It was like going to the doctor to have you blood pressure checked and being exsanguinated. My car started cranking slowly a couple of days ago so off I went to Autozone at lunch today. They rolled the smartload out to the parking lot, looked at the battery's label - 600CCA - entered that value in the load and hit it. For 45 seconds she spewed electrons at the force of 6Volts. Then, mercifully, it was over. "It's dead" he said. No shit. It started raining and I couldn't even roll up my windows. Oh well, they're only halfway down, at least the sunroof's closed. Grab a SlimJim (Gawd!) and Coke.

$60 later I have a new 800CCA Duralast with a 2-year warranty. Had to install it myself in the parking lot. The engine spins so fast now that if it locked up the car would probably flip.

I did see a really nice white-faced guage set that would fit where the ashtray is now. Temp, oil pressure and Volts. I'd rather have Amps but a voltmeter beats an idiot light anyday.

Don't get me wrong. I like Autozone. I haven't paid for my Ford, Dodge or Nissan's pads or rotors in years thanks to their lifetime warranty. Of course, for the Volvo I'll use OEM.

Drive on.
--
Erwin in Memphis, '95 855t