After only a few minutes with the doors open the battery on my new to me died. Got the charger out and lifted the hood. I could not believe the **** ant size battery I found. I thought the dealer screwed me on the size. It seems they think the 04 only needed a 590 CCA battery. One of the things I learned over the years is bigger is better when buying batteries. Has anyone out there found a larger replacement that will fit the hole and utilize the OEM cables. I would prefer one with just the top post. I would be most grateful for a brand/part number. Thanks. Later! Frank

 

Are the cables in your car NOT side terminal type? Someone changed them over?

 

The 04 battery was a OEM top post battery from the factory. All C6 are also top post from the factory. GM proffed a lot of the C6 stuff on the 04 C5. One of them was a top post battery.

Frank,
I have found that super large size batteries in a car are usually un-necessary. Especially in a C5/C6 Corvette. The rated battery that it was designed for works fine normaly. If you add a large stereo and other power robbing accessories, then you may need to step up to the next size.
Have your battery checked out and make sure that the Cold Cranking Amps are good and it supports the designed discharge rate that its designed to handle.
If that battery is good, check your car for the correct battery discharge rate when its in the sleep mode. Your car should draw no more than 20 milliamps once it enters the sleep mode. Look in my stickey " IMPORTANT ELECTRICAL INFORMATION (LONG)" It will detail how to measure that value.

Let me know how you make out.

Bill

 

I charged and load tested it this afternoon. It registered weak almost immediately. I am going to test the amp draw tomorrow. Bill, it is still hard to comprehend the Vette can get by with a battery smaller than the one in my wife's 3800 powered Buick. The battery part number for my car is the same as for the 7.0 powered Vette. Good advice Bill. I will look for one tomorrow. Thanks. Later! Frank

 

I've got an 04 I bought new. The battery died about 6 months later. To answer your question yes a much bigger battery will fit. I went with an Optima that has both top posts and side posts. My car is not a DD (plus I store it 6mo out of the year) so I used the side posts to mount a little harness that comes with the Battery Tender Plus, this harness will reach up to the cowl. So after I drive it I don't even have to open the hood to plug in my charger. I'm very happy with the Optima red top, but you will find people on this forum that don't like it. Mine's going on 5 years with now probs, and when it finally does die I'll buy another, but they don't like to be drained so if your car is not a DD and you don't have a float charger I wouldn't recommend an Optima.

 

If your car is not a DD I wouldn't recommend an Optima Red Top. I just had to swap one out that was only 1.5 years old. It had discharged once and after that it wouldn't hold a charge for more then 2 weeks at best.

Went with the AC Delco Professional. It is a 7 year Battery with a 50 month Free replacement period. The lead Acid Batteries are much more forgiving then the Gel.

 

I replaced the battery on my 04 Z06 with an AC Delco 7 year Professional grade battery with a 50 month free replacement warranty and have only had one problem I had a cell go bad in the battery after 36 months, and I got a new battery at no charge.

I think that most batteries are never the same if you ever let them go completely dead. Automotive batteries are designed to be recharged continuously.

 

What's one of those babies cost? ... I'm looking for a replacement. Is that AC Delco a glass mat design?

 

You dont need a bigger battery, you just need the exact replacement one that works no matter what brand it is.

Everyone will trash batteries in this forum from Delco, Wal-mart, Optima, to Sears.... Fact is they are all good, buy what you have had good experience with!

 

I got a Red Top about 5 years ago and it is still going strong in our C5.

Two years ago I bought one for my SUV and it died after 10 months.

A couple months ago I was in the return line at Costco and the guy in front of me was returning two Yellow Tops from his diesel truck. He had them for just over a year.

Maybe Optima's quality has recently gone down.

 

Yes, it seems like a crap shoot (50/50 odds) that you will get a good Optima or not. I got one that leaked ... now that's rare from what I've heard.

 

They range from $99 to $130 or so and although they are no longer AGMs (They dumped AGMs for their lack of "resiliency") their case has been significantly beefed up so that leaking is a thing of the past. I have the same battery (but side terminals). My original battery was 7 years old when I replaced it.

 

I too have an OPTIMA in my 02 ZO6. Changed the OEM AGM battery out before the car was even out of warranty. Thought it was a MUCH BETTER battery that the OEM battery.

Three months after I installed the Red Top, the damn thing went **** up. I was on a business trip out of state.
Got a call from the wife "ZO6 is dead. I'm at the Dealers. They laughed when they saw that we had a aftermarket battery. Charged the wife $70 diagnostic fee and told her to get rid of the red top. Luckily she went back to Auto Zone and got a replacement. Auto Zone wouldn't even install it for her.


The second Red Top battery is almost 6 years old. So,,,,,,what does all this tell you. Most any battery you purchase form walmart, will last 5-6 years.

Yea, the second OPTIMA red top lasted 6 years. I paid $130 for that battery way back in 03. In the long run, I could have purchased almost THREE walmart batteries for the same cost and performance.

I have NEVER had a walmart or any aftermarket battery leak acid.

My next battery will be a walmart special. I can buy a LOT of walmart batteries for the price of a new red top.

On a side note, I just sold (traded in) my 97 F-150. The "original" OEM heavy duty MOTORCRAFT battery in that truck was over 13 years old and still cranked and ran that truck up to the day I traded it. It was drained completly dead TWICE in its life time.

I ordered and purchased the truck 15 Oct 06 and drove the truck off the lot 26 Dec 96. That battery is a KEEPER!

 

So the AC Delco 7 year Professional grade battery with a 50 month free replacement warranty is only sold by the dealers, or can you buy AC Delco at places like NAPA, etc?

I might have to go with this AC Delco instead of the Optima again. Since I have to replace my leaking Optima, I should contemplate a better replacement at this point.

Is there a specific part number for the AC Delco 7 year Professional grade battery? My car is a 2002 Zee, so I'll need the side terminal setup.

 

I saw the "MAXX" series batteries at Wal-Mart a few days ago. They looked like a pretty decent battery. Had a 3 year free replacement warranty. The 75 model (fits C5s) was only $75.

 

If you have COSTCO in your area, check out the warranty on the batteries they sell

 

Summit racing used to sell them for $99.00. Yours would be part number 75-7YR

If you go to this site: http://www.acdelco.com/index.jsp

you can type in your zip code to see which stores may carry the battery. Both the Walmart MAXX and Costco batteries are good choices (for a bit less money) as well, but I'm not sure if either will fit as perfectly as the AC Delco.

 

I just went and looked on Summit ... all they have is the Optima Red Top for the C5s.

Thanks for the info Dave. A couple of places showed up in my area using the lnk above. I'll call them on Monday and see what they have and pricing.

I think I'm going with the ACDelco and rinsing my hands of the Optima. BTW - Johnson Controls (who make the Optima batteries) will pay for any replacement battery if they find my leaky Red Top have a manufacturing defect ... which I'm sure it has. It was sent off to Johnson Controls today ... they paid for shipping back, I just had to drop it off at the store I got it from. They've been really good about the issue with the Red Top.

I like the first bullet under the "Precision manufacturing" section ... Looks like a good battery, and must be with a 5 year free replacement warranty.

http://www.acdelco.com/parts/battery...al-battery.jsp

The 60 Series ACDelco's don't look bad either ... probably those would be most comparable to the Wal-Mart MAXX.

What kind of fitment issues do you think the Wal-Mart MAXX would have.

 

I do have a Costco close by ... but haven't really looked at what they have. Is there some there worth looking at, besides the Optima?

 

Just buy a interstate and be done with the whole thing.