w/ you 110%. The sad thing is people still continue buying these pieces of sh*t knowing full well the batteries are prone to premature cell failure. I wouldn't have one if ya' gave it to me for free.

Suggestions: After my 3rd Red Top failed, I bought a Sears DieHard Gold. So far, 1 year later, no problems whatsoever.

 

My OEM Delco is 3 years old and still going strong.

 

NO problem with my Optima, going on the 3rd year

 

The AC Delco that came with the Vette was great for many years til the over torqued terminal started leaking. We have a 99 Vette and the machine that torques the battery terminals in the factory was over torquing one of the terminals. Our's was so over torqued on the one terminal that I had to destroy the terminal cable to get it off. I literally twisted the terminal right off the battery. Anyway, after that I purchased new parts and a new battery. I cannot remember what the brand of battery was. It was a gel cell battery that wasn't supposed to leak. Well it went bad in less than one year. It got so hot in the Vette one day that it almost set the car on fire. I had white smoke pooring out of the battery. I took it back to the place I purchased it and they did a two day evaluation and test on the bad battery. They were shocked at how hot it had gotten. It almost melted. It was extremely warped. During those two days I took the Vette to the dealership and asked them to completely go through the car's charging system. The Chevy dealer here has a Corvette guy and he is really good. He checked out the car and he said everything was working fine and as designed and in specs. I purchased an Optima battery from the same store and everything has been fine since. I guess I can sum up all of this by saying batteries are WEIRD SCIENCE. Actually the shop fully warrantied the first battery and they gave me a new Optima.

 

It sounds to me like you have a draw on your battery. You didn't mention exactly how long it takes for the battery to run down. Did you drive the car during this period and for how long?

Checking the voltage takes time. A more efficient way to make sure of any draw on the battery is to do a milliamp draw test.
This involves putting a digital volt amp meter with a 10 amp capacity in series with either the positive or negative battery cable.

The meter will give you a reading in milliamps (thousands of an amp).
Even the alternator will draw 10 milliamps or so. Add all the computers and such and you could have 30 to 60 milliamp draw depending on other equipment that you may have added. If you have a GPS nav or tracking system check that.

If you find a draw start pulling fuses while you watch the meter. When you find the offending circuit the meter reading will drop.

To go through that many "bad" batteries is not likely.

 

Got a red top from Pep boys. Looked like it boiled over after 3 weeks, the top actually split. They gave me another one, wanted $50.00 to switch,after going to the manager,they did the switch for free. Not even a month later, the same thing. Went to Sears, Die Hard Gold going strong for 2 years now.

 

Sounds like optima has really went downhill. Too many folks with issues for it to just be a bad batch or whatnot. The trend has been going downhill for sometime.

That said, I've got a 9 year old redtop in my grand prix, and a 1 year old in the vette.

At work we have probably 20 that are 5+ years old in our service van's and many more on the floor we replaced just because they are more than 5 years old and people don't want to go longer than that on their emergency power system.

 

 

My Delco went 2 yrs then died dead in the parking lot. Replaced it with Delco went 2+ years then leaked acid all over the frame. Pulled battery out, neutralized all the cleanup,, painted frame, (computer was ok caught it early). Bought Optima Red top to prevent leaks. So far it still starts right up:o . But If I print this thread and put it on the front seat the red top might read it.

My biggest concern was leaking again. Red top was only for the leakage issue. IF there are other brands that don't leak I would say go for it . But when 50% of the delco's leak,, I have a hard time buying another on "trust me it won't leak" . Jim

 

bought a red top about 6 months ago, both for their promise not to leak and their ability to hold a charge....so far so good......

 

I replaced my OEM AC Delco battery in my 2002Z in April with an Optima red top. I have a Battery Tender on it. Started and ran well today. No problems. I replaced the battery in my Z28 with an Optima red top in May. Two weeks later of no driving and no Battery Tender it was 2.7 volts strong! Replaced free at Autozone. Offsetting penalties, replay the down.

Randy

 

I replaced my stock battery with an Optima yellow top- so far, so good.