car wont start and I have a red top. . . HELP
01-15-2012, 03:59 PM
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car wont start and I have a red top. . . HELP Ok so lately (past couple months) when it gets cold when I use the remote start it will crank for a second and wont start, then normally the next time it will start. Now the car was driven yesterday and parked last night. Came out this afternoon to go to the store and put the key in and everything comes on good and bright but went to crank it and it clicks a bunch of times. Hooked up some jumper cables to it for about 10-15 minutes and still only clicks. I put in a brand new Optima Red Top about 2 years ago.
Not sure what to do now? Says Charging system failure on the DIC.
Someone HELP!!!!!
Not sure what to do now? Says Charging system failure on the DIC.
Someone HELP!!!!!
01-15-2012, 06:05 PM
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A regular charger won't work with a Red Top, at least directly. You'd need one with special circuitry to work with a Red Top.
If you have a regular charger, do this:
Best thing to do is to pull the battery from your GXP and your Camaro (assuming it's not a Red Top, too). Use jumper cables to connect the two batteries together, then connect the charger to the Camaro's battery. This will charge the Red Top. Check it periodically with a gauge to make sure you don't overcharge it.
If you have a regular charger, do this:
Best thing to do is to pull the battery from your GXP and your Camaro (assuming it's not a Red Top, too). Use jumper cables to connect the two batteries together, then connect the charger to the Camaro's battery. This will charge the Red Top. Check it periodically with a gauge to make sure you don't overcharge it.
01-15-2012, 06:44 PM
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ok guys, I got it started by hooking up the jumper cables to my GF's buick and reving it to 3k for about 10 minutes and it just barely started. I am going to let it run for half hour then go for a drive and go from there. Thanks for the replies!
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01-15-2012, 07:31 PM
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Where did you buy the battery? I would return it and rule that out. The optima carries a three year full replacement warranty. Also, do charge a optima you have to have a median.
ie. your gf's car to a standard battery and have cables on the standard battery going to the optima. It will suck juice from the plain battery.
ie. your gf's car to a standard battery and have cables on the standard battery going to the optima. It will suck juice from the plain battery.
01-16-2012, 12:03 AM
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Might be able to bring it back with a decent charge/desulfate. I thought mine was bad once.
Anyways the newer optima batteries are made by a different company and that's why they sometimes don't last the full warranty length.
Anyways the newer optima batteries are made by a different company and that's why they sometimes don't last the full warranty length.
01-16-2012, 09:55 PM
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Hello, I noticed your conversation and wanted to offer some assistance. 94ss06gxp, what have you modified on your car (electrically), besides your remote start? Do you have an alarm as well? If your battery is discharged to the point where it needs a jump, it is a good idea to fully-recharge your battery with a battery charger as soon as possible. Most alternators are designed to maintain batteries, not recharge deeply-discharged batteries. Asking an alternator to recharge a deeply-discharged battery can lead to a cycle of dead batteries and jump-starts, until either the battery or alternator fails.
I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace your alternator or your battery. If your commutes are relatively-short, your alternator simply may not have enough time to replace the energy your vehicle consumes during sitting and starting. Fully-charged, your RedTop should measure about 12.6-12.8 volts. If you measure your battery voltage at the terminals with the engine running, it will indicate the output of your alternator and should be about 13.7-14.7 volts.
You do not need a special charger to charge our batteries. However, “gel” or “gel/AGM” charger settings should be avoided, as they may not fully charge our batteries (or any other non-Gel batteries) and may damage them over time. If your battery (regardless of brand) has been discharged below a battery charger's minimum voltage threshold, the charger may not recognize or charge the battery. In those instances, using the parallel charging method described in this video can recover those batteries- http://youtu.be/dIoaL3DWWEg
The deeply-discharged battery does not “suck juice” from the second battery wired in parallel. The charger will see the voltage level of the second battery and deliver current to the deeply-discharged battery that is wired in parallel.
neilownz, Johnson Controls has owned Optima since 2000 and while the quality of our batteries has always been excellent, the batteries we are building today (and we still build our own batteries in our own facility) are the best we have ever made. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty are actually just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged.
Mels SS offers very good advice about using some kind of battery maintenance device on vehicles that don't see regular use or have high parasitic draws. If anyone has questions about our batteries, I'll do my best to answer them.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace your alternator or your battery. If your commutes are relatively-short, your alternator simply may not have enough time to replace the energy your vehicle consumes during sitting and starting. Fully-charged, your RedTop should measure about 12.6-12.8 volts. If you measure your battery voltage at the terminals with the engine running, it will indicate the output of your alternator and should be about 13.7-14.7 volts.
You do not need a special charger to charge our batteries. However, “gel” or “gel/AGM” charger settings should be avoided, as they may not fully charge our batteries (or any other non-Gel batteries) and may damage them over time. If your battery (regardless of brand) has been discharged below a battery charger's minimum voltage threshold, the charger may not recognize or charge the battery. In those instances, using the parallel charging method described in this video can recover those batteries- http://youtu.be/dIoaL3DWWEg
The deeply-discharged battery does not “suck juice” from the second battery wired in parallel. The charger will see the voltage level of the second battery and deliver current to the deeply-discharged battery that is wired in parallel.
neilownz, Johnson Controls has owned Optima since 2000 and while the quality of our batteries has always been excellent, the batteries we are building today (and we still build our own batteries in our own facility) are the best we have ever made. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty are actually just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged.
