Anyone Running A Optima Battery

[oldskolbus]

Long story short. My battery is 3 years old(warranty replacement from 6years ago). My stang sits in the garage all winter, I start it whenever I think about it. I went to start it today and nonething. I tired of messing with parts store batteries.
Anyone running a optima battery? I know they run around $200, But do they last/hold a charge?

 

[stykthyn]

I've been running them for the last 10 years. Likely won't buy another since the prices have gone up. My latest one is 7 years old and is taking longer to crank over. I don't see it lasting past this year. Given by then it will be 8 years old I would say that I've gotten my money's worth.

 

[Deleted member 215073]

You can buy Motorcraft batteries at O'Reilly Auto. Cheaper than the dealership as well.

I have Motorcraft in my Ranger, and Explorer Sport Trac. The trucks have never cranked over or started better before I switched, and it gets flat COLD here in WY. 3 year free replacement on a 7 year warranty is very nice as well.

 

[General karthief]

Interstate in everything I own.
Optima batteries last forever! Good for stuff you don't operate often.

 

[RangerJoe]

Battery tender with an Autozone replacement. I am on about year 4 with the battery and it seems to be doing okay. I only clock a 1000 or so miles a year on the car, so very few startups.

Joe

 

[Bad Sheep]

I have a red top, love it.

 

[95BlueStallion]

I had two red tops crap out on me in 2 years. It was a hassle getting a replacement for the first one under warranty, so when the second one crapped out I said F it. Optima claimed my car must have had a draw, but I put an off brand parts store battery in and didnt have any problems with it.

 

[tirebytes]

I have three dead Optima batteries sitting in the garage now, can't say they are very good, two were traded in before the warranty expired and only one of those is still going. Seems they only last for a few years or the first time the car has to sit for a few weeks (only owned Red Top by the way). Had to work out a way to hold an Oddysey in the battery tray and I haven't looked back: Odyssey Battery 75/86-PC1230DT , the car will sit for days on end while working on it or upgrading and starts right up weeks later. The LED bulbs in my Optima battery charger?... they've gone out too. hmmm.

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

Yeah...poor Optima, poor MSD. Stupid internet. I've had a red top in the Monster for years now...
I've also never had an issue with any MSD product..

Maybe it's a climate thing....maybe the batteries and the electronics don't like the cold.....

Maybe it's the voice of reason telling you to move where stuff don't fail.

 

[02 281 GT]

I've had a red top in my '95 since 2012 and it still starts strong. Even after long bouts of the car sitting without a trickle charger.

 

[tirebytes]

Yeah...poor Optima, poor MSD. Stupid internet. I've had a red top in the Monster for years now...
I've also never had an issue with any MSD product..

Maybe it's a climate thing....maybe the batteries and the electronics don't like the cold.....

Maybe it's the voice of reason telling you to move where stuff don't fail.

Voice of reason says if you have three dead $250 batteries it's time to move on to something else.

 

[Noobz347]

I think a lot of has to do with where you live. When I lived up North, they did not survive the winters. They have a coil construction inside surrounded by a gel. They are more fragile than most quality lead acid batteries and don't appear to like being in frozen climates while being tossed around on crappy roads.

I now stick with factory Ford and GM batteries. I've never had to replace a 7 year OEM battery before it's time. My Suburban had it's original battery for many many years. Two Red Top batteries (both lasted a year-ish) and an Autozone battery to replace the Red Top that left me on the side of the road.... In winter... After the AutoZone battery went Tango Uniform (2 years plus a couple months diagnosing weird electrical gremlins before swapping), I put in the AC Delco 7 year battery that is still in the truck. I think it's 4 years old now.

Seems like OEMs have it in their heads that they don't want to play battery games while cars have existing warranty.

 

[2000xp8]

I've had a few red tops. They all sucked. Blame myself for having to learn the lesson more than once.
Smart money buys an interstate from Costco. They don't even test them if you say it's bad.
I like diehards too, but the interstates are about the same but generally cost less.

