Went to start my XB yesterday afternoon and it seems the battery is dead (3.5yrs old). When I took the key out of the ignition, I heard a faint mechanical gear-like sound and noticed the speedometer was bouncing slightly...with no key in the ignition at all.

Looked at it today and the gauge is still bouncing and the battery is even more drained.

Anyone else encountered this or have an idea what it could be (link to video below)?

 

A dead or nearly dead battery can cause all kinds of issues...if you know the battery is dead then I would start with a new one. Or take it to a local auto parts store and have them do a charging system test to potentially narrow it down to definitively being a dead battery.

 

Thanks for the reply

I did need to replace the battery since, when I pulled the old on out, the sides were bulged out (Florida heat is HELL on batteries). I had the auto parts store test the (fairly new) starter and (fairly new) alternator and they were fine. I know being "new" doesn't mean much these days, though; had to go though 3 power steering pumps before we got one that wasn't defective (NAPA quality indeed ).

 

Did it fix the 'bouncing'? It's amazing how all of these 'new' parts are junk...Napa used to be one of the higher quality parts vendors but I'm not so sure they're not sourcing things the same place as everyone else to save a little bit on each part while still charging a premium.

I don't know how many oil pressure sending units I went through on my Cherokee...I'm on my third and the first one that went bad was a Mopar piece as I'm firm believer in OEM parts, especially sensors and electrical parts. Didn't work out well for me on that one and it was about 3x the price.

 

I hate to say it, but I agree with you there. As you know, my retirement job is delivering OEM parts for western New York State's largest dealer group. For a long, long time, OEM parts were clearly superior in just about every respect to aftermarket parts. And when it came to aftermarket, NAPA was almost always clearly the best. So, what's happening? These are only my personal opinions based on what I see every day.

For OEM parts, being clearly the best almost always (ok, always) led to them being more expensive. But for discerning buyers who understood the cost / benefit tradeoff, the extra upfront cost was worth it. Unfortunately, when things got tough with the economy, many more people started going for aftermarket parts because that's all they could afford. Not wanting to sit on mountains of now non-moving inventory, the auto manufacturers did several things. On some (existing) parts, they dropped the price a bit. On parts they were taking a beating on even at the new, lower prices, they came out with what I'll just call "alternative OEM" parts.

A perfect example can be found in front brake pads for first gen xB's. If you waltz into your friendly local Toyota dealership and ask for front pads for your '04-'06 xB, they'll hand you a typical red and white Toyota parts box with a reasonably priced set of OEM Toyota pads inside. But wait. If you ask them if they're the same pads the car came with that routinely last 60,000+ miles, they'll say that those pads are a different parts number - with a higher price. Most folks don't know enough to ask and the first time they know something was different is when the replacement pads only last 40,000 miles. (Ask me how I know that.) But since most aftermarket pads last less than 40,000 miles, is it really such a bad deal?

Ads for NAPA parts seemingly going downhill on quality, I have an opinion there too. Most local auto repair shops use aftermarket parts from NAPA, Advance, Auto Zone, etc. when they repair customer cars. (Most dealerships also use aftermarket parts when they recondition non-CPO used cars.) NAPA is competing for business - and their survival - with the other chains who sell almost 100% on price alone. (Quality is way down the list.) If you want to survive - especially when the vast majority of your customers are only worried about price, guess what you have to do? You guessed it.

So as usual, you're right on both counts. Sad, but true. Happy New Year!

 

@2stroked Tom, what in the heck have you been up to...I haven't talked you in what seems like a million years but you always seem to drop-in here now and then! Happy New Year, my friend.

 

"Apparently", he warily said knowing he just might have cursed himself.

I've known my mechanic for decades and he was looking at dropping his NAPA affiliation because of the drop in quality and how hard they are to deal with now.

 

From what I've been told my the guys at the shop (and without trying to turn this political), NAPA, like every other business it seems, is still using the crutch of Covid supply/labor/materials excuse for quality and price issues.

I imagine how the parts are handled by parts delivery people in my area (NWFL) may play a part too. Decades ago, my '92 Nissan Sentra needed an alternator. We were all standing outside waiting for it and the parts guy pulled up in the truck with the new alternator rolling around in the bed, having come out of its box. Obviously it was broken. They immediately ordered a replacement and requested a specific driver who was more careful with parts...the fact that she was also a hot blonde was, I'm sure, purely coincidental

 

Drop me an email buddy. I'll fill you in on everything. Happy New Year to you too!