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So I'm getting an Optima Battery for my 1967 Cadillac. Does anyone have any experience with these batteries? I'm trying to figure out if I want a Red Top or a Yellow Top for the car.
It spends months sitting and resting so I'm wondering if a deep cycle (Yellow Top) would be better for the long term resting the car does. Last year we drove it less than 300 miles so it certainly isn't a high use vehicle.
TIA
Trickle charger would be cheaper... Just saying.
What class will that bump you to?
You may only ever read this from me this one time : Price has no bearing on my decision. ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by slowchildmiata
Plus I don't like to leave a car plugged in for months at a time if I can help it.
ESP....Heads up against Mark. It will be a great show.Quote:
Originally Posted by wrx74
You need one of this and plug it in all the time. No matter what battery you have, the battery will die and not last very long it you don't plug it in with one of this during long storage (weeks to months).
No way in hell would I leave a $9.99 Harbor Freight Charger unattended ever! I'm not a fan of leaving power hooked to the car when it sits for months at a time. Normally I disco the battery and just let her sit.Quote:
Originally Posted by gabkwong
Also it states on the page you linked - Not for use on AGM batteries
I'm still leaning towards a yellow top battery
Yellow tops are built exactly for this purpose. Just disconnect the battery and you'll be fine. If it goes dead just jump it, they are built for multiple charge cycles, unlike traditional batteries.
Yellow top then.
For sure leave a harbor freight trickle charger plugged in if you want a house fire though.
Love the yellow top. Have one in my jeep, goes months without driving, always starts.
I blame a decent chunk of my dead brain cells on a red top.
Long story semi-short: Drove from Kentucky to Dallas with a friend in his Z for the Z convention in 2006. He had a brand new red top in his Z, but relocated to the hatch. The battery box was not fully sealed at the time because we had just put the motor in the day before we made the drive, we weren't too concerned about that since they are supposed to be OK to run not in a fully sealed enclosure. We got about 20 miles away from the hotel when we heard this buzzing noise. We both kind of thought it was his speakers finally working (different story), but then the rear hatch glass started fogging bad. The red top was out-gassing like a mofo, you could literally see the super thick vapors, and had been for about 20 minutes until we realized what it was. That night and the next day I was a zombie.
He got it warrantied the night we got there, but the new one he got died a few days later (while we were still in Texas). He exchanged it for a regular battery, put it in, sealed the box correctly, and never had an issue with it again.
There seems to be a lot of unsatisfied people with the newer Optima batteries. It appears they did something different with the "new" ones and they don't hold up nearly as well as they used to. The only people I know that still recommend them at all are the ones that still have the one they were running since like 2000 or earlier.
Just my take on them.
Oh, and I used to have a red top in my Z - never had an issue with it at all, and I never drove that car either. Sold it in 2003, bought the battery when I got the car in late 1998. And my brother used to put yellow tops in all his stereo competition cars, but even that was back in the late 90s.
I lost track of how many red tops I have put in my truck over the years. I honestly think they are crap and it seemed like every time I would go to start it the battery was dead and also had a dead cell. The only cure was to use a trickle charger or disconnect it when I wasn't using it but that is a PITA. Just buy a good trickle charger and be done with it.
Oooooohhhhhhh Aaaaaahhhhhhh
That battery has no issues cranking all 7 Liters to life! ::Banana::
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x...0/IMG_0305.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...0/IMG_0306.JPG
Thanks again jbh!
For gosh sake, POS, wash that car!
I know..... It has been dead in the warehouse for a couple of months and it hasn't been home since fall of 2010 for a bath...... ::Cry2::Quote:
Originally Posted by jrj512
Is that battery secured? Won't pass tech if it's just loose in there!
Yep it is secured using all the factory hardware!Quote:
Originally Posted by wrx74
Which consists of this clip simillar to this one and a 9'/16 bolt
http://www.hillbrothersstudios.com/e...6534-18764.jpg
The horror!Quote:
Originally Posted by POS Racing
::Teacher: Back in the olden days many thought it was safer for the battery to be thrown free of the vehicle along with all the people in the car in the case of an accident. ::Fruity::Quote:
Originally Posted by jrj512
Actually it is locked down solid. ;)
My 2001 Firebird still uses that method, I think it's the same part.