Like the title says....current one is dead and wont charge.

 

optima redtop

 

Know of a good place to get one?

 

its a pretty common battery so most places will carry them. farm and fleet, batteries plus, most general places that carry batteries will have them. They are a little more expensive, but they dont leak, they last a little longer, and they look better too. you can run it upside down if you wish. i had one in my previous car, and ill get one when my current battery decides to take a ****.

 

with the red top if you let the car sit for more then 6 months the battery will go bad. So if you ever let it sit for a long time get the yellow top. Plus it hold a charge longer. I have a yellow top in my car. It was in myf150 before that. Its about 5 years old and i can sit in the staging lanes at the track with my e-fan on high for an hour and 45mins and it still starts up. Never let it go longer then that before though. My stock battery was dead after 30mins of that.

 

So, what is the difference between the red and the yellow?

 

yellow top is a deep cycle, the red top is a standard battery of sorts, but way better than a lead acid battery. both are jell cell/ spiral wrap technology. the main diiferance between deep cycle and a regular battery is deep cycle (marine battery) can be discharged and recharged over and over with no real damage to the battery occuring. with a standard battery such a process will shorten its life span. FYI, yellow top only comes with a 12 month free replacment and red tops comes with a 36 month free replacement. and opitma is made by JCI (Johnson Controls) the make motorcraft's batteries, interstate, duralast..the list goes on.

 

Anyone know what size Optima? The dam Optima size is useless. There is no way to look up a vehicle unless I am just not seeing it.

 

they only come in one size. red/yellow are the same size and both are dual terminal.

 

Well, this is what I see:

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...10002_16879_-1

There are 5 models in 12 V.

 

if you look at the dimensions they are all with in 1/2 inch or of each other. the major differance is the CCA rating between the batteries. just dont get one with an R, it stands for reverse post, the pos and neg sides are switched. the ones we sell at my store are the 34/78 and the 25/75, they are pretty much the same size.

 

Thanks Man. So really, either would work then, right? Thanks for the help. What do you guys sell these for at your store?

 

BTW, if I put one of these in my car, do I have to change the mounting bracket?

 

In more simple terms...

Redtop is a battery for quick bursts of power such as your average battery like starting your car.

Yellowtop is for current draw over a long period of time. Its better suited as a car audio battery or something similar that is going to pull current constantly.

 

I have a red top on my Durango and yellow on stang since it sits for days sometimes. I have had my first red top and its still running since 2000. I bought my last optima at Autozone so if I have warranty issues I just have to take it to Autozone and they will replace it, I suggest you do the same evern Costco has Optima now but just buy it somewhere you can claim warranty. You should just buy an Optima mount and put it in the passenger side trunk. Since it will not leak you dont have to worry about acid getting all over the place.

If you can get the one that has a plate that goes on the bottom then hollow it out with a dremel tool and make some cuts to get it to fit on top. I added some clips that I have laying around and now it covers the top terminals. Here is a pic engine bay is a bit dusty due to all the road construction around here.

 

Venom, for the moment, I just want to get the battery mounted under the hood. I don't want need any work right now, but that would probably be a good idea to do over the winter.

My situation is that a I park the car for the winter. I never really got the car ready though. It is in my garage, dusty, and the windows are down. It was 50+ degrees yesterday, so I figured a great day to clean her up and put the cover on. I also wanted to run some fuel stabilizer. So, I try to start the car and the battery was dead. The battery is 2 years old. I bought it over the winter one year only to find it dead in the spring anyway. Since then, it has gone ded 3 - 4 more times which is the worst thing for a battery.

I really did not want to buy a stupid battery right now so it could just sit for the spring. But, I was hopng to start the SOB.

The old battery took a little charge before the machine said it was bad. I am wondering if it took enough to start just to get the windows up an the fuel circulated. Then, I think I am just going to forget about it until March or April and get an Optima. I cna always get the trunk mounting bracker over the winter etc...

BTW, what is the trick to run the battery leads to the trunk?

 

Steeda makes a battery relocation kit and so do a few others.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/stbarekit.html

 

its not hard and helps alot with weight transer and traction. Just remeber it goes over the rear passenger tire not the dirver side like some homo's do. Its just a matter of running a thick guage cable to the front and then grounding it out in the back. Not very tuff at all. And a Optima is good for the rear mount setup because it emits no vapors and is a dry cell battery so no leaks.

 

Is this what I want? Do you know if it will fit in the stock location?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=170058024928

 

thats a good price, but what if it goes bad. you cant just walk into any autoparts store to get it replaced. people try that all the time...no reciept = no new battery period.

 

That si what I have been thinking. The lowest price is not always the cheapest option, if you know what I mean.

 

I have the optima red top. Im on my second one now. They are good batterys, but IMO they are just for looks unless you plan on mounting it upside down or have it in an offroad truck. My old one didnt last any longer than a normal battery.

The Optima batterys DO NOT fit the battery tray like theyre supposed to. The optima is not as wide as the factory battery(but the length is about the same), so there is a big gap on each side of the tray. Normally this wouldnt be a problem, but the ford battery hold downs arent designed to hold anything but the factory size battery. This means that if you want to use the optima, either you let it sit there loose, or you need to make some sort of holddown for it yourself. Most parts stores sell a hold down kit that will work. The next one I buy will be a yellow top.

 

Great comments....thanks. ****, I found one while Christmas shopping today and Fleet Farm for $37.00. 5 year warrenty with a two year full replacement. For $37.00 I could just buy a new one each spring and not give a dam even if there were no warranty.

 

I'm lookin' for a yellow top to put in mine within the next month or so. Do the yellows not fit right also?