89Trooper

Sometimes if I go longer than a week without driving my car the battery is dead. So, I would like to get an Optima Battery to replace my lousy factory battery. Does anybody know which one fits in our 2005+ cars? I've heard that some will make the stock hood bulge because they are too tall, so I need a battery that fits under a stock hood, not an aftermarket one.

I did the search in Summit, but the ones I found I've been told are actually too tall. Does anybody actually have an Optima Battery in their car with a stock hood?

Thanks for any info!

m05fastbackGT

Let me give you some friendly advice ? don't waste your time and money on a Optima battery, the battery is only part of the problem..The main problem is the K.A.M or keep alive memory which the computer draws current 24/7 The only real solution that has worked for me is an automatic tender charger and I can honestly say that in over a year now, I've had no further battery failures and my car sometimes sits in the garage for more than 30 days without being started especially while it's in storage during winter season...There's more about this in the Dead Battery-New problem thread that goes into more detail

AirGoNomyk

I have an Optima yellow top in my Mustang...fits perfectly and no more battery problems...This is a deep cycle battery and can handle the always on stuff. Got it at Autozone it's pricey but worth every dime imho.

metroplex

The problem with the deep cycle battery is that it was not designed for SLI applications (starting, lighting, ignition). That's why they carry a shorter warranty than the red top. However, the Optima is still a small capacity battery when you get down to the nitty-gritty: cranking amps and A-h capacity.

94tbird

its one of two things. your battery has faulty cells which has been acknowledged by ford or your alternater is defective which has also been acknowledged by ford. Take it to ford.

m05fastbackGT

I highly recommend that all of you check out the Dead Battery-New problem thread you'll find some very interesting posts

odiaz

It must be a car specific issue. I've parked my car for 4-6 weeks at a time and I've never had a problem with the battery. The only time I've had a problem was last spring when the car had been parked for almost 3 months, but that was to be expected.

89Trooper

I had a new Optima battery in the garage for my '89 and I never thought of seeing if it would fit in the '06.

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showpo...postcount=5582

How should that one work, metroplex? 1000 CA, 800 CCA

TillmanSpeed

I love the Optima batteries. It's unneccesary, but if you wan't want it's not going to hurt anything. I think you should let Ford fix the known problem first.

Chris

Cleveland

known problem or not, I've been through 3 batteries, two factory replacements and an upgraded high output battery from my ford store.

I moved over to an Orbital by Exide with much more power reserve and cranking amps. Im done with Ford batteries in this car, I run too many accessories for the stocker anyways.

-Dan

karman

Sad to say, but I have had better batteries from AC Delco than Ford.
Interstate has really good stuff too.
I have never recommended Motorcraft batteries.
Exide isn't on my list of good batteries, but they are priced nicely.

TillmanSpeed

I'm pretty sure Interstate and Optima are the same company. I know we purchase them from Interstate.

FireFighterHill

I have a redtop Optima I purchased from Summit in my Mustang. It works great. As a testimony, I currently have in my stang, a electric water pump, a 1600 watt amp with a 1 farrad capacitor, and a UDP. I have no problem with lights dimming at idle or when my bass hits hard. It also has more reserve and more CCA then the stock battery. I also have left my car sit for over a weeks time on several occassions and never had a problem with start up. I do however have a smart battery tender I have used a few times just to make sure it was topped off. The optima's give you the best of both worlds. If you wanna know the difference between the batterys go to Optimas web site and read.

RadBOSS

All the new Fords I have owned over the years have had a useful original battery service life of 1 to 2 years ... then all of a sudden they turn turtle. Mine is coming up on two years in May. I wonder if it will make it?

I have had best luck with the AC DELCO Freedom batteries, but down here in Texas even they can't take the heat and humidity and mine end up getting changed out or/and prorated on warranty. I used to like the Sears Die Hards, but somewhere along the line the quality went away (lots of leaking) ... thats when I went to AC DELCO.

If your car can't sit for a month, something is wrong. Yes there is a 24/7 draw down, but that should not be doing it.

m05fastbackGT

Are you kidding ? hell Ford doesn't even know what the problem is which is why I still have to keep my Stang plugged into an automatic tender charger if the car sits for more than 7-10 days otherwise the batteries are completely drained meanwhile this has been going on for nearly 2 years and Ford hasn't even tried to look into it yet..

FireFighterHill

do you have a the shaker stereo system? There is a known problem of the amp not turning off when you turn the car off. The simple fix is to turn the radio off manually before you turn the car off. There is also TSB's out on alternators and batteries. I had to have my alternator replaced at 3,000 miles because it took a dump and left me stranded, and that was when I was bone stock. If theres more then one ford dealership near by, then try going to a new one.

m05fastbackGT

Sure do Adam and the shaker was the very first that was tested over a year ago. They took the entire head unit out and checked the wiring harness, along with the amp itself plus each fuse in the engine bay and everything checked fine voltage wise and mind you this was the second dealership I took the Stang which still didn't solve the problem, so finally after taking it to the third dealership they brought in a field service engineer in from Detroit to test and find out if he was able to poinpoint what was causing a drainage problem so I agreed to let the car sit inside their service area for a two week period while he ran his testing about every other day or so until finally after 2 weeks ? they determined it was the K.A.M otherwise known as the computer keep alive memory which draws small current from the battery 24/7 and was told to install an automatic tender charger and plug the battery into whenever the car is not being driven for 7 days or longer and since then ? I haven't experienced any further battery failures but I still don't know what the purpose of this keep alive memory is for ? and how it would draw enough current to completely drain a battery in less than 30 days in which the field service engineer claims these batteries at the maximum will hold out for if fully charged At this point I still have no idea what in the hell Ford's problem is all I know is that none of this makes any logical sense at all...

metroplex

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Optima is a Johnson Controls Industries company. JCI may very well make the Interstates. They make the sealed AC Delco batteries (or was it the unsealed?) I know JCI makes the Sears Die Hard Gold as well as the Motorcraft batteries, but maybe not the Group 96R or 40R Motorcraft batteries. Ford/Motorcraft can change suppliers.

S197 GT

You are correct sir! I work for JCI, which is how I get the super discount on the Optimas.

JCI makes almost every battery period.

Martimus

Does Optima make a red top battery with similar form factor to the stocker? AND the correct orientation of the positive and negative terminals? Last time I checked the only red top Optima batteries that looked like they'd fit would have required some modification to the stock battery cables to allow them to work.