15 years ago they were the best of the best, but when they shipped manufacturing out to Mexico they went down the gutter quick. Nothing but a name now.

 

Here's an interesting article describing who makes what. There are very few actual battery manufacturers out there. Most are made by three different companies.

https://gearslap.com/generic-car-batteries/

 

Just a follow-up on my decision. Thanks to all for the comments. It was a hell of a weekend as the Rover gods have not been happy with me. I pulled the O'Reilly's AGM battery and took it in to be tested. I still have the old DieHard Plat and threw it in for fun and off I went. All was confirmed on the battery as it failed the test. Two Batteries in four yrs. YMMV but this was a lesson learned to stay out of these places for batteries. Off to see a friend for the UFC fights. He lives by a Tractor Supply so I stopped in and picked up a 34/78 battery w/ 800CCA. 2yr warranty. I also ordered up the XD 34/78 from Batteries Plus. I'm taking a trip this Spring/Summer to Yellowstone and Glacier and the XD will power the rig. Half way to Tractor Supply my Glow Shift temp gauge goes off the chart to 280-300! WTF! This probe is in the hose on top of the radiator. The OBD digital gauge is sitting at 194. The Oh Sh@t guage is normal. I run an inline thermostat mod (Meziere) with a 195 t-stat in the winter / 180 in the summer. As I continue the drive in heavy traffic temps rise to 215 on the OBD. After picking up the battery and eventually making home it turned out the Fan Clutch took a dump. Temps on the Engine never made it pass 217. I was running a Hayden 2991 that I installed in 2019 after a top end rebuild. Disappointing to say the least. I ripped it out and pulled the Airtec water pump - No Brass Impeller from 2019. I installed a FlowKooler I picked up a few months ago (Very nice pump) and the old Beck Arnley Fan Clutch HD I installed in 2012. Back in business. Temps steady at 183! The last week I have loss both headlights (Bulb). What are the odds both go out at the same time? Sent me on a fuse/relay hunt. Maybe the stalk??? Nope, both bulbs! Transfer case/Trans breather lines melted on the cat. Thanks to @Alex_M for that mod! Battery died and the fan clutch took a dump and almost cooked the engine.....I'm going to gather these cheap inferior parts and offer them up to the gods, lol.

Thanks for the advice guys and contributions to the forum. They have help immensely over the years.

Cheers!

 

Personally, I use the CTEK charger. This is the very same one Land Rover sells, with their label on it, but without the associated wallet drain.

I also for when in the field have this excellent very flexible, foldable 30 watt Powerfilm Solar Panel. I place it in the windshield and then place the regular windshield panel thing that came with the Defender behind that to hold it in place. It is in turn coupled to the OBD plug I adapted to trickle charge from and plug it into the OBD port under the Driver's side. It is always hot, so it can be trickle charged from there. Yes the Defender draws around 10 amps for 10 minutes when you open the door. So when in the field for days this can become an issue. Too bad there is no "Camping Mode" selection from the many menus. So kind of why I resurrected this panel and pressed it into this service. I have been through two batteries so far in a year. The latest one seems healthy enough. Also if you use ECO mode a lot, it does not put out full charging, or so it seems.

 

I miss the Diehard Platinum batteries (by Odyssey if memory serves me correctly) those things were beast!!!! I did have an original yellow top battery in a Jeep last me 13 years. Sold the Range Rover it was in, slapped the battery in my D2, then slapped it into my Jeep, sold the Jeep, knew the owner and he had it another 3-4 years before it finally went out on him. They DO NOT make them like that anymore. These days I just grab an Auto Zone Marine Battery with 1000AMP's and call it a day.