaced on the spot in warranty.

That is Autobarn for you, I had the same issue with a Supercharge battery recently and was told the same thing.
Autobarn has been crossed of my list as a reputable trading store, in other words they are just ***** and liars.

PS: This post will contradict your next one where they say it does not happen with supercharge batteries, cheers

[arm79]

Originally Posted by Itsme

That is Autobarn for you, I had the same issue with a Supercharge battery recently and was told the same thing.
Autobarn has been crossed of my list as a reputable trading store, in other words they are just ***** and liars.

Unfortunately you cant blame Autobarn or any retailer for that. They are just following the warranty policies of the supplier.

Its the manufacturer that makes it so difficult to get the warranty that it turns you off the brand.

[Tassie f100]

Originally Posted by arm79

Unfortunately you cant blame Autobarn or any retailer for that. They are just following the warranty policies of the supplier.

Its the manufacturer that makes it so difficult to get the warranty that it turns you off the brand.

I would have thought that Autobarn etc would have enough clout to basically tell the battery suppliers how the warranty will work not battery makers setting the rules

[arm79]

Originally Posted by Tassie f100

I would have thought that Autobarn etc would have enough clout to basically tell the battery suppliers how the warranty will work not battery makers setting the rules

I doubt any retailer has that kind of clout. Maybe on the odd occasion, but not all the time. But it seems the failures aren't of the odd occasion where the manufacturer would wear the cost.

Say Autobarn swaps the battery or gives the customer a refund then sends off the "dud" one for inspection and the manufacturer goes "no fault found" then Autobarn has to suck up the loss. Do that a few times and Autobarn are no longer on the customers side, they will strictly follow manufacturers policy.

And there is no way known the manufacturer will replace/refund every battery Autobarn demands they do. They will just stop dealing with Autobarn.

Its interesting going back and reading some of the TSB's for the B-series. In one of them it specifically says:

Approximately 80% of steering gears (racks) replaced under warranty for the above concerns have been analyzed, tested and found to be No Fault Found (NFF).

It goes on to say here are new testing procedures that must be followed and if the rack is changed and found to be no fault found on return or proper procedure has not been followed the entire claim will be denied and rejected.

When retailers start loosing money they quickly stand up and listen.