Battery options for an '04?
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,653
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From: North Royalton, OH
St. Jude Donor '06-'07
Battery options for an '04?
My stocker has just about bit the dust. It won't hold a charge for several weeks like I need it to - travel this time of year is killer for me, and the poor car has to sit. I have a Red Top in my '71 that sits for weeks at a time and always fires right up, but when I looked for something similar for the '04 (which is a top post, not side post like earlier models) the battery books show nothing at all. Nada. Who here has replaced your '04 battery and what did you use? Thanks! 
EDIT - I just checked the Interstate Batteries web site and they list the battery for an '04 as "Discontinued". I found a replacement battery from Apex (who?) for $202.99 !!! There has GOT to be another option...
EDIT - I just checked the Interstate Batteries web site and they list the battery for an '04 as "Discontinued". I found a replacement battery from Apex (who?) for $202.99 !!! There has GOT to be another option...
Last edited by BSiegPaint; Jul 6, 2007 at 07:38 PM.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I had a Red Top when my car was a DD. It sat idle on the boat to England for 2 months and died. No great surprise with the draw from the vette.
I now have a Yellow Top which copes much better with irregular use. I also hook it up to a battery tender when its not in use.
I'm happy with it
Heres a poll I ran if you want to see how the various batteries have performed. Nearly 600 votes now.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1469503
I now have a Yellow Top which copes much better with irregular use. I also hook it up to a battery tender when its not in use.
I'm happy with it
Heres a poll I ran if you want to see how the various batteries have performed. Nearly 600 votes now.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1469503
Last edited by DeeGee; Jul 6, 2007 at 04:16 PM.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,653
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From: North Royalton, OH
St. Jude Donor '06-'07
DeeGee, I had considered the Yellow and Red Tops both, but again, my car is an '04. It has the funky top post battery cables and I'm mostly curious if anyone has used these in their '04 - are the posts in the same location as the stocker? I wonder since the Interstate and Optima battery catalogs did not list a "replacement" or even an "alternate" battery for my car, but certainly did for the '03 and prior...
Race Director
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From: "It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-‘18-'19
NCM Sinkhole Donor
I've installed regular Red Tops - model 75/35 and Yellow tops 34/78 in '04 without any problem. Simply bend the end of the battery cable straight so that you can install it on the battery. You won't even need a pliers - the metal is pretty easy to bend.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Saint Louis MO
I prefer the Excide Orbital. NTB or Napa dealers sell them, or check out remybattery.com. They will ship to your door.
I've read too many posts with red and yellow top problems. It seems they don't build them like they used to. I prefer to drive my car not push it. So........... I now use Excide. David
I've read too many posts with red and yellow top problems. It seems they don't build them like they used to. I prefer to drive my car not push it. So........... I now use Excide. David
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,653
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From: North Royalton, OH
St. Jude Donor '06-'07
Well, the problem is that the major battery manufacturers don't list a replacement battery for the 2004... I'm not sure if it's the box size, or the placement of the terminals, but you would THINK that if they had a battery for an application, they would advertize it. The '04's have a different connector to attach to the posts, and I didn't want to drop a couple hundy on a battery to find out it didn't fit in the tray or with the connectors. Blacksedan87 is just who I was looking for - someone who has taken a "regular" battery and installed it into the '04. Thanks Black!
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Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,653
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From: North Royalton, OH
St. Jude Donor '06-'07
Pro
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 710
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From: Fremont (Livin' On The Fault Line!) CA
Well, the problem is that the major battery manufacturers don't list a replacement battery for the 2004... I'm not sure if it's the box size, or the placement of the terminals, but you would THINK that if they had a battery for an application, they would advertize it. The '04's have a different connector to attach to the posts, and I didn't want to drop a couple hundy on a battery to find out it didn't fit in the tray or with the connectors. Blacksedan87 is just who I was looking for - someone who has taken a "regular" battery and installed it into the '04. Thanks Black!
I had to angle the terminals slightly to get them to fit (no issues other than that). The 34/78 is actually a better fit (for the terminals) but a tad heavier
Larry
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From: San Diego CA
I know many people are gun-shy about lead-acid batteries, but I spoke to an AC-Delco representative not too long ago and he explained that all their lead acid battery cases have been redesigned and strengthened, especially at the terminal posts. In fact, they are so confident of their new design (done within the last few years), that they now offer a 50 month free replacement warranty - best in the business. (your part # is 86-6YR)
The Sears Platinum looks promising, but I hear that it adds quite a bit of weight. I guess time will tell if this battery is a long-lasting one. If it can do as well as my OEM AC Delco AGM battery (which now has lasted more than 6 years), it may be worth its price. Still, at $90, the AC Delco Professional series batteries represent a very good deal.
