orca13

So I have a question for you. A lot of people on hear talk about that they would never put a lead acid battery in their vettes. they would only use a AGM battery. They are afraid the lead battery will crack and leak.

I'm 67 years old and have replaced many batteries here in cold Chicago, I have never had a battery crack or leak in any vehicle I owned. l have talked with a lot of guys my age and they told me the same thing. 1 guy did say he had a cracked battery but he said he dropped it by mistake.

So how many of you guys actually had a battery leak or crack?? very curious. I have used walmart batteries for a long time and have never had a leak. I was talking to some guys at acorvette show and they have the Walmart battery in their care. Said they had several and never an issue.

So I guess I would like to know how many of you ever had a cracked or leaking battery and what tpye and make was it.??

gimp

The C5 specifically has had issues with traditional batteries. It doesn't cost much more to eliminate that risk so the current mindset is to just get the nicer battery and never worry about it.

GCG

These are the first 3 hits from a quick search I just did. I definitely don't want to risk it

• Battery acid leaking on PCM
• Severe Acid Leak - Questions about Battery and PCM Removal
• Leaky battery, HVAC issue and a fix

JR-01

AGM batteries are lead acid. They just have fiberglass mats that soak up the acid. And they do leak. There was a recent post about a leaking AGM. If you are worried, get yourself a battery mat.
www.batterymart.com/p-battery-mat-black.html

When I bought my C5 I talked to a retired GM service manager about the leaking battery problem. He said most were caused when customers put their c5s away for the winter without disconnecting battery or using a battery tender. The battery would go dead and freeze, cracking the case. They replaced quite a few like that.

billc80

I look under my hood once a week, check oil, water, look for anything that could leak.

JR-01

Me too.

coletrickle35

Just tightened up my battery and it's still wants to wiggle in the back. Is there a second clip?

Evil-Twin

Yes the back of the battery fits into a slot in the back of the tray,, then you put the hold down into the front of the battery and it is held both front a back.

coletrickle35

Thanks looks like I'm going to take it out again

Evil-Twin

IM 74 years old, My New 1980 Cadillac Seville had a leaking AC Delco battery . Car was only 6 months old when discovered. My 99 C5 had a leaking AC Delco Battery Caught it in two months. Replaced with an Optima , I did not pay for it, I forgot how I got GM to pay for it but they did
There is less risk with an AGM battery also the C5 runs much hotter than any other GM Car by design. it runs in the 190 to 230 F range making the under hood temp much higher than most any other battery has to endure. So a C5 should have a battery more designed to handle the heat and not dump 16 20 20 ounces of acid on the PCM and a dozen vacuum lines and a harness

Bill aka ET
IN both cases the leak was just a seep.. and never made it down to the tray.. problem is leaking acid is very explosive,

Evil-Twin

What you do is place the battery in the tray as far forward as possible ( toward the front of the car.. then slide to the back of the tray. once seated in the back you can test to see if you got it in the right place by trying to lift the back upward.. you will know if you've got it right... Once in the rear slot you just bolt down the adjustable front hold down.
You dont have to take it out.. just take out the hold down bolt and slide it back as far as it will go, then bolt it down in the front.

bighank

When I bought the C5 it was 2 years old. I drove it 1 week and got a check engine light. The PCM under the battery was fried by battery acid. The hard vacuum line controlling the HVAC actuators was melted. The Delco battery was the reason. For the last 17 years I have been using Sams Club batteries. The last few have been sealed with no way to add any water. No leaks from any of them.
Have heard some horror stories about the overrated Optima high cost batteries. If you are scared about acid leakage spend $10 for a acid protector mat on Fleabay and put it under the battery.

orca13

Has anyone ever had a problem with the battery from Walmart???

DDaaryl

Personally I have owned over 100 vehicles and had only one battery crack. It was very old and left in the car during 20 degree below zero temperatures. I have never seen a healthy fully charged battery crack or leak in the last 45 years. That being said when it was time to replace my C5 battery I went right to Walmart and got change from my $100 bill. There are only a few companies making batteries here in the US and companies like Johnson Controls put different labels on them for marketing purposes. The colorful expensive units look great at the car shows however.

Mr. Black

On my lawn tractor? yes. Almost every year.

On cars and boats no.

That being said, I just swapped out my wally world battery on the C5 for an AGM battery. Was it necessary? really probably not.

coletrickle35

I had a dead Walmart battery so I walked in the store and bought some electrolyte. Started to pour the acid out in the parking lot and it was melting the asphalt. Took it the open battery into a laundromat and poured the acid down a metal sink OMG it shocked the holy crap out of me! Dropped the empty battery on the floor but it didn't crack, filled it up with electrolyte put the tops on hooked it up and away I went. Battery acid is nasty

Grandpa1

I just turned 70 on the "ides of March" so I know a few things too. Not much but a few.
I do know, after reading this forum, that if a battery leaks in a C5 the acid will cause a ton of damage to the electronics.
Why chance it? Put in an AGM and forget about it.
Having said that, I'm not sure I would pull out a fairly new battery and spend the money on a new AGM but if my battery needed replacing I would certainly replace it with an AGM.
Just my thoughts,
Good luck!

JR-01

You should probably stay away from batteries and let the experts handle them..

Josephu

Im 73. Ive never had a battery crack or leak in my life. At present, I have 3 pickups and 3 cars laying around .. Ive had a lot of batteries. They just go dead. At which point I change them. Ive had a few 5th wheel RV batteries also. Actually 5. I think that I will just stick to my $120 batteries.

Mike98SilVert

I have the AutoCraft Platinum AGM Battery. It listed for around $179 less 30% off with their online coupon, came to $125. Do a search for Advance Auto discount codes. To me it's worth spending a few dollars more on an AGM battery for peace of mind. It doesn't matter who's name is on the case as long as it's an AGM battery.