Freakin' Optima Red Top! [vent]

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Sep 20, 2008 | 07:04 PM

#41

vetteguy0483

Instructor

Joined: Feb 2008

Posts: 114

Likes: 0

From: Bakersfield CA

What are you guys doing to your optima’s????? Ive had one in my corvette now for 3 months and one in my truck for 2 years. neither of them have ever been on a battery tender. I could leave either car sitting for two weeks and never had a problem. Have i just got lucky so far??

Sep 20, 2008 | 09:12 PM

#42

MyVetteDream

Race Director

Joined: Feb 2004

Posts: 11,651

Likes: 9

From: HOW FAST WAS I GOING OFFICER? Los Angeles Hating GM Dealership Service Dept.'s Since Sept. 2004

St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07

Yellow Top --- 4 years running.

I'm glad you're car is running okay now... but I have to say, it's not the battery. Go get the CLB done --- you won't have to worry about that again.

I don't even see how you're blaming your battery for things not working while your car's running??? Your battery only starts your car... it's the alternator's job to keep the electronics running.... sooooo... I don't see it.

I'm not a Optima rep or anything... but evertime I see a battery bashing thread --- they're always the same --- instead of finding the real problem, blame the battery.

Nothing personal... and again, I;m glad your up and running again. But if it turns out to be somthing else... will you please come back and tell us?

Sep 20, 2008 | 09:49 PM

#43

Jet-Jock

Race Director

Joined: Aug 2003

Posts: 13,421

Likes: 8

From: Lake Mary Florida

What you realized in the last couple paragraphs is what Chevy has stated as one of the two causes of Service Column Lock. Low voltage on the PCM bus and/or quick starts.

I'm not sure what you paid for the standard battery, but for $80. the AC/Delco Pro series is the recommended replacement for the original. They no longer make the AGM version.

What you've learned and I'm sure will share from this point on, when the column lock issues shows its ugly head, first thing to do is check and/or replace the battery. Then clear codes, pull fuse, and all the other stuff.

Sep 21, 2008 | 12:24 AM

#44

C5naples

Safety Car

Joined: May 2004

Posts: 4,487

Likes: 5

From: Naples Florida

A new Optima Red Top battery, which showed good voltage and was often kept on a battery tender, was the culprit behind random hard starts, headlight/headlight motor malfunctions, and a column lock problem. It eventually died while the car was sitting to be fixed (column lock/2mph fuel shutoff problem), and a new non-Optima battery fixed all of the problems.[/QUOTE]

Same thing hapened to me with a new Delco. I traded it for an Optima and have had no problems

Sep 23, 2008 | 01:33 AM

#45

VorteXGT

Thread Starter

New Money Member

Joined: Dec 2006

Posts: 1,572

Likes: 0

From: North and South

St. Jude Donor '13

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyVetteDream

Yellow Top --- 4 years running.

I'm glad you're car is running okay now... but I have to say, it's not the battery. Go get the CLB done --- you won't have to worry about that again.

I'll be doing the CLB anyways. It just came in today actually. But the battery was at fault for triggering the Column Lock problem. The car is still running perfectly (no column lock, no headlight issues) with the new battery.

Perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on the Optima. Any battery can go bad and, as I've learned, cause strange problems. But I guess I figured that such an expensive battery with a recent manufacturing date wouldn't have these problems. Then again, I didn't think ANY battery could cause THESE problems.

Sep 23, 2008 | 07:26 AM

#46

jacks996

Jacks996

Joined: Sep 2005

Posts: 8,667

Likes: 12

From: eagle mountain lake tx

Cruise-In VIII Veteran

Any brand can have a bad one. I used to sell batteries and some would be bad right from the manufacturer. I have had a red top for over 2 years. Start my car maybe once a month and have never had it not start. I think you just got a bad one.