The Sears Platinum looks promising, but I hear that it adds quite a bit of weight. I guess time will tell if this battery is a long-lasting one. If it can do as well as my OEM AC Delco AGM battery (which now has lasted more than 6 years), it may be worth its price. Still, at $90, the AC Delco Professional series batteries represent a very good deal.
Last edited by Dave68; Jul 7, 2007 at 01:14 AM.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2005
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From: Schaumburg IL
I have had an optima Red Top which started in my grand am in 2000, and then I put it in my Blazer in 2003. You can completely drain Optima batteries hundreds of times and get a full charge back out of them. My optima is still strong today, seven years later, and have killed her completely dead about 50 times. Buy the Optima.
Tech Contributor
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From: Horncastle Lincolnshire, England
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
DeeGee, I had considered the Yellow and Red Tops both, but again, my car is an '04. It has the funky top post battery cables and I'm mostly curious if anyone has used these in their '04 - are the posts in the same location as the stocker? I wonder since the Interstate and Optima battery catalogs did not list a "replacement" or even an "alternate" battery for my car, but certainly did for the '03 and prior...
That said, both my Red Tops and Yellow Top have top posts. Looks like Larry W made it fit just fine
Maybe you could drop an E Mail to Optima and ask?
The Exide gets a good press from the poll
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2002
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From: North Royalton, OH
St. Jude Donor '06-'07
Thanks, everyone! Well, I went out to get an Exide today but the three places I stopped did not have the one I needed 
So it was off to Sam's Club where I picked up the 34/78 Red Top and got it home. I did have to rebend the cable ends - the Optima battery posts are about 3/4" farther back than the Delco batteries, and the 78 size is a different shape than the 75 series that LarryW has. Unlike strongman Blacksedan87, I DID have to use pliers to bend them 
and I could not use the stock battery hold-down - the bolt is too short when you snap on the clip piece that "squares" the side of the battery. I used the Optima-supplied curved clamp and snugged it down, but it does not fit securely! Even with the clamp tight as I dared to go, I can still move the battery back and forth with little effort. So it's good for now, but I'm going to get a longer bolt than the stock hold-down bolt and replace the Optima clamp asap.
The nicest thing - even with the battery out of the car for more than 24 hours, the radio did not have to be reset. All of the presets stayed right where they were. And no "locked" message or anything that would cause me grief.
So it was off to Sam's Club where I picked up the 34/78 Red Top and got it home. I did have to rebend the cable ends - the Optima battery posts are about 3/4" farther back than the Delco batteries, and the 78 size is a different shape than the 75 series that LarryW has. Unlike strongman Blacksedan87, I DID have to use pliers to bend them and I could not use the stock battery hold-down - the bolt is too short when you snap on the clip piece that "squares" the side of the battery. I used the Optima-supplied curved clamp and snugged it down, but it does not fit securely! Even with the clamp tight as I dared to go, I can still move the battery back and forth with little effort. So it's good for now, but I'm going to get a longer bolt than the stock hold-down bolt and replace the Optima clamp asap.The nicest thing - even with the battery out of the car for more than 24 hours, the radio did not have to be reset. All of the presets stayed right where they were. And no "locked" message or anything that would cause me grief.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2005
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I'm wondering whether using a Delco replacement battery would make it easier to get the GMPP to cover any damages caused by a problem with the replacement battery. If the replacement is aftermarket, I could see where the GMPP might consider the problem caused by the aftermarket battery to be the responsibility of the battery's manufacturer. If you used a Delco replacement, General Motors has no one to hold resonsible by themselves.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: St. Peters MO
C7 of Year Finalist (stock) 2019
2018 C7 of Year Finalist
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: St. Peters MO
C7 of Year Finalist (stock) 2019
2018 C7 of Year Finalist
>>>The nicest thing - even with the battery out of the car for more than 24 hours, the radio did not have to be reset. All of the presets stayed right where they were. And no "locked" message or anything that would cause me grief.<<<
My presets stayed as well but I had to enter my code to unlock the radio. Apparently you haven't activated the Theftloc on the radio.
My presets stayed as well but I had to enter my code to unlock the radio. Apparently you haven't activated the Theftloc on the radio.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,653
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From: North Royalton, OH
St. Jude Donor '06-'07