ironranger

I currently have an AcDelco battery in my 2001 Convertible. It has been trouble free since I installed it on 4/13, so it will soon be 5 years old. I've had a practice with all of my cars to replace the battery at 4 years rather than try to max them out, mainly to avoid any battery related issues.
With the Vette I extended it to 5 years being I only put on around 3,000 miles/year and when not being used during the summer it is on the CTEK.
During the winter I remove the battery and store in in the mechanical room in the house. I've never had any acid leaking issues with Delco's!

This spring I was thinking of switching to an AGM battery, specifically Optima. I stopped by the NAPA store this morning just to check if they had them in stock and the price. They looked it up in their catalog and said Optima doesn't carry a battery for the 2001 Corvette. Their book however did carry one for the years 1997-2000. What gives!

I wrote down the battery measurements and it is a little larger than my Delco. I'm thinking maybe I'll save the $100 and just get another AcDelco since it has worked for me and I believe all of the acid leaking problems are a thing of the past and very rare with the new batteries.

I would be interested in if others ran into this issue and other AGM options. In our local car club and most shows I go to I would guess that the OEM AcDelco battery still appears to be the battery of choice for most C5 owners.

Looking forward to your comments and opinions. Thanks!

1999corvettels1

ALLEGRO

Mine is not a daily driver.

That said, most of the time my battery is on a maintainer in the garage. My OE AGM battery lasted just a month or so short of 10 years. I replaced it with a Walmart battery, removing all the stickers just to clean up the engine bay. I do quite a few shows.

Now I am in over 5 years on the Walmart unit without a single issue. I do keep an eye on things for leaks etc, but I believe that the charger is key to long life of any battery.

Vetteman Jack

I have had mixed results with an Optima battery (Red Top in my case). The first one lasted better than 7 years and was still working fine when I sold the car. The second one lasted just past the 3 year mark and went bad.

I have a Sears Diehard Platinum in my car now and it has been there for better than 7 years with zero problems. The issue that arises is that Sears no longer offers that battery. I have heard that the following battery is a replacement for the Diehard: Odyssey Extreme, 34/78 PC-1500DT.

If you have been pleased with the AC Delco battery though, going with another may be a good choice.

ironranger

I have heard of the Odyssey, but don't know anyone who has used it plus they are very expensive. At his point I'm beginning to think you may be right and just stick with the AC Delco, which I have never had a problem with. I just was thinking that maybe I would use this opportunity to alleviate a potential issue and switch to an AGM battery. I have used an absorbent mat under the current battery as a precaution.

We are members at Costco and next time I'm there, I plan to stop by and see what type of batteries they carry for my car.

1999corvettels1

I looked up Costco battery search for 2001, different battery and lower cranking amps and reserve capacity.

2001 must use a smaller battery?

Velocity_Vette

Most modern *quality* batteries will have no concern of leaking. That's effectively gone the way of the dinosaur.

I have the same battery as Vetteman Jack; the Sears DieHard Platinum. It's no joke one of the absolute best batteries for the C5 and mine is going on near eight years now with no obvious signs of decreased output. It starts up every three to four days that I get around to driving the car, rain, shine, winter, summer, snow. I've read the same thing that it is no longer produced as-is, which is a shame, and have also read the Odyssey Extreme is it's replacement. If the Odyssey is anything like the DieHard it would be the way to go.

Optima is over hyped, over priced, and no where near the quality they used to be.

In Re: to the battery part # issues people are coming across, the PCM duty cycle (part of the alternator) for the C5 changed slightly with the 2001 year model, which could point to the discrepancies in regards to recommended battery. That could be the only roughly-educated guess as to any discrepancies, but honestly how it would affect a battery is rather nil considering you would want something with higher cranking amp and reserve. The only physical differences would be in 2004 model cars when the battery went to a top mount cable setup.

That's a bit of a waste IMHO. If the battery is still supplying proper starting voltage and can hold a charge I don't understand why you would replace it? It's like changing your oil every 3,000 miles when you can go much much further.

laurent_zo6

I bought my Optima battery at BatteryPlus. Looks like they don't carry the red Optima for my 2002z but still do for the 2001:

https://www.batteriesplus.com/batter...ca/opt8022=091

bigcypress

replaced the red top in the 2000 last spring , after 13 years , with another red top .

Gordy M

If you want to test your battery strength, there are inexpensive testing devises out there that will give you the CCA and RC numbers for your car. That and a VOM will let you know if your battery needs to be replaced. If you live in a warm climate, the Reserve Capacity is not that important. I would recommend that you look for 850+ CCA and 120+ RC in a battery

ironranger

My OEM AC Delco has 700 CCA and 95 RCA and never had a problem. I haven't seen a battery with 850 CCA and 120 RCA. Cold climate, but the car is only driven during the summer months (usually May - Sep).

1999corvettels1

ironranger

Thanks for the information. I will definitely check it out next time I go to Costco!

1999corvettels1

If the battery I bought will physically fit in 2001 Corvette (I'm curious why the 2001 listed a weaker battery, is it a space issue?) just buy the battery I got and say your car is that year.

I believe it has a 3 year warranty, that's it, no pro rating after 3 years.

Also I pulled the battery off the shelf myself while Costco tire/battery guy was helping ring someone up, I got the newest one, dug a couple of batteries back, made in September, same month I bought.

The others were June and July, maybe I'm OCD but I wanted the freshest battery!

Can anyone verify if 2001 has smaller battery compartment?

o2bnkc

CCA is not as important as it used to be back in the old days. With electronic ignition and fuel injection (most cars) it doesn't take the power that it used to take to start a modern car . The reserve capacity is a more important number now than the cold cranking amp capacity, because of all the electronic drain on these cars.