Battery Dead, Thinking Optima time, thoughts?
Cobra Member
Joined: January 4, 2005
Posts: 1,010
Likes: 1
From: 'neath a cactus
They do, don't they? 
Back when I had my old 05 my OEM battery died after barely a year of service. Rather than waste part of my day getting the car towed and negotiating with the dealer to get it replaced, I cheaped out and purchased a $100 Duralast battery from AutoZone. That DuraLast battery lasted one year and died by puking battery acid all over the battery tray and the nearby inside body panels. Yea I'll buy another one of them... NOT!
I replaced that battery with an Optima Red Top that cost me $20 more. When I sold the 05 and got the Bullitt my first official mod to that car was to move the Optima from the 05 into the 08... right in the dealers front lot!
Back when I had my old 05 my OEM battery died after barely a year of service. Rather than waste part of my day getting the car towed and negotiating with the dealer to get it replaced, I cheaped out and purchased a $100 Duralast battery from AutoZone. That DuraLast battery lasted one year and died by puking battery acid all over the battery tray and the nearby inside body panels. Yea I'll buy another one of them... NOT!
I replaced that battery with an Optima Red Top that cost me $20 more. When I sold the 05 and got the Bullitt my first official mod to that car was to move the Optima from the 05 into the 08... right in the dealers front lot!
Member
Joined: July 12, 2007
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Shelby GT500 Member
Joined: November 22, 2006
Posts: 2,932
Likes: 0
From: Planet Earth
I have an Optima battery I got a good deal at Sam’s Club. Depending on how often you drive your car will determine allot on the performance of your battery. Mine usually start fine but sometimes after long periods like 3 - 4 week my battery seems low on cranking power. I think I may have a power drain. I recommend a battery tender to keep it juiced up and ready at any time. My stack battery was a real dog compared to the Optima. I had to mod my tray to make it fit in the stock tray using the billet holder.
Jed
Jed
Legacy TMS Member
Joined: October 2, 2006
Posts: 4,777
Likes: 16
From: Southeast Michigan
Never had a problem with Sears Die Hard Gold or Meijer's Autotrend Pro Cell. I tend to stay away from AutoZone's Duralast line of products. I will try Interstate and Everstart in the future though.
The Optima trays cost almost as much as the Optima battery itself. Having seen how the "best" AGM batteries fared under tortuous conditions against flooded lead acid batteries (like the OEM batteries), I would go with a flooded lead acid battery (like an OEM or Sears DieHard Gold).
The only Die Hard Gold batteries that failed on me were the ones that were used for over 8 years. I had one on my 81 T-bird that would often take 2 minutes worth of cranking to start up. I even had to do this in the winter for several years. The DH Gold never failed.
My Optima Red Top stopped taking a charge properly after only 1 MI season. In the winter, the voltage level was only 11.25-11.5 VDC (well below 12.8 VDC which is 100% at 70F). Most alternator regulators were NOT designed to accomodate the sensitive AGM batteries like the Optimas. The Optimas need special charging curves to properly charge. They also charge faster but tend to not filter transients as well as a standard FLAB.
I still keep my Optima indoors as an auxiliary power supply in the event a t-storm takes out my power. I can power my laptop and cable modem using an inverter + Optima.
The Optima trays cost almost as much as the Optima battery itself. Having seen how the "best" AGM batteries fared under tortuous conditions against flooded lead acid batteries (like the OEM batteries), I would go with a flooded lead acid battery (like an OEM or Sears DieHard Gold).
The only Die Hard Gold batteries that failed on me were the ones that were used for over 8 years. I had one on my 81 T-bird that would often take 2 minutes worth of cranking to start up. I even had to do this in the winter for several years. The DH Gold never failed.
My Optima Red Top stopped taking a charge properly after only 1 MI season. In the winter, the voltage level was only 11.25-11.5 VDC (well below 12.8 VDC which is 100% at 70F). Most alternator regulators were NOT designed to accomodate the sensitive AGM batteries like the Optimas. The Optimas need special charging curves to properly charge. They also charge faster but tend to not filter transients as well as a standard FLAB.
I still keep my Optima indoors as an auxiliary power supply in the event a t-storm takes out my power. I can power my laptop and cable modem using an inverter + Optima.
Bullitt Member
Joined: August 23, 2007
Posts: 211
Likes: 0
All of you crack me up. The thing is, in all the years I have worked on cars what I learned about batteries is they aren't perfect.
