Next month I finally get the chance to take my C5 across the county. NJ to CO, down to NM and back. My thinking lately has been what can/will go wrong? Just the way my life works things go wrong, my bed has no right side. Example, traveling from NJ to FL last year, C4 tire goes flat in VA in the middle night and suprise,surprise, surprise the spare is flat too. I am thinking the likely thing to happen to me is the battery goes dead and strands me on the Kansas prairie. I have the Delco battery and I don't know if it is the original or not. I recently learned the car was born on Oct. 12, 1999. The battery life should be 6 years right? So it might night be too smart to expect the original to hold up much longer? Do any of the numbers on the battery reveal the date it was produced so I can get an idea if this the original or not? Oh yeah, how long does an alternator usually last?

 

hey guy ive got a 02 vert last month told the wife i was going to get a new battery .mainly because all ive seen on the forum and im going to colorada in 2 months .3 days later ,out of town got in car and click then nothing .if your even thinking about it CHANGE it now .....just my opinion .

 

My battery lasted 8k miles.

My Optima Red Top is already at 25k.

I would say you're already on borrowed time. The old batteries have a habit of leaking all over the computer and wiring

Change it now

 

 

The one and only answer to any AC Delco battery question is...

...remove it

Peace
Willfulone

 

My OEM battery (an AC Delco AGM) is just about 5 years old and starting like a champ. Battery life cares nothing about mileage; it's the number of starts and how often the battery is fully charged (by driving a sufficient distance or using a Battery Tender). I've used many AC Delco batteries in my 68. Most lasted at least 5 years, so don't let the naysayers scare you into spending money you don't have to. Find out when your battery was made and if it's less than 4 years old, don't worry about it. Your alternator should be fine.

 

If it is an original battery, you might want to consider changing it. I would simply to help prevent any potential leakage that the batteries are known for. As long as your alternator is charging properly, you should be OK.

 

I've got a Red Top and am satisfied. No leaky.

 

I have a 99 vert with original battery. I've been waiting 7 weeks now for a red top to come in. I'm waiting to get it on base so there will be no tax.

 

Is it a particular Delco battery model that has problems? If so, what part number? Or how do I recognize it?

 

If it's a side-post battery, make sure it says "AGM" on it. Here's what my battery looks like:

 

My original Delco battery has lasted over six years without any problems.

 

Vettelag00,

regarding the age of your battery. there should be a date code stamped in the top, perhaps near the terminals.

I believe the ACDelco date code format is yymxx, where 'yy' might be 99 (if yours is the original battery) and where 'm' is a letter, starting with a=January, b=february, etc (skipping the letter ' i ').

Another way of dating the battery is ACDelco changed the model designation from months to years (60 -> 5yr) somewhere around 2001-2002 (around the leakage problem time with the '60' model batteries).

However, if the battery is more than 3 years old, I'd suggest just replacing it (why worry about $100 with a $50,000 car) and with an ACDelco, as they are true 'maintenance free' (calcium chemistry) and, less likely to leak than something from BJ's or Autozone, and matched to the charging system, not to mention why worry about it leaking onto the computers mounted below it in the wheel well.

 

Sorry Dave but I think you'd change your maind if you'd had a "leaker".

Luckily mine was in the Camaro and I caught it early. hate to think what would have been the consequence in the Vette.

 

Back in 2003, I went on the 50th Anniversary Caravan in my 92 vert. I decided to install a new battery just because the trip was going to be 6200 miles. So the original AC Delco battery was removed and a nrew one (75H-6YR) was installed.

There was nothing wrong with the OEM battery, in fact we ran 3 separate load tests on it and the battery never got below 70% of capacity. It' still going strong in a friends car. So here's a 14 year-old AC Delco battery still working fine

Having said that, the AC Delco AGM battery in my recently purchased -02 went south last week and it was even a replacement battery under the original new car warranty. It horribly failed a load test although it would take a surface charge but only start the car once or twice. So I bought a new 75H-7YR AC Delco to replace it as none of our shop's suppliers had any AGM batteries in stock. I did add a absorbent mat that sits in the tray and under the battery.

For a number of years, AC Delco batteries were made off-shore (Mexico then Korea) using reclaimed lead. These were the batteries that leaked and cause many problems in assorted GM vehicles. This new battery I just purchased is marked Made In USA and is supposed to have all-new materials.

I did a search on the forum and was suprised to see that a number of folks who bought the Optima Red Top had some pretty poor results. A few of them failed within a year and some lasted more than that and a few even less than a year.

 

I replaced my original battery in my 01 after 4 years with a interstate battery. Never had a problem with the interstate batteries and a friend at a corvette shop here in jersey told me to stay away from the optima alot of trouble. I believe interstate makes the optima. Also when I started my car with the old battery no matter where the dic was left when I turned off the car it would go to odometer at start up. I was told this was the first sign of the start of battery failure.