Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge, lasted
one day. Thought I'd explore an Optima, but found they don't make an
application for the C4. Closest is their 75/25 but seems a smidgen to long
and height may be a problem dependent on where the posts are (it has posts
and side mounts) relative to the cruise transducer. Mid-America used to push
Optima's for Vettes, but they don't anymore (why?). Anybody using one in a
C4 - if so how? And, any "standard" high-end battery recommendations? Thanks
in advance for any help.
Adios,
Pizza Bob
Private - 19 May 2007 23:28 GMT
> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
> disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge, lasted
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Pizza Bob
Depending on your individual situation and any other vehicles that you own,
you may want to consider purchasing batteries that can (if possible) be a
common size which will allow you to rotate them in other vehicles when your
vette is in storage for the winter. This can allow the batteries to remain
in normal use, which may extend their life. Some pickups can be equipped
with dual battery boxes which will give you added capacity in the winter
when you need it most.
IMHO batteries never seem to last much over 5 years no matter how much (or
how little) they are used. They can be used longer than that but do lose
reliability especially in cold weather.
benf802961@aol.com - 19 May 2007 23:46 GMT
My Interstate battery is going on 4 years. I expect car batteries to
last roughly 6-7 years.
Chuck Tribolet - 31 May 2007 03:46 GMT
The DieHard in my '87 was installed in about '92 and got replaced a couple
of years ago. This is a VERY occasionally driven car (29K miles now,
21K in '95). It lives on a Schumacher smart charger when it's in the
garage. Keep it on a good smart charger, use a good battery, and
don't worry about it.
>> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate - disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a
>> charge, lasted one day. Thought I'd explore an Optima, but found they don't make an application for the C4. Closest is their
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> IMHO batteries never seem to last much over 5 years no matter how much (or how little) they are used. They can be used longer
> than that but do lose reliability especially in cold weather.
aRKay - 20 May 2007 01:58 GMT
> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
> disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge, lasted
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Pizza Bob
I went to battery hell and back with the useless Delco AGM until I got
rid of it and replaced it with a Wall Mart Everstart. It has been in my
01 C5 for two years with NO problems at all. The best thing about
buying a battery from Wall Mart is they are everywhere and open 24 hours
a day, 7 days each week. The Everstart has more cranking amps than
Delco and a much better warranty.
I will never use anything but a Wall Mart battery unless I buy a new
car with some useless company brand battery.
JimH - 20 May 2007 16:28 GMT
> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
> disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge, lasted
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Pizza Bob
I put an Optima into my 1993. I had trouble getting it to fit. I
contacted the company, but they didn't respond to my emails for weeks. I
ended up cutting off the top post to make it fit. I ended up replacing
it a short time later when it died. After that, they responded that the
battery would not fit in a Corvette. Don't waste your money.
Jim
PJ - 20 May 2007 18:56 GMT
>> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
>> disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge,
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> Jim
The Optima story: Back in 2002 I got one of the early Optima red-tops
and stuck it in my '89. Had to remove a spacer from the bottom and go
through the usual business with the gill panel to access the battery
tray. Great battery--lotsa cranking amps quick starts etc. Holds up
well with the static drain of the analog stuff in the C4 electrical
system--goes a month of no-starts without attention. After 5 years it
responds to occasional abuse from a home-garage charger.
Pimped the battery here. Several guys bought and a few, like Jim found
that Optima had changed the red-top. No spacer on the bottom, battery
too tall to clear the cruise control servo bracket. Jim wasn't the only
one who amputated the top posts. *Don't buy Optima for a C4!*
I warrantied out the Delco in my C5 (side post failure) for another
Delco -- bad move -- only took a moderate hosing on the pro-rate but had
to swap out the new batt as it wasn't holding a charge. *Third* Delco
in that car (an '02) is about 6 months old. OK but, *Don't buy Delco !*
Since all we are doing is renting lead from these clowns, go with the
best ratio of cranking amps to dollars and ignore warranty. Wal-Mart
would work for me -- or Interstate, or Everlast, or Everready etc.
--
pj
Big Al - 20 May 2007 21:38 GMT
> > Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
> > disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge, lasted
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Jim
I also have no luck with Optima batteries. They have all the money they'll
ever see from me. Been through around seven of them. If they go all the way
dead, they stay dead. My best service has been with Interstate batteries.
Years ago Delco batteries were hard to beat, Now they last two years and you
get to fight for a warranty replacement.
Al
CardsFan - 21 May 2007 14:24 GMT
> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
> disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge, lasted
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Pizza Bob
CardsFan - 21 May 2007 19:22 GMT
> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
> disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge, lasted
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Pizza Bob
Sorry about the previous non-post. I replaced the Delco with an Interstate
battery and it has caused no issues, and at times over the winter it sat
several weeks without a startup.
AJM
'93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp (both tops)
'Key - 21 May 2007 20:38 GMT
>> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let
>> it sulfate - disconnected the float charger and forgot
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> AJM
> '93 Ruby coupe, 6 sp (both tops)
note;
the use of a battery tender will help any battery last about
4 times longer.
http://tinyurl.com/2pdnq9
g'day

Signature
"Key"
=====
Dad - 21 May 2007 23:33 GMT
>>> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it
>>> sulfate - disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
> g'day
We had an old fart in town (what am I saying), that used to take a
dead battery and trickle charge it all night and then dead short the
terminals with a bar of steel until it was red hot. Then he would hit
it with a high amperage charger until it held 13+ volts and re-sell
it. Most would work as long as some new ones. The way his place was
eat up with acid my guess is some of them exploded and maybe he put a
fresh batch in some of them to get them to work.
Just down the street was another old fart doing rebuilds on generators
and alternators. Both were much needed back the 50s and 60s as it
seemed like I was always fixing some body's car that need one or the
other.
Sadly I don't do much of that kind of fixing anymore as most of those
folks are gone. Talk about old farts....

Signature
Dad
05 C6 Silver/Red 6spd Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd
64 Red/red/white top/4spd
PJ - 22 May 2007 00:02 GMT
>>>> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
>>>> disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge,
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
> Sadly I don't do much of that kind of fixing anymore as most of those
> folks are gone. Talk about old farts....
South of the Border, down Mexico way, they've got it down to a science:
Dump the old acid into a crock and let it settle. Run two or three
rinses of water through the battery and clean the outside. Pour the
acid back in and throw a charge on it. Plenty of these for 10 bucks...5
bucks if you bargain.
Oh yeah, the rinse water flows down the gutter, into the TJ river,
across the border and your tax dollars work to clean up the mess.
--
PJ
Tom in Missouri - 22 May 2007 15:35 GMT
ROFL. Basically, it works. What screws up a battery are the deposits on the
plates. Heating the plates to flake it off or the bouncing it around and
flushing it out will put new life in them by having clean plates again. One
of the other things that kill a battery is junk in the bottom shorting the
plates together. Dump that out and you get more life.
>>>>> Battery in my 1990 Z-51 died. My fault - I'm sure I let it sulfate -
>>>>> disconnected the float charger and forgot about it. Took a charge,
[quoted text clipped - 51 lines]
> --
> PJ