 

[kendawg73]

hmmm, well dang, I was planning to get a red top when I get my motor in and ready to fire the car.... I wanted to go with this type of battery to keep from any corrosion like what can happen with standard type batteries... if this one is not good, then what else is there?(after redoing my frame rails ect,,, I don't want anything that can cause rust/corrosion on my car) And the people that are having issues, I assume there sitting for long periods of time, are you using trickle charges on them? I myself would definitely use one... batteries don't like sitting with out staying topped off...

 

[General karthief]

Most of the corrosion problems come from batteries that are not checked visually, over charging and cell deterioration causing the top of the battery to be wet with acid, I use Interstate batteries in everything, not because they are so great but that is what we sell, my car gets driven, hard. If you keep a visual on your battery and know what to look for it does not effect the area. Any acid can be neutralized with baking soda.

 

[Boostedpimp]

I had a redtop in my gn and daily driven hatch for years no issue. Put one into my gmc syclone and went through three of them in eight months. They would just suddenly stop accepting a charge but I could just go back to where I purchased it and swap it out with another new one. Eventually Optima released something about it on there site where they had a few bad batches go out and If you had one simply return it. After that the battery in the syclone is holding strong no issues.

 

[KZGUNS]

I use a maintainer on my cars and the batteries last. They're cheap on amazon.

 

[fun331]

I like my red top, bought it in 2013 and it's still in the car. Car sees only seasonal use, no winters, no trickle charger, but it comes inside every winter. I do put a few charging cycles on it over the winter. The battery is a bit small for the tray in my '89. I have the red snap on bottom piece on the battery and the stock hold down just catches it. Had to cut a piece of board to keep the battery from sliding back and forth in the tray as well. It's worked well for me but it seems like there are bad batches out there from what I'm reading here.

 

[VibrantRedGT]

I've had two Optima's crap out on my. I buy cheapy batteries now with a 4 or 5 year warranty and then just keep getting them replaced under warranty.

On my previous 94 I got 4 batteries on one purchase. Yeah I had to pay the difference or prorate but I still came out ahead.

Also Johnson Controls makes like 80% of the batteries in America and just slap stickers on them.

Johnson Controls list, here are just a few. The list is long.

• AutoCraft. AutoCraft: Available at a variety of Advance Auto Parts stores across the country.
• Bosch. Bosch: Available at Pep Boys.
• DieHard. DieHard: Available at Sears and Kmart automotive centers.
• Duralast. Duralast:Sold at AutoZone.
• EverStart. ...
• Interstate. ...
• NAPA. ...
• Nascar Select.

 

[2000xp8]

• AutoCraft. AutoCraft: Available at a variety of Advance Auto Parts stores across the country.
• Bosch. Bosch: Available at Pep Boys.
• DieHard. DieHard: Available at Sears and Kmart automotive centers.
• Duralast. Duralast:Sold at AutoZone.
• EverStart. ...
• Interstate. ...
• NAPA. ...
• Nascar Select.

This is part of the reason I like the interstate batteries, they come at a decent price at Costco and they don't test them on a return, they just give you another.
A few years back I did quite a bit of research into batteries since my golf cart takes 6 8v batteries.

I didn't know duralast was on the list, I tend to avoid anything with the name duralast on it.

During my battery research I read about quite a few tests of desulfators too. It would appear if you have months to wait for a battery, they actually work.
I think the one I bought for my golf cart batteries is a battery minder, I got it cheap since they discontinued the 8v version.
I'd say it definitely works, BUT it literally takes months, with 6 batteries it could take like 2 years to do them all, lol and buying either 6 8v minders or one 48v minder would cost half as much as new batteries.
For the golf cart I don't think it's worth the effort or money.
But for a car where you probably put a tender on it in the winter, i'd say it could work.

Btw, the battery in my car currently is a diehard I put in there 7 years ago.