How can I tell if I need a new battery?

I think your list is umm, ill-defined. Sears, e.g., has been known to
switch mfrs and in some cases has offered batteries from different mfrs at
one time or another... like Diehards by Exide and Diehard Golds by Johnson.
I've never seen a battery branded as Honda but the U.S. assembled Honda
cars I've seen have had AC Delco batteries.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

'ill-defined' huh? i got the list directly from Johnson Controls. why
don't you call them yourself if you don't believe that they are the
maker/distributor for all the batteries i listed.


btw-Insterstate makes their own batteries at their USA factory. i have
no idea why you would think otherwise.

 

Are you also "emulsion"? Which hat is your sniping one?

It's ill-defined because, first we're talking about car batteries here and
second it clearly implies that every label you mention covers a Johnson
Control made battery - simply not true. Those "labels" sell many different
battery types which are made by a variety of different manufacturing
companies, and even their car batteries may be made by more than one
company, depending on specific circumstances. They even <gasp> sometimes
switch manufacturers without even <gasp> telling their customers, e.g. it
is known that Sears has switched from Johnson to Exide and back to Johnson
for *some* of its Diehard batteries, over the years.

Personally I've never seen a Honda battery and I've owned 5 cars made by
Honda. Now maybe Honda has a battery with the Honda label in their
motorcycles or may even have started putting their own label on batteries
in their very recent car models. The fact is that U.S.-built Honda cars
have AC Delco batteries in them the last time I looked; Jap-built Hondas
I've owned have had Panasonic batteries in them and I don't know where
Honda U.K. gets their batteries from. Perhaps someone with a late model
Accord (later than 2K) will look under the hood and tell us what label is
on their battery.

There are, again the last time I looked, 5 car battery mfrs in the U.S.:
Penn, Douglas, Johnson, Exide and AC Delco. The rest are all just labels
and the same label may even appear on batteries made by different
companies, depending on which part of the country you look. You are
misreading what Johnon's statement means - IOW the words "exclusive
supplier" would be required in their statement to justify what you said.

It was certainly known that Interstate batteries were made by Johnson so
you'll need to back that up with some evidence. Interstate themselves claim
only to be a marketing and distribution company and if they actually made
anything I'd expect them to say so. I believe you're confusing the filling
of a battery with acid vs. actually making the shell and interior
components.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??