I have found on some occasions that the straps that stick out the side through which the bolt goes through gets distorted and will be touching each other before the bolt is even tightened. It is a soft lead and easily bends, I just wedge a screwdriver between the straps and separate them and it now clamps. Using too much torque when tightening the bolt causes this to happen .
Keep the contact faces clean.

 

How ya been, Dave? Iv'e not seen a lot of posts from you lately.

 

Hi All!

I just wanted to give an update on this situation. After following the guides you all provided, everything was within the specs in terms of battery draw.

As a last resort. I ended up returning the “new” battery and swapped it at another autozone location. Turns out, I was sold a 2 yr old dying battery. They replaced it with a newer one which was manufactured last month.

It has been two days and the car starts no problem. I wish I did it sooner. If anything I gained more knowledge in the electronics part of the car so I take the loss with a win.

Thank you all!

 

Yes, everytime I hear it is a new battery I always say, do a draw test on it. New does not always mean "NEW".

 

This also illustrates why I preach: "Replace the battery first, then do your other diagnostics".

 

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I sometimes find some of the stores that sell batteries, all they do, is stick a current or past month little round colored sticker with the month/year on the top or sides. These stickers are supposed to indicate they 'serviced' and 'charged' the batteries on the rack per the suggested charge cycles depending on the batteries pre-sale care instructions. Labor intensive & with records upkept, for the volume of batteries sold..


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