JTS97Z28

I have a 99 hardtop, the car has 38K miles on it now and about 6 months ago the original battery finally went bad. I bought an Optima even after all the negative feedback I have been hearing. The battery is absolute JUNK. My car cannot sit 2 days without it being COMPLETELY dead. I have my receipt and I go back to Autozone and they say they need it all day to charge it to get a good test. Last sunday I took it there they had it for about 5 hours and it came up as good and said low charge. I am sooo sick of having to jump start my car. The guy said there might be some sort of drain on the battery which could be true, but then doesnt make sense why all this crap started when I installed the Optima. Besides, my car is practically stock not sure what could be draining the battery while the car sits.
So with all that said what are my options? do I need to be checking my car out for some sort of problem or is it likely the battery? Never had such problems with the car ever before until I bought this battery.

Thanks,
JT

zonsolo

If its not your DD, leave the battery out for a few days and see if it goes dead on its own.

Fastbird

I ran through a rash of bad optima's on one of my cars, or so I thought. Turned out I had a slow power drain that was KILLING the optima's. THe red tops are NOT meant to be discharged like that, and they won't hold up.

I did have one come back and die on me out of nowhere, took it back to Advance Auto and they put it on their charger for an hour or so and even though it came back as good you could SMELL how acrid it was, and the battery was actually hot to the touch. Talked them into replacing it anyway and haven't had a problem since.

Vetteran

Maybe whats plaguing your optima is what made your old battery go bad... just a thought.

Dave68

His old battery was 7 years old! I think that's nothing to complain about.

My question is this: Did anyone check your charging system (alternator, in particular)? Sometimes, a failing battery will pull down an alternator in short time. Have your charging system checked and if it is good, my suspicion lies with the Optima. The Exide Orbital may very well be the way to go.

OhioDave

This may be BS, but my salesman told me if you leave the key in the ignition on a C5 the computer is constantly scanning and pulls down the charge in the battery.

Don't know if there is any truth to it but I pull the key every time I park it. Never heard of this until I bought a C5.

UstaB-GS549

If you have something draining the battery, that may be the reason the old one died.

JoshVette

My first thought is to check your codes on you DIC and see if anything shows up.........never know how some problems can effect others??

JTS97Z28

I have no codes on the DIC, I never leave my keys in the ignition when it sits they are always in the house. All fuses are fine (meaning there shouldnt be a short anywhere).

I guess the next step would be to get the alternator tested. In order for a place to check my charging system do I need to remove the unit and bring it in or can anything be done while its on the car?

What seems to really kill the battery is if the car sits for a day or so and I start the car to move it outside or whatever (basically run it for only a few minutes). I did this yesterday because I wanted to wash the car. Today she wouldnt start. Only the doors were open for a 5 minutes at most in that period ignition or radio was never turned on.

Any other ideas would be helpful.

Thanks

Sherpaboy

I have had an Optima Red Top for a year now and it is great there were times this winter when it wasnt started for 4 or 5 weeks and fired right up no trikle charger there must be a drain from some where good luck

OhioDave

Have you tried starting the car and turning on the lights while it is running? What happens to the ampmeter when the lights are turned on?

Is it reading anywhere around 13 - 14 amps?

cb5300

It's the battery I've had three of the d*nm POS in three different C5's and if you don't start them everyday then you can kiss them good bye. You couldn't chase me far enough to give me another one. Buy a 1000 CA battery from Advance or Sam's put the money difference into your next mod and enjoy.

Der Flieger

You MUST have a slow drain on your battery. I found that my glove box light wasn't going out with the door closed, thereby causing a constant drain on the battery. New switch, and no more problems.

JTS97Z28

I will try this when I get home but I know during normal cruise the DIC always reads a constant high 13 and a low 14 after cold startup. My car has HID headlights with a harness so I know HID's take a huge load during initial startup then once on take less juice than standard halogen system. I will test all this when I get home.

Thanks again.

Dave68

No, you do not need to remove anything. Many auto parts stores will check your charging system for free.

DeeGee

No battery's perfect but I'd suspect a drain too.

One that caught me once was the little **** on the left side of the steering wheel that controls interior lights. If thats turned on the lights can be left on for periods. Not sure if the 15 min shutdown timer works on that.

I noticed I'd done it on one occasion.

vettewine

I've had an Optima in my '65 C2 for several years with no problems. I also had one in my '66 Chevelle SS396 for several years before selling the vehicle, also with no problems. I'm thinking of putting one in my C5 CE (Commemorative Edition) when the original quits but I guess I'll have to check into this further...

Allzwell

I agree ... I have a red top and do not drive mine more than once per month .... no problems here

You might have had a bad one, but then they're guaranteed.

Mike Mercury

there's now a choice for spiral wound technology:



made by Exide.

Fastbird

Is that sealed and guaranteed to be leak free like the optima?