Optima battery dead - Honda Prelude Forum

munscher · 03-13-2006, 07:02 PM

Apparently my Optima Yellowtop is dead. It still reads 12V but won't crank the car. Took it to the local autozone and the tester says its bad. Of course its been 2.5 yrs now and optima warranty is 1 yr replacement, 2 yr pro-rate on the yellow top. Of course if it were a red top the warranty would be 3 yrs replacem6 yr pro-rate. Looks like i screwed myself by getting a yellow top. "Our customers tell us repeatedly they last up to 8 or 10 yrs with no problems." MY ASS! I've never had any problems with it, and the car has never sat longer than a week without being run. No idea why it went bad on me.

Guess i should've gotten an Autozone special for $30, hell it would've lasted this long.

XdisengageX · 03-13-2006, 07:11 PM

the Autozone testers don't always work perfectly with the Optimas. I had mine tested at AZ yesterday and they told me that when it gets really low, an Optima will usually read "bad battery"

please have them trickle charge it before you pitch it or use it as a core for exchange

CIT_lude · 03-13-2006, 07:13 PM

I just bought a Yellowtop a few months ago because I was having trouble starting and I have a moderate system. Well, the starting problem still hasn't gone away, and I recently had the battery tested. Guess what? It's bad. Luckily I'm well within a year, but it does NOT speak well for the quality of Optima. When I was doing my research, I came across a few others on this board with similar experiences...

munscher · 03-13-2006, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XdisengageX

the Autozone testers don't always work perfectly with the Optimas. I had mine tested at AZ yesterday and they told me that when it gets really low, an Optima will usually read "bad battery"

please have them trickle charge it before you pitch it or use it as a core for exchange

I'll see if i can get up there sometime this week and have them do that. Luckily i live ~1 mile from campus so i can walk to school for the next few days.

Girl n-a Lude · 03-14-2006, 04:44 PM

i've also had a fair share of bad luck with optimas. i'm on my third one. the first lasted 2 years. the car sat at the shop forever getting painted..and then it stopped holding a charge. so..no biggie. replaced w a new one. died in 3 months. warrantied out to the 3rd one now. all yellow tops. if this one goes, im getting a interstate =P

pter · 03-14-2006, 05:50 PM

Hmmm... this sucks.
I just got my yellow top about a year ago. And this morning I had a hard time cranking.

I guess I should start looking for my trickle charger.

siklude · 03-15-2006, 01:26 PM

i have an optima yellowtop, nothing wrong so far (knock on wood), but alot of my teammates have had there share of problems. i should have thought twice before buying one.

munscher · 03-18-2006, 12:42 PM

So if i'm reading +12V, will charging it do anything? I only understand electricity so well...

sandiegan · 03-20-2006, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Girl n-a Lude

i've also had a fair share of bad luck with optimas. i'm on my third one. the first lasted 2 years. the car sat at the shop forever getting painted..and then it stopped holding a charge. so..no biggie. replaced w a new one. died in 3 months. warrantied out to the 3rd one now. all yellow tops. if this one goes, im getting a interstate =P

why do you keep buying optimas

my yellowtop died after about 2 years

pter · 03-22-2006, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by munscher

So if i'm reading +12V, will charging it do anything? I only understand electricity so well...

It should be a little bit higher. Is that +12V with it disconnected?

munscher · 03-22-2006, 11:16 AM

Yeah, out of the car it will read anywhere from +12V to +12.8V if i remember right. I have tested it so many times they all run together. Hopefully gonna pick up a new battery today, I tried charging this one for a few hours with no luck. The charger showed that it was charged when I hooked it up.

munscher · 03-22-2006, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by munscher

Yeah, out of the car it will read anywhere from +12V to +12.8V if i remember right. I have tested it so many times they all run together. Hopefully gonna pick up a new battery today, I tried charging this one for a few hours with no luck. The charger showed that it was charged when I hooked it up.

Its reading +12.94V right now.

doe · 03-24-2006, 04:09 PM

I have a red top

thankfully there is a longer warranty

lilredlude · 03-24-2006, 05:08 PM

my red top lasted 1 year and had bad cells. but it was under warranty, so i just traded it in for the pepboys special...

Killer_Vtec · 03-24-2006, 05:20 PM

Thank god , I found this thread. No Optima for me now

G_Loc · 03-29-2006, 08:35 AM

I've had my red top for 3 years now. Hell, my car went pretty much unused for 3 months and all it needed was a trickle charge to get it back up.

D_Ludesions · 03-29-2006, 08:57 AM

My brandnew Blue top wouldn't hold a charge and or had enough power to turnover the car

munscher · 03-29-2006, 09:03 AM

Call me crazy, but I got a Red Top... cross your fingers for me.

Cjanik · 03-29-2006, 09:57 AM

i have a optima yellowtop, i installed it ~ October of 2004, its got a charge of ~13.4 while off.

most deep cycle batteries will last you ~2-4 years if you dont constantly drain it and recharge it....its called a deep cycle for a reason

aneurysm · 04-07-2006, 03:26 PM

My yellowtop died at about 3 years as well. I opted for the red-top instead since it has 3-years replacement.

brad