Battery woes, need advice

[Roushman3]

So I've been having what I thought were battery problems. If the car sits overnight, or while I'm at work the battery completely drains. When I go to start the car, the selenoid just makes that horrible clicking noise.

I have an optima red top, got it tested at O'Reillys and Advance Auto Parts and both of their testers said the battery is completely fine (holds charge, puts out its rated amperage, etc.).

Next, I replaced a terminal that had a little bit of corrosion/rust on it. I thought this fixed the problem b/c my car started the next day, but barely. It ended up dying later that day while sitting in the parking lot at work.

Last night I unhooked the positive terminal before I went to bed, reconnected it this morning and the car started right up without a hesitation.

This tells me something is putting a serious drian on my battery. How do I go about figuring out what is draining my battery? I searched a couple other posts but couldn't find a clear description of how to do this.

-Rich

[02pnygt]

using a multimeter or amp meter hook it up to the battery to see what kind of amp draw there is with everything off, just sitting. Shouldn't be much, but with a short there will be some amp draw. Start pulling some fuses one at a time and see when the amp draw goes away. that will atleast lead you in a particular direction to look.

[Roushman3]

using a multimeter or amp meter hook it up to the battery to see what kind of amp draw there is with everything off, just sitting. Shouldn't be much, but with a short there will be some amp draw. Start pulling some fuses one at a time and see when the amp draw goes away. that will atleast lead you in a particular direction to look.

Thanks, it looks like the multimeter only costs about $15 which isn't bad at all.

To make matters more confusing...I went to a local shop that does nothing but batteries, atlernators, and charging components, they hooked up the battery to a bunch of testers and concluded that there was something wrong with the battery. Turned around and took it to Advanced Auto Parts, they ran their diagnostic tool on it and it checked out as being fine. WTH!

I guess I will try the multimeter tonight and see what I can find...

[02pnygt]

I personally won't use a red top optima because of seeing so many problems with them. I work for one of the big parts chains and have see issues with them all too often. Charge them up and test them and they test fine. Put them in a car and them sit for a couple days and they won't start the car. I've had the issue myself and knew there was nothing wrong with the car. Went thru two redtops and finally put a plain old oem style battery in the car and have never had another issue. This has been over a 3 yr period. Heck, i have even parked the car for a few months in the winter and never even unhooked and it started right up. Brought this problem up to a sales rep for optima and he sat there and told me there had to be another problem, it couldn't be their battery. This occurred at a meeting which had folks from our whole region. After i brought it up several others agreed to seeing the same problems in their own stores time and time again. He didn't know what to say then. Now i have used the yellow tops in some other cars and never had an issue with them.

[Roushman3]

I personally won't use a red top optima because of seeing so many problems with them. I work for one of the big parts chains and have see issues with them all too often. Charge them up and test them and they test fine. Put them in a car and them sit for a couple days and they won't start the car. I've had the issue myself and knew there was nothing wrong with the car. Went thru two redtops and finally put a plain old oem style battery in the car and have never had another issue. This has been over a 3 yr period. Heck, i have even parked the car for a few months in the winter and never even unhooked and it started right up. Brought this problem up to a sales rep for optima and he sat there and told me there had to be another problem, it couldn't be their battery. This occurred at a meeting which had folks from our whole region. After i brought it up several others agreed to seeing the same problems in their own stores time and time again. He didn't know what to say then. Now i have used the yellow tops in some other cars and never had an issue with them.

Thanks man, that's some good info right there. I spoke with an Optima technician over the phone and my last ditch effort is taking the battery to an interstate battery store and have them test it. If it needs a charge, they loan you a battery for a deposit while it charges up and refund you when you come to pick it up. I'm not so sure I want to buy another Optima no matter what color top if this doesn't solve my problem.

[SMOKE]

Well, I can testify to the strength and cranking power of the red top Optima I have in my 98. It sat for months at a time a few years back ... and fired up everytime I needed it. It's lasted 5+ years with no issues.
However, over this very cold winter it needed a charge ... after sitting for 3 months. So I've had good luck with Optimas.

[Roushinator]

I had to return my Red Top Optima. No problems with the new one.

[99ROUSHingS3]

yellow top is more probable, it is a more deep cycle battery....i have a red top, but just bought a yellow top. i used to work for Interstate Batteries.

[spindlecone]

+1 on the yellow top, better batt for the application.

[vista blue]

+1 on the yellow top, better batt for the application.

So why does every person use a red top? I to am in the market for a new battery and thought the red was the best, are the blue tops marine only? What is the best?

[roushstage2]

People use the blue tops in cars too. Pick a color and CCA I guess. Not worth it IMO either way though.

[99ROUSHingS3]

the yellow is def worth the money, ca and cca is rated just right, esp. if you have a sound system or aux. lights...imo tho!!!

[Roushman3]

So from all the posts above, I'm thinking Optima has some quality control issues.

I ended up going to Advance Auto Parts and got a replacement red-top for $32 (the pro-rated price).

The End. (hopefully)

[vista blue]

So from all the posts above, I'm thinking Optima has some quality control issues.

I ended up going to Advance Auto Parts and got a replacement red-top for $32 (the pro-rated price).

The End. (hopefully)

Good luck and keep us posted.

[99ROUSHingS3]

good luck brotha

[roushstage2]

So from all the posts above, I'm thinking Optima has some quality control issues.

I know several people on other forums that have had nothing but issues. They seem to be hit or miss.