Last night I parked outside a friend’s house in a less than perfect spot where I feared getting hit; so I left my 4-way flashers on. I left the car for about 3 hours only to come back to a totally dead battery. I used to leave my flashers in my Camry on all night sometimes and never had this problem. Also my girlfriend’s Audi has parking lights which she leaves on all night without problems. The mechanic that changed my battery told me that the AC Delco Dry Cell batteries are notorious for crapping out if you let them drain. We couldn’t even get it jumpstarted.

 

What are you doing with a GM battery in your Mustang?? No wonder it died!!

 

Steve, I would like to know this answer as well. I am willing to bet someone swapped his battery at the dealership.

 

I just got off the phone with the dealership and they explained that AC Delco are the only batteries that fit american cars and are designed for the operating temperature of Hell. I live in Kuwait and if the car is parked in the sun the battery will easily get to 180F !!! They also said that because of this heat the battery life is on average half of that of regular climates. I guess I won't be leaving my flashers on again.

 

Sorry to hear about that, will they cover the battery with a warranty?

 

It comes with a 1 year warranty from AC Delco. I was shocked to see that it is manufactured in Saudi Arabia !! Apparently the regular American made AC Delco's aren't meant for this heat either. Oh, and I just found out this little tid-bit too. The roads here cost on average 20 times more than in regular climates because the asphalt is made from some material developed by NASA that doesn't melt in the summer. Makes you wonder how anyone survived here before airconditioning.

 

Dry cell batteries are not really designed for extended use / deep cycling. We use dry cells here in the US for race cars because they weigh a lot less and are smaller.

AGM batteries like Optimas tend to fare better in desert climates for such applications but the Optimas are a smaller capacity, so you'll probably want to find a larger AGM battery.

 

Dude, that sucks! Glad I dont have to deal with that heat.

 

Here in AZ, we typically see no more than 2 years on a battery, before it dies. At least the temp is starting to come out of the 100's now