I'm seriously thinking about replacing my current Interstate battery in my 02 vert that I purchased a few months ago with an Optima red or yellow.

I did a search on "Optima Yellow" and came up with an amazing thread with lots of information. But am a little confused as to what type of Optima I should purchase.

Forum Senior member Bill Curlee submitted a really informative reply concerning batteries in general and talked about his experiences with "Optima Reds". In particular he warned of the OEM Delco's with the side posts which, when older, can leak acid down onto critical wiring and the PCM. I thought that the side post design was used in our C5's for design/fit reasons. I didn't realize that you could just take the side post type battery out and replace it with a top mounted terminals design.

Does Optima make a battery that will fit into a C5 without jury rigging it? Also, in converting from side post to top mounted, wouldn't you need a different type of cable clamp?

I would also like to consider installing the "Yellow top" which is more powerful than the Red from what I understand. My car sits outside. I have no garage. This makes it practically impossible to use a battery tender or any other type of charger for that matter, unless I disconnect the battery from the car and bring it into my townhouse.

As I only drive on weekends, I'm finding it necessary to jump to get started now that the weather has gotten colder.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

DH

 

I'm glad to see you researched the subject. I am sure you will get plenty of replies. I can only tell you this...I have the Optima red top and I don't know what the hell is wrong with that battery but I am having some major problems with it, and no it's NOT the car. I have checked the connections and all and I keep having trouble with it. It's like something is wrong with the posts or something. They work one time when I go to start the car and the next time they don't. You go mess with them again and then the car will start. I don't know what it is. I just know I'm about to go buy something else!

 

I bought a battery last summer when my 02 AGM battery went out with a bang (literally ). I didn't like the bad things I read on the Optima's so I went with the Excide Orbital. Same technology but they don't seem to have the issues that appear to plague the Optima's for some reason.

 

I've had a Optima Red top for about a year and a half. No problems yet but since it's sitting now I've got it on a float charger. If left for a month or more the batteries tend to draw down due to the electronics. $.02 deposited.

 

I'd recommend a deep cycle Yellow Top Optima, since you only use the car occassionaly. I've got a 2 year old Red Top and I made the mistake of letting the car sit for over two weeks and it discharged. Now I have to keep a battery tender on it, as it won't hold a charge for more than several days. I'm about to swap it for a Yellow Top.

 

deep yellow needs to have a lot of accessories hooked up to it for it to work correctly. If you are not pulling big amp, stereo, neon lights, plow it is going to die much sooner....

 

Keeep on searching for something other than Optima. They are over priced pieces of sh*t that are over rated and not the type of a battery to use if you don't have access to a battery charger. Good luck w/ your search...

 

the GM batteries just die, but so do the Red Tops now. A few years ago you couldn't beat a Red Top (that is where they got all this good press), but now it seems they are not lasting as long and just die like the GM ones.

I am on my 2nd red top - the first one looked like it leaked even though we know they are not suppose to. When this one goes I will be changing batteries.

 

I had a RED - POS, stupid enough to buy a YELLOW - bigger POS. Get an EXIDE

 

DHEND25; to answer one of your comments - the Optima for the Corvette pops right in, and comes with both top and side terminals.
There are no modifications required.
I can't comment on the quality, my first one died within a year, the replacement is doing fine after 3 years.
The side terminals "shouldn't" leak, as they are just attached to the external case, and don't penetrate into the battery interior. They connect to the top terminals via an external metal strap.

One thing for sure......buy something that won't leak. I knew about the
leak problems, and checked my original Y2K GM battery (from the top and side) closely and often; I thought I would be able to see a leak from a terminal. But I never saw the leak from the top until it destroyed my vacuum lines and soaked my wiring with acid. I never want to experience the view I got when I removed that battery.

DG

 

There's a lot of myth and legend about how good or bad the various batteries are. take a look at this poll that I ran:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1469503

Over 400 members have voted so its not a bad sample. You can see that the AC Delcos have the highest failure rates followed by the Red Tops (at about 20%). Not great but not as bad as some would make out. The Exide does well. The early AC Delcos were prone to leaking, as I found out to my cost in the Camaro. My AC Delco in the Vert didn't leak - but then again, it didn't start the car either. The later ones seem better by all accounts.

My own experience was that when I ran the Vert as a daily driver the Red Top did just great. It sat on the boat in transit to England for 2 months and that killed it. That said, my sons Camaro did the same trip and his Red Top is still going strong so it could be the infamous draw on the battery which the vette is well known for. I've switched to a Yellow Top as mine's now a weekend warrior.

I'd say go for a Yellow Top if you don't use the Vette often and invest in a Battery Tender. You should be good to go.

 

Thanks to all who replied with great information to my post re: battery replacement.

My current battery is an Interstate with side posts. The previous owner whom I bought the car from last November, said several times that he had recently replaced the battery and that the Interstate that was in it was relatively new. It looks fairly fresh with no leaks that I can see. I can't figure out why I was able to let the car sit for three weeks between last Thanksgiving and Christmas with no problem, then last week after sitting only a week, the battery was dead. It sits outside and the weather has been about 20 degrees cooler lately than it was last December.

A lot of kind folks on this forum keep recommending "Batter Tenders", but because my vert is parked outside in front of my townhouse, its next to impossible to have my battery hooked up to a tender with an electrical extension cord trailing across the sidewalk running into my house. I have a battery tender that I bought many years ago for my motorcycle which also sits outside, but thats a really small battery and I can use the tender to top it off in an hour or so.

I need a battery that can sit in the car for a week or two and still crank it. Was considering the "Yellow Top" and some recommended it, but one forum member in response to my original post, said that unless you have a lot of high draw accesories in your car, the yellow top won't work right.

