when i bought an 02 camaro back in april it came with a suposed "new" battery from walmart. it also came with front end damage which was repaired by myself and my dad within a month. so after a month of not running the car starts up just fine and runs. the car would start and be driven daily until early october.
it wasn't until it sat when the problems accored. within the first weekend of it sitting i go to the car and unlock it and there is no alarm light flashing...battery dead. the car went on a slow charge for an hour. i start the car up and drive about 20 miles and its fine. volts ok and everything. 2 weeks ago same thing go unlock the car...dead battery. so once again slow charge for an hour. starts up fine ran for about 30miles. then last week same thing another dead battery issue. slow charge it for an hour. move the car about 200 feet to my garage, let it idle for 10 min then i go eat lunch and the windows down. after lunch i go roll up the windows and there is no power. stick the key in there try start it nothing. so again gave it a charge for 10min this time just to roll the windows up and start the car to let it idle for 10 min.
what really put the frosting on the cake was i wanted to go out lastnight for halloween and the fricken thing is dead. no unlock nothing again. i swear the car must have been on the charger at least half a dozen times for the month of october. its making me crazy. when you stick the key in the volts read 10volts but then go and start it it will jump to like 13 or sometimes even 14. that being said i have a feeling the alternator is working. i have no clue. all this is making me crazy. other than stock the car has a power antenna and an ipod interface. i disconnected the fuse for the antenna 3 weeks ago so i know that couldn't be it. i have doubts the ipod interface in draining the battery. please help me out here. what should i do, trash the battery for something different?

 

Pull the battery and take it to autozone or pep boys. They can do a free load test of the battery to see if its good. If you need a new one there are plenty of "what's the best battery" threads for you to look through.

BTW, running the car for 10 min is not enough to charge a dead battery. 45 min is what has always been recommended to me.

 

you need to slow charge it for a few hours and then drive it for about a half and hour or let it idle for an hour. that should help but that doesn't mean the battery isn't a p.o.s.

 

OPTIMA is best..or ODYSSEY...Don't mess around...get a GOOD Battery..Saves hassles.

 

the thing with optima batteries is a heard once they die they will never work the same and woulnt hold a charge. thats what i herd from my uncle and his mustang it wasnt a personal experince

 

wellll....had mine 4 yrs and never failed me......I STRONGLY believe people who have trouble with TOP NAME batteries, have ANOTHER problem lurking elsewhere.....I have bought good,expensive batterries for 20 years, and never had a problem...before that..with cheapies, always hassles one way or the other.

 

I would also recommend Bosch batteries as well. I have had VERY good luck with them!! The one I have has been in 2 different vehicles and is still going strong!!

 

i'm leaning towards the optimas when i get the money.
in 03 my uncle had some red tops laying around his garage for who knows how long. he put them in his race car no charge nothing and it started right up.

what do you guys think. maybe a yellow top because i might put a sound system in there soon?

 

No need run a red top and call it a day. I have them in all of my vehicles and the two that are in my truck are 11 years old and have been through 3 different trucks. Still crank perfect and have a system also. When I load tested them at work they still check as if they are new. Optima IMHO

 

I have an optima in mine. In my old bronco that was on 40's it had an optima too. It's been going for atleast 4 years. I have since traded it to a friend and he has had it in two vehicles and both he rolled and has had it hit the fan and it still works. They dent the wallet but in my experiences and what I've seen they are worth the dough.

 

i use a acdelco battery it works great never had to change it since ive had the car

 

There's a lot of misconceptions about the difference between red top and yellow top Optimas. People say "if you have an audio system then get a yellow top". This is not correct. It should be "if you have an audio system that you run a lot without the engine running then get a yellow top". The yellow top is a deep-discharge battery - it is designed to take repeated discharge and still be able to charge to full capacity. The red top actually has more power (cold cranking amps) and is the better battery for most people with normal usage.

 

Sorry, wrong! If you have a high powered audio system, the choice should be a yellow top, period, or any deep cycle battery. The red top is not covered under the warranty. The deep-cycle battery will give you a constant output no matter how much you demand from it until the battery dies. It is on their website.

It doesn't just go for optima, any deep cycle battery will give you better results if your pushing any kind of power.

I'm not saying that a normal battery won't work. But if your running a fair amount of power, the deep cycle battery is the way to go. Now if you have a small power like 250watts, it may not be worh replacing. But if your running larger power that demands allot of power, than you should replace the battery, if your running serious power. Those who do know what I mean here, than you should have an alternator replacement too.

 

what about the blue top isnt that a deep charge battery ?

 

yes, blue top is the same as yellow top except it's designed for marine use. You can still use it in your car if you want a deep cycle.

 

Not exactly. The red top comes with a longer warranty than the yellow top but it is not covered for "abusive use" including deep or repeated discharge. Keep it charged properly and the red top warranty is good regardless of audio or accessories installed in your car. Also, both the red top and the yellow top are promoted on their web site as providing constant output as they're discharging.

Again, not exactly. The only time your battery is even involved in the power circuit is when the alternator has insufficient output for the current demand. If you have a system that's large enough to be discharging your battery then a yellow top is only masking the symptoms - you really need a bigger alternator. The yellow top has advantages when the alternator is marginal and can support the system except at idle but as long as the alternator produces enough current to support the audio system, the red top will be quite sufficient and will actually give better performance for the basics - like starting the car.

 

go with the bigger alternator it think it will solve ur problems

 

I have an Optima yellow top...5 years and still running strong.

 

I'm not going to argue with you. You need to talk to optima, because I've asked every question I could think of about it with their techs. If you have any kind of power, the batteries work totally different. I've posted numerous times on the subject and I know Mike has also. He said the same thing, there's no point, just like the duscussion with caps. This has been beat to death on here and I now understand why Mike no longer responds. Ignorance is bliss my friend.

I guess they make those deep cycle batteries for nothing because they are useless


http://www.optimabatteries.com/optima_edge/warranty.php


edit: Unless something has changed, the last time I took DC circuits, the load never sees the source power.

 

i worked at walmart tire lube express a long time ago, and we would get those shitty everstart batteries back everyday, we started calling them neverstart. Go out and get a good battery