ok so im askin this cuz im not very familar with optima yellow top batteries and my car came with one. since i got the car its been starting right up and the volts are always at 14 but recently it sat for a week while i was on vacation and i had to jump it when i came back. so i was just wondering, is my yellow top dying or is there something else i should check? thanx.

 

https://my350z.com/forum/maintenance...d-battery.html

Not very good based on my 2 experiences with them.

 

There is no magic physics involved with the Optima yellow top. Just like any battery if it is dead it is dead.

 

Well, Optima's claim is that the AGM gel dry cell technology jibber jabber they use is able to recover from being in a state of deep discharge. But I knew once my two yellowtop batteries hit that threshhold there was no saving them, even after running the last one on a trickle charge for 24 hours.

 

when asked at sema a couple of years ago the opitma's sales rep couldn't point out any benefit over a tradition battery other than its dry cell. I constantly change them out of customers cars. If your trying to charge them, they wont take a tradition charge, infact opitma's procedures on said matter is that you have to have a traditional battery to act as a buffer between the charge and opitma. Do your car a favor and get an interstate.

 

yeah i hate my red top. Let it die and the only way I could recharge it was to put it in parallel with my wifes car battery.

I now keep it on the trickle charger now and hopefully it keeps it floating through the winter.

 

thanx for the replies! i thought it was weird that i could leave my civic with the cheap duralast battery for two weeks and have no problem starting it up yet this one couldnt last 6 days.

and to clear things up once i jumped the car its been workin fine. it sounds like optimas are just overrated and i guess mine is dying?

 

if its older than 6 months its dying, a solar trickle charge keeps it afloat if its sitting or just buy a 80$ regular battery, optimas used to be a big thing since people with systems would kill the battery and jump it and it would be fine, were as a regular one would fail. Also the shielding on an optima is less, there are battery blankets that extend optima life but there is no real benefit.

 

Something is draining your battery, you need to find where it is draining it. If the battery is relatively new, it shouldnt discharge like that. You might have a short or something is grounding out.

 

I've had an Optima D35 Yellowtop on my car since March of 2007. I've drained it dead several times by way of my sound system and I've recharged it each and every time with my CTEK trickle charger. It still works like new to this day.

 

if i had a system or somethin id check that out but my stereo and alarm is all stock so i dunno. its workin fine now since i drive everyday but i guess when it dies ill look into getting an interstate one, theyre cheaper and i hear nothing but good things about em.

im not sure how old my yellow top is but ill go see if theres a date stamped on it somewhere.

 

Ive gone through 3 yellow tops. Each time i let the car sit for about 2 week and when go to crank car it wont crank. Battery goes dead, wont even take a charge too. shitty over priced battery

 

they suck

Will never buy another one.

 

Is it possible OP just got a bad one? My car sat at the shop for well over a month and when I went to pick it up it just took a second to fire right back up. Had the same yellow top for a few years and never had an issue with it.

 

well it turns out theres a very conveniently placed sticker on the top of the battery that says 08/07. im not sure how long these are supposed to last but i have a feeling ill be buying a new one within the next year. they seem like good batteries but not worth double the price of every other battery you could get. thanks for all the feedback!

 

Ive brought a few batteries back from the super-uber sulfated deadness, but you should also look as to where your electrical leak is coming from, as a replacement battery will get drained if you leave it again for few weeks...

I have always used a traditional battery, but i can post the frankenstine recipe if you want.

 

ive had the same problem with any battery ive owned in my Z ever since ive gone boost. im pretty convinced its the after market EMS, right now the haltech and in the past a utec, thats causing the problem.

 

Update! The car wouldn't start so I brought the battery to az and its still good I just had a loose ground and dirty connections. once I reconnected it I noticed all these reset procedures in Haynes manual, do I really need to do all that?