Slightly off topic, my other concern with replacing the battery myself is that I've heard stories that your radio my get locked out when you disconnect the original battery. I've never replaced a car battery so I'm a little nervous about that. Does anyone know of any good posts regarding changing out your battery?

Thanks again for all of the very helpful and thoughtful replies to my original post. Any additional comments would, as always, be greatly appreciated.

DH

 

My Red Top has been in my car for over 2 years and I haven't had any problem. My car sometimes sits for 2 weeks or so and it starts right up.

 

The radio on my Benz locks up and requires a code when the battery is disconnected - but my 2000 Vette has no such problem - in fact, it remembers all the radio stations, seat memories, etc.

DG

 

BATTERIES

Like I stated previously, my first red top died with in a few months of purchase. The saving grace was, they replaced it out without question. The damn thing was more than TWICE the price of a decient lead acid standard battery! I was in Autozone a couple of weeks ago and they wanted $169 for a red top

The current red top is doing fine. Looking back,,,what did my expensive ($120.) red top do foe my car? It looks kind of cool. It has not leaked. Its about 3+ years old and still going strong. Nothing more than a decient walmart battery will do for 1/2 the price.

If my battery died today, I would just go to walmart and get a new standard everyday lead acid $ 59.99 battery and just order a good acid matt just incase it ever leaked.
For the price of a new red top, you can get TWO regular batteries that will last just as long.

For those of you who are having problems with your battery draining after sitting for a week or two, PLEASE check your current draw when the car is in sleep mode!

I have never had this problem and I know plenty of other people who leave there cars sit for weeks at a time with out issues. If you dont know how to set up the test, PM me and I will take the time to assist you "one on one". Heck, you can even call me if you feel it is necessary.
All you will need for the test is a volt meter that can measure at least 10 amps, two short lengths of stranded 12 ga wire, and about 30 min of time.

Battery terminals on our cars do go bad. If you remove the rubber cover off the cable treminal ends, some of you will find that they are corroded and nasty. Especially if the battery has ever leaked. The OEM or even some of the aftermarket batteries leak because the terminals get over tightened or abused.
I spray my battery cable terminals out with brake parts cleaner and then with WD-40. Then I wipe it down and torque it on the battery.

Cranking voltage is a very good indicator of how a battery is handling the duties of powering your car. Put a volt meter on the battery terminals. Have some one crank the engine. When the starter is first engaged, this will be the period of time when the battery will be at it's lowest available output.

I just went out to my car and did a test. Its 27 degrees out. The car was washed, waxed, vacummed, and covered last Saturday after driving it all the previous week. It was pretty dirty! The weather here has been very cold with periods of light snow and they put salt on the roads so the Z has been covered out side all week. Since last Saturday.

I attached a volt meter to the battery terminals. The hood light and the, interior lights were on. The meter read 11.45 VDC. I cranked the car and the meter dipped to 10.35 VDC and as soon as I stopped cranking, the reading went to 14.4 VDC as the alternator kicked in.

The car idled for about 3 minutes and i shut it off. The voltage remained at 12.02 and after about 10 min leveled out at 12.00 VDC.
Thats after sitting all week outside.

A very weak battery will drop very low "in the 9 VDC range" and not recover. It will stay in the low 11 VDC range even after a very short charge. If you see the readings drop down to the low 9 VDC range, your going to start throwing U series DTC's due to modules dropping off line because of low line voltage. The battery needs to be charged. If it is charged and still drops very low during cranking, its most likely bad.

The standard C5 battery terminal needs to be CLEAN and properly tightened (torqued into place) to work properly. They get torqued to 11 ft/lbs.


BC

 

When the battery in my 2002Z failed, I installed an Optima red top 75/35 with a battery mat underneath. The car is rarely driven and I have a Battery Tender attached to it in a heated garage. I have had several occasional trips in my Z with absolutely no starting issues. I also installed an Optima red top in my Z28 a few weeks after the Z installation and it failed in two weeks. It would only hold five volts. Returned to Auto Zone and it was replaced free. It was not on any Battery Tender. The Z28 is stored in an unheated garage with no Battery Tender and still cranks well. Batteries will fail 100% of the time. Whatever you buy, it's a crap shoot. Buy one local with a good warranty and if it fails, take it back for warranty. The Exide Orbital is a fine battery but only has a two year free replacement warranty. The Exide Marathon is a nine-year battery with a 40-month free replacement warranty if you can find one. Best deal is the Sam's Club-WalMart Everstart Select which is the Exide Orbital in disguise at a great price. Personally, I'm sticking with the Optima red top because I figure given it's failure rate history, I'll have a new battery every three years. Like I said, it's a crap shoot.

Randy

 

Maybe a bad poll Due to 1,000,000,00 times more delco's on the market
Get the Delco #2277 It's not going to leak and mine in 6yrs and holds a charge for months on end and starts every time. No tender needed. plus your still stock with stock mounts and lighter weight. plus the Optima's look like H@#$ IMO

 

Good point. A poll is only as good as the number who respond. Stats and dam$£ed lies and all that.

But.. this one's been going for a while and gives afeel for the situation

I've had 2 bad AC Delcos and a bad Red Top. I reckon the common thread is that the Vette is hard on batteries. I can live with a dead one but I wont live with a "leaker". JMHO

 

I used to use a solar powered charged on my boat, same issue, no where to plug it in. Only issue you might have is someone stealing it, but on the dash and plugged into the lighter it may be safe. It has a diode in the wire to prevent bleed off when its dark out. Worked great for me and the boat for many years.

 

VETTENUTS

Do you know what the word "BOAT" actually stands for??

" Break Out Another Thousand"

The word JEEP reall means "Just Empty Every Pocket" Ask me how I know!!

BC