I purchased a 2000 vert. last August. I was wondering if the Delco battery that is in it is the original or if it has been replaced. The battery has 78-H6YR on it. Anybody know what year I might have. Thanks

 

The battery has no year and date tag? with little holes punched out?

Also, call the dealer, see if it was ever replaced under warranty, if not, I would still get it out. They are a very common leak problem in older Delco batteries.

 

My advice is to check and see if the battery is a replacement. You can easily do this by having a dealer access the service records.(Only if the battery was replaced under warranty, however.) Or ask the previous owner. I have a 2000 vert and the Delco battery went dead, and during replacement, I discovered that the positive post had come detached from the battery and acid had leaked down the side of the battery and into the battery tray. Luckily I caught it before it did damage to the computer which is located directly beneath the battery.(great engineering or what!) There have been some real horror stories on this forum and others where Vette owners have had major damage from the leaking of Delco batteries. One owner I know had acid leak into the vacuum line that goes to the AIR pump and kept throwing codes. A service tech finally found the problem after MANY hours of testing and searching. So, forewarned is forarmed!

Bronk

 

I had a leaker in my 98 Camaro. The Vert battery just died (after 8k miles). In any event, with the computers and wiring beneath the battery bay I'd say changing out a 6 year old AC Delco is a good insurance policy. Too many horror stories on the Froum.

 

AC Delco batteries used to have a date code stamped into them but you need to know the code in order to indentify the month and year it was made.

I don't think that a Group 78 battery is the correct OEM battery. They are a good 1.5" or so wider than the Group 75 battery. The Group 75 battery in my 02 leaves only a half-inch of space in the battery tray.

AC Delco doesn't use the decal with the month/date if install anymore. The 6YR identifies it as a 60-month warranty. Does it say "Professional" after AC Delco?? That marks it as a replacement battery and those are usually sold by auto repair shops or AC Delco distributors.

AC Delco changed their battery warranty procedues so that all of their batteries are fully warranted for the first 24 months, then pro-rated for the remainder.

AC Delco had lots of leakage issues with batteries made in 99 through 03. Many of these batteries were made in Mexico and later in Korea. The lead in these batteries was from recucled lead and the life span of them is just not good. The original AC Delco battery from my old 92 vert is still working fine in a friends car.

The other thing that contributes to leakage at the terminals is from too much torque on the cable bolts. The bolts are steel and the terminal rings are soft aluminum. You can easily pull the rings out of the battery with too much torque on the bolts. Use 11 ft-lbs on both cable bolts.

 

In August 2003, the AC Delco stock battery leaked but to my luck it only corroded the positive wire.
When I notice it, I drove the car to the local dealer but to my misfortune it was out of warranty and cleaning under the battery replacing it for a new one, and replacing the positive cable was closed to $450 repair.
Now, I have an Optima battery that for the first year was good. Now the battery needs to be jumped every other day and the Pepboys manager says that as long as it shows that is good he will not replace it and only recharge it.