I have had issues with every name brand battery under the sun, current batteries designs are imperfect and are prone to many issues, I cant tell you how many times I have seen a battery crap out a few months after a being installed. Sometimes a bad experience with a battery can turn people off the brand, like the guy above saying is stocker crapped out after a year. I have a 05 with nearly 50k miles with a nearly 4 year old stocker that still tests perfectly, sometimes you just get a bad battery, most of the time you will be ok. Truth is most batteries aren't designed to last much longer then 3 years, sometimes you get a bad one that last less, most people get lucky and it lasts longer though after 3 years I suggest having it tested at regular intervals, I check mine same time as my oil changes now. The kirkland(i believe at the time I bought it they were re branded interstates) battery I got from costco for my 91 explorer is on year 7 and still works great think I paid all of 60 bucks for a high capacity one.
i could go on for a few more paragraphs but I think you get the point. So my advice is as follows.
- you can't go wrong with just about any major name brand battery so if you dont mind spending the extra bucks go that route for piece of mind, not to say that off brands aren't good but typically have a higher failure rate, I have used autozones forgot the name brand, the gold one without issues, and like mentioned above the kirkland I bought for my explorer has lasted a long time
- Check the date on the battery, most batteries have a sticker that has the date on it, newer = better, sometimes the date is not a production date but just the last time it was tested and charged but like I said, more recent date = better
- Make sure for the love of all thats holy you get the recommended specs at a minimum . I can't tell you how many times I've seen people get a battery with a CCA less then their vehicle called for just to save a few bucks and wonder why the battery crapped out after a year. If you have, or plan to install alot of power hungry things like amps etc a battery with a higher capacity then recommended won't hurt and will last longer.
- properly care for your battery, if you ever kill it, by leaving the lights on or what have you, don't just jump it and hope the alternator charges it enough to not worry about it, if you can, trickle charge it overnight, if you don't have a battery charger the quick charge they do for free at places like autozone is better then nothing, avoid using power hungry things when the engine is not running.
I could go on, but I feel most of you stopped reading my rambling
I have had issues with every name brand battery under the sun, current batteries designs are imperfect and are prone to many issues, I cant tell you how many times I have seen a battery crap out a few months after a being installed. Sometimes a bad experience with a battery can turn people off the brand, like the guy above saying is stocker crapped out after a year. I have a 05 with nearly 50k miles with a nearly 4 year old stocker that still tests perfectly, sometimes you just get a bad battery, most of the time you will be ok. Truth is most batteries aren't designed to last much longer then 3 years, sometimes you get a bad one that last less, most people get lucky and it lasts longer though after 3 years I suggest having it tested at regular intervals, I check mine same time as my oil changes now. The kirkland(i believe at the time I bought it they were re branded interstates) battery I got from costco for my 91 explorer is on year 7 and still works great think I paid all of 60 bucks for a high capacity one.
i could go on for a few more paragraphs but I think you get the point. So my advice is as follows.
- you can't go wrong with just about any major name brand battery so if you dont mind spending the extra bucks go that route for piece of mind, not to say that off brands aren't good but typically have a higher failure rate, I have used autozones forgot the name brand, the gold one without issues, and like mentioned above the kirkland I bought for my explorer has lasted a long time
- Check the date on the battery, most batteries have a sticker that has the date on it, newer = better, sometimes the date is not a production date but just the last time it was tested and charged but like I said, more recent date = better
- Make sure for the love of all thats holy you get the recommended specs at a minimum . I can't tell you how many times I've seen people get a battery with a CCA less then their vehicle called for just to save a few bucks and wonder why the battery crapped out after a year
. If you have, or plan to install alot of power hungry things like amps etc a battery with a higher capacity then recommended won't hurt and will last longer.- properly care for your battery, if you ever kill it, by leaving the lights on or what have you, don't just jump it and hope the alternator charges it enough to not worry about it, if you can, trickle charge it overnight, if you don't have a battery charger the quick charge they do for free at places like autozone is better then nothing, avoid using power hungry things when the engine is not running.
I could go on, but I feel most of you stopped reading my rambling
Legacy TMS Member
Joined: January 9, 2005
Posts: 6,982
Likes: 6
From: New Carlisle, Ohio (20 miles north of Dayton)
All of you crack me up. The thing is, in all the years I have worked on cars what I learned about batteries is they aren't perfect.
