it's been what? about a week now? still no response from the battery place i bought the first one. can't say i'm surprised. hopefully, once some of the post Christmas rush fades down, i'll be able to get my electrical system tested.

i'm going to try and keep this thread live, just in case there is something more to this than some bad luck and fudged batteries (which is what i am hoping is the case).

 

I had a yellow top (51 R? It was the OEM replacement model). It looked cool, but I don't think it lasted even 2 years. Won't waste my money on one of those again.

 

I think it might just be luck of the draw with those Optimas. I had one in my civic with a swap and went through 4 of them in less than a year. I thought it had something to do with the swap. But when my battery died in my S I got an Optima and it died within a month. After that I said screw this and got a regular battery and now a year later no problems.

 

I went through 2 in 6 months and I have no aftermarket electronics except for gauges. First one died after a short time, wouldn't hold a charge, got it warrantied. Second one boiled, smelled like rotten eggs. So I gave up, switched to a Sears Die Hard and haven't had a problem since. So obviously it was the batteries and not the charging system in my case.

 

I got yelled at for saying many Optima batteries are crap almost a year ago

 

just what i needed.... a 'told ya so.'





i am left to wonder though... on the quality of the 51 series batteries. it seems that perhaps the older designs are much more bulletproof?

i need to do some googling on optima batteries and failures and see if i can find any notable trends.

 

interesting thread - lots of failure reports:
http://www.carsound.com/cgi-bin/UBB_CGI/ul...15;t=000292;p=0

looks like Optima was bought out sometime in 2000 by Johnson Controls...
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stori.../28/daily7.html


no real solid info, but interesting to see a change in hands and more people who are also claiming multiple failures....

 

Wow interesting. Never knew Optima was a swedish company.

Changing companies sure does affect a lot of things, as we saw with many car audio brands.

I remember years ago, Optima were probably the king of batteries for car use.

I think its safe to stay away from optima right now until they can settle down with quality control.

Maybe you should throw in a regular battery and see how it goes. I'm really doubting that its your electrical system if other people are having problems.

 

I'm still on the OE battery in my MY2000. It cranks noticably slower and I never thought it would make it this far into the winter. I was looking into getting the yellow top 51R back in September and the local Battery Warehouse told me they were on "perpetual backorder" and not to expect availability until after the first of the year.
I was a battery buyer for a large automotive retailer years ago. We sold Delco made batteries under our name and had a <1% true failure rate (under 2yr from manufacture), and just a hair over 2% in warranties. The last battery I bought was one of these and it lasted over 7 years. If the Delco batteries are made by the same manufacturer as they were 6 years ago, I'd get one. I've been out of retail buying for over 5 years and don't know about changes since the late 90's

One thing I can tell you is: make sure you get the "freshest" battery on the shelf. 51R's are not the most popular size of battery and can spend alot of time on a shelf after production. This can lead to shorter life, but not nearly as bad as what you have experienced. Ask the person selling you the battery to tell you what date it was made. The month and year made are usually stamped into the plastic case. Everybody does it a little different, but A05 might be January 2005, B = February...

Hope this helps a little...

Scott