Mels SS offers very good advice about using some kind of battery maintenance device on vehicles that don't see regular use or have high parasitic draws. If anyone has questions about our batteries, I'll do my best to answer them.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
01-16-2012, 11:35 PM
#18
That was a very informative post Jim. I too have had some issues with a red top that is very similar, 2 of them as a matter of fact, in the same car. All of the troubleshooting points to the fact that I have some sort of draw somewhere on the car but I have yet to find it. The battery stays charged just fine if I leave it connected to a battery tender and once fully charged I never see the charging light come back on.
I have measured the draw on the battery ones the car is off and it shows negligible draw, especuially after the 5-10 minutes after the BCM shuts off. My previous red top in this same car had the very same issue, the boys at Advance Auto Parts replaced it and stated it was bad.
I have a hard time believing this is the battery's fault however, I can't seem to find anything on the car to blame either.
Where would you recommend I aim my troubleshooting? Apologies if I hijacked...
I have measured the draw on the battery ones the car is off and it shows negligible draw, especuially after the 5-10 minutes after the BCM shuts off. My previous red top in this same car had the very same issue, the boys at Advance Auto Parts replaced it and stated it was bad.
I have a hard time believing this is the battery's fault however, I can't seem to find anything on the car to blame either.
Where would you recommend I aim my troubleshooting? Apologies if I hijacked...
01-17-2012, 12:32 AM
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neilownz, Johnson Controls has owned Optima since 2000 and while the quality of our batteries has always been excellent, the batteries we are building today (and we still build our own batteries in our own facility) are the best we have ever made. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty are actually just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged.
They moved their plant to Mexico in early 2009 so anyone with a battery 2 or more years old has one made in Colorado.
Last edited by neilownz; 01-17-2012 at 01:05 AM.
01-17-2012, 07:24 AM
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Hello, I noticed your conversation and wanted to offer some assistance. 94ss06gxp, what have you modified on your car (electrically), besides your remote start? Do you have an alarm as well? If your battery is discharged to the point where it needs a jump, it is a good idea to fully-recharge your battery with a battery charger as soon as possible. Most alternators are designed to maintain batteries, not recharge deeply-discharged batteries. Asking an alternator to recharge a deeply-discharged battery can lead to a cycle of dead batteries and jump-starts, until either the battery or alternator fails.
I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace your alternator or your battery. If your commutes are relatively-short, your alternator simply may not have enough time to replace the energy your vehicle consumes during sitting and starting. Fully-charged, your RedTop should measure about 12.6-12.8 volts. If you measure your battery voltage at the terminals with the engine running, it will indicate the output of your alternator and should be about 13.7-14.7 volts.
You do not need a special charger to charge our batteries. However, “gel” or “gel/AGM” charger settings should be avoided, as they may not fully charge our batteries (or any other non-Gel batteries) and may damage them over time. If your battery (regardless of brand) has been discharged below a battery charger's minimum voltage threshold, the charger may not recognize or charge the battery. In those instances, using the parallel charging method described in this video can recover those batteries- http://youtu.be/dIoaL3DWWEg
The deeply-discharged battery does not “suck juice” from the second battery wired in parallel. The charger will see the voltage level of the second battery and deliver current to the deeply-discharged battery that is wired in parallel.
neilownz, Johnson Controls has owned Optima since 2000 and while the quality of our batteries has always been excellent, the batteries we are building today (and we still build our own batteries in our own facility) are the best we have ever made. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty are actually just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged.
Mels SS offers very good advice about using some kind of battery maintenance device on vehicles that don't see regular use or have high parasitic draws. If anyone has questions about our batteries, I'll do my best to answer them.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace your alternator or your battery. If your commutes are relatively-short, your alternator simply may not have enough time to replace the energy your vehicle consumes during sitting and starting. Fully-charged, your RedTop should measure about 12.6-12.8 volts. If you measure your battery voltage at the terminals with the engine running, it will indicate the output of your alternator and should be about 13.7-14.7 volts.
You do not need a special charger to charge our batteries. However, “gel” or “gel/AGM” charger settings should be avoided, as they may not fully charge our batteries (or any other non-Gel batteries) and may damage them over time. If your battery (regardless of brand) has been discharged below a battery charger's minimum voltage threshold, the charger may not recognize or charge the battery. In those instances, using the parallel charging method described in this video can recover those batteries- http://youtu.be/dIoaL3DWWEg
The deeply-discharged battery does not “suck juice” from the second battery wired in parallel. The charger will see the voltage level of the second battery and deliver current to the deeply-discharged battery that is wired in parallel.
neilownz, Johnson Controls has owned Optima since 2000 and while the quality of our batteries has always been excellent, the batteries we are building today (and we still build our own batteries in our own facility) are the best we have ever made. Many of the “bad” batteries returned to us under warranty are actually just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly recharged.
Mels SS offers very good advice about using some kind of battery maintenance device on vehicles that don't see regular use or have high parasitic draws. If anyone has questions about our batteries, I'll do my best to answer them.
Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.facebook.com/optimabatteries
My commutes are about 20 minutes driving in the morning than about 15 minutes on the way home, with maybe a trip to the store in between. The remote start I talk about is factory stock and I have not added anything like alarm/stereo etc. . I do have a radar detector, and external XM radio unit that plugs into the cigarette lighter but I always turn them off when I get out. I do not have a battery charger at the moment but have been asking around if anyone I know has one, but in the mean time the car has been starting.