I have had issues with every name brand battery under the sun, current batteries designs are imperfect and are prone to many issues, I cant tell you how many times I have seen a battery crap out a few months after a being installed. Sometimes a bad experience with a battery can turn people off the brand, like the guy above saying is stocker crapped out after a year. I have a 05 with nearly 50k miles with a nearly 4 year old stocker that still tests perfectly, sometimes you just get a bad battery, most of the time you will be ok. Truth is most batteries aren't designed to last much longer then 3 years, sometimes you get a bad one that last less, most people get lucky and it lasts longer though after 3 years I suggest having it tested at regular intervals, I check mine same time as my oil changes now. The kirkland(i believe at the time I bought it they were re branded interstates) battery I got from costco for my 91 explorer is on year 7 and still works great think I paid all of 60 bucks for a high capacity one.
i could go on for a few more paragraphs but I think you get the point. So my advice is as follows.
- you can't go wrong with just about any major name brand battery so if you dont mind spending the extra bucks go that route for piece of mind, not to say that off brands aren't good but typically have a higher failure rate, I have used autozones forgot the name brand, the gold one without issues, and like mentioned above the kirkland I bought for my explorer has lasted a long time
- Check the date on the battery, most batteries have a sticker that has the date on it, newer = better, sometimes the date is not a production date but just the last time it was tested and charged but like I said, more recent date = better
- Make sure for the love of all thats holy you get the recommended specs at a minimum . I can't tell you how many times I've seen people get a battery with a CCA less then their vehicle called for just to save a few bucks and wonder why the battery crapped out after a year. If you have, or plan to install alot of power hungry things like amps etc a battery with a higher capacity then recommended won't hurt and will last longer.
- properly care for your battery, if you ever kill it, by leaving the lights on or what have you, don't just jump it and hope the alternator charges it enough to not worry about it, if you can, trickle charge it overnight, if you don't have a battery charger the quick charge they do for free at places like autozone is better then nothing, avoid using power hungry things when the engine is not running.
I could go on, but I feel most of you stopped reading my rambling
I have had issues with every name brand battery under the sun, current batteries designs are imperfect and are prone to many issues, I cant tell you how many times I have seen a battery crap out a few months after a being installed. Sometimes a bad experience with a battery can turn people off the brand, like the guy above saying is stocker crapped out after a year. I have a 05 with nearly 50k miles with a nearly 4 year old stocker that still tests perfectly, sometimes you just get a bad battery, most of the time you will be ok. Truth is most batteries aren't designed to last much longer then 3 years, sometimes you get a bad one that last less, most people get lucky and it lasts longer though after 3 years I suggest having it tested at regular intervals, I check mine same time as my oil changes now. The kirkland(i believe at the time I bought it they were re branded interstates) battery I got from costco for my 91 explorer is on year 7 and still works great think I paid all of 60 bucks for a high capacity one.
i could go on for a few more paragraphs but I think you get the point. So my advice is as follows.
- you can't go wrong with just about any major name brand battery so if you dont mind spending the extra bucks go that route for piece of mind, not to say that off brands aren't good but typically have a higher failure rate, I have used autozones forgot the name brand, the gold one without issues, and like mentioned above the kirkland I bought for my explorer has lasted a long time
- Check the date on the battery, most batteries have a sticker that has the date on it, newer = better, sometimes the date is not a production date but just the last time it was tested and charged but like I said, more recent date = better
- Make sure for the love of all thats holy you get the recommended specs at a minimum . I can't tell you how many times I've seen people get a battery with a CCA less then their vehicle called for just to save a few bucks and wonder why the battery crapped out after a year
. If you have, or plan to install alot of power hungry things like amps etc a battery with a higher capacity then recommended won't hurt and will last longer.- properly care for your battery, if you ever kill it, by leaving the lights on or what have you, don't just jump it and hope the alternator charges it enough to not worry about it, if you can, trickle charge it overnight, if you don't have a battery charger the quick charge they do for free at places like autozone is better then nothing, avoid using power hungry things when the engine is not running.
I could go on, but I feel most of you stopped reading my rambling
All very good points. I have always had very good luck thru the years with Sears Diehards. In fact the one in my 93 F150 is pushing 7 years old and the one in the 98 Explorer is about 5 yrs old and going strong. Both could take a crap tommorow.
I really believe you just need to buy a good name brand battery of higher quaility and you will be good to go!!!
Legacy TMS Member
Joined: January 9, 2005
Posts: 6,982
Likes: 6
From: New Carlisle, Ohio (20 miles north of Dayton)
SUPERCHARGED RED ROCKET ------------------Master-Moderator
Joined: May 11, 2006
Posts: 10,644
Likes: 2,509
From: Carnegie, PA
So far Scott, I've had pretty good luck with my current Motorcraft battery. However when my Stang isn't in use, I keep the battery connected to my battery minder plus tender charger, just to be safe. 
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