Red OPTIMA battery

bazar01 · bazar01's Garage

I am due for a new battery.
Is this really a direst bolt on without the need to fab a plastic base from a chopping board like the older 911s need?
The way it looks, I might be able to rotate the terminal side close to the fender inner wall.
This way, the positive and negative terminal locations are preserved. No danger of reversed connection.
I am also concerned about the hold down fitment on the battery base. Any ideas? Thanks.

pmajka · 09-12-2007, 08:54 AM

bump for info

bazar01 · bazar01's Garage

I went ahead and went to Advanced Auto and bought the red top. It fit with no modifications needed.
The side with the terminals have to be installed close to the wall and this preserved the positive and negative termination.
The stock battery clamping fit very good as well.

Pete000 · 09-12-2007, 10:12 AM

FYI, They are really hard to charge up when completly dead. I had to use jumper cables and my SUV to get it to charge up a bit before the battery charger could even get it going.

I recomend a trickle charger if it is going to sit for over a week.

falcon · falcon's Garage

I purchased a red top 3 years ago. At that time there was no side "clamp down" areas at the base of the battery to use the euro clamps used by porsche. I had to purchase a bottom plate and the "J" hooks from Pep boys and install it using those items whereas used the porsche clamp to hold down the battery tray. I did notice that the battery needs to be tilted toward the inside of the car because the J hook toward the fender was not at the right angle for installation or tightening.

Sometimes I do not use the Pcar for 2 weeks and the battery would always be dead. I installed one of those turn-off knobs for about 15 bucks. After turning off the car I just turn the knob and no more issues. Yes, the presets on my radio are lost but heck I couldn't hear it on the road anyways :-)

Do a search on battery mounts. There was a pelicanite who fabbed his own mount using alum angle bar and bolts which allows for a more custom fit.

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 09-12-2007, 10:45 AM

My red Optima lasted for about a year and a half, even though I religiously used the master cutoff when the car was parked. I always thought they were supposed to be light. They aren't. Replaced it with a small Interstate to fit into my smuggler's-box rack. I'll never buy another Optima; now everybody tells me, "Oh, yeah, they don't last long, and they're impossible to recharge if they go dead..."

Scooter · 09-12-2007, 10:48 AM

I have one in my 993. It is a direct bolt in.

As stated above, it is very hard to charge if it goes dead.

Example: I accidently left my hood open for about a day and a half a few weeks ago and the battery went completely dead. I tried a trickle charger overnight with no success. I took it down to the auto parts store and the had it charged up in an hour. No problems since.

PS: mine is only about 6 months old.

bazar01 · bazar01's Garage

I already rigged a two-pole battery connector that came with my Sear's battery tender so there should not be any problem driving the car once a week.
I am more worried about the acid spills corroding the floor pan. Batteries are cheap, rust repairs are not.
Thanks for the replies.

JMatta · 09-12-2007, 12:52 PM

I've had a red top in my '73 street/track car for three years without issue. It resides in the smugglers box and is connected thru a cutoff switch. When the car is parked, the cutoff is always off. I don't even remove it during winter months, and when checking voltage in spring, doesn't even need a charge. Of course, there are no electronics on my car to draw the battery, but even so, after three years of no issues perhaps I'm just lucky.

pmajka · 09-12-2007, 01:37 PM

so why are the Optima's so special?

fbarrett · fbarrett's Garage

Stephan:

I've had great service from four Optimas in three Mercedes-Benzes and an Alfa but none in a Porsche. One is at least 10 years old. A friend has one much older than that (possibly one of the test batteries originally sold here in Denver) in a beater car that sits for months at a time outdoors. I wonder if there's something about the 911 installation that causes a loss of charge?

I love Optimas because they are totally non-corrosive--and hold a charge and last forever! I have a small (light) but reliable Interstate battery in the 912; when it fails, I'll probably try an Optima--and report back!

dvkk · 09-12-2007, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmajka

so why are the Optima's so special?

They are absolutely sealed so no battery acid leaks to corrode away the battery tray.

Eagledriver · 09-12-2007, 04:22 PM

Mine has been in since the previous owner, over 6 years. I've had no issues with it and my car sometimes sits for months. The only problems that I've heard about is the hard to bring back from dead. It seems like if you hit it hard with a high amp charger it will usually come back (I've never had to try this because I've never had the battery go dead). I will never buy a conventional battery again.

-Andy

patkeefe · 09-12-2007, 05:28 PM

The Optima in my SC has a date code of 1995. I've run it dead and recharged it many times with my 2 amp charger. It weighs 38 pounds.

Tomorrow my car won't start...

ischmitz · ischmitz's Garage

I agree with others: it is a great battery as long as you don't deep-cycle it. No issues with leaking acid. That's why I like it. I had mine for a couple of years with no issues. Then once I did not drive the car for a longer period - the battery went flat (clock and alarm drained it). Ever since it held very little charge, maybe one tenth of its initial capacity. I could charge it all right for it to be able to crank the car but if I left the headlights on for something like 30 minutes (going into a store) it went flat. So I eventually had to replace it.

When trying to charge it with an old-fashioned charger the battery voltage goes quickly above 14.8 volts so that it doesn't draw much power and hence doesn't take a charge. Modern microprocessor-controlled chargers detect this anormality and refuse to charge it altogether. What happens is that some irreversible processes go on once it deep-cycles. Maybe the yellow-top marine version lasts longer. It is also a little more expensive.

Ingo

EarlyPorsche · 09-12-2007, 06:45 PM

Get a yellow top, my buddies yellowtop is about 8 years old, it still works. I think it might just be the redtops that are bad.

Rufblackbird · 09-12-2007, 06:54 PM

I've never had an issue with Red Tops...the one in my current 911 is 3 years old, and it used to be a month or so between startups. No problems at all.

If the battery gets drained till it's absolutely dead I've read here on Pelican that you cannot trickle charge it...must zap it with higher voltage to get it going again.

EarlyPorsche · 09-12-2007, 07:54 PM

Personally I use Diehard golds and they go months at times not being used and are fine. If they sit for a while I trickle and then go. They only suck if they getting tipped over. Did that once in my grand cherokee, it sucked.

arrivederci · 09-13-2007, 06:12 AM

Have had one for quite a while (10 years?) and only occasionally need to trickle it even though my car sits through the winter. Mine is mounted on its side and it did leak once when it was on the trickle charger. There is a little foam-like vent on the top. It wasn't fun neutralizing the acid and thoroughly hosing out the battery box. The acid also stained my painted garage floor. My guess is the trickle charger did a little more than trickle - leading to the gel liquifying and leaking. Normally the gel battery won't leak.