Optima Red Top is gone

tomasnc · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:11 pm

After 6 years my OEM battery is gone.

Are you guys going back Optimas or another group 34 battery?

Oreilly's charges 214.00 for a Optima Redtop battery. I see that Sears P1 battery is 209.00. I need to look into coupons or something. I had zero idea batteries for autos had got this out of hand :shock:

I plan on owning this car until she's dead so I may as well bite the bullet?

What say you all?

Thanks,

Tom

papaindigo · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:36 pm

Bunch of options out there depending what lights your fancy. Bottom line is any Group 34 battery will work if 1) the terminals fit, the OEM battery is a 34R but unless you have a right hand drive a regular group 34 should work if mounted with the + on the drivers side although you might have to slightly twick the - cable to fit and 2) CCA rating is 800 or better. I lean toward AGM rather than traditional lead acid. If you want to keep the battery wrap you may have to add velcro as the wrap is too short to fit around a normal Group 34. Consensus is current red tops are not up to the old standards and their new warranty is a joke. Sears P1 is good/pricey/good warranty, Interstate Mega-tron 85 month is good/less pricey/decent warranty, others report acceptable batteries in the $90-100 range at discount places. Be advised some places will only look at their "book" and then get sticky about mounting any battery other than what the "book" calls for and apparently some of the books say the CRD only takes a Mopar red top.

fastring · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:41 pm

http://www.sears.com/diehard-platinum-a ... 850034000P

I went with the Sears P1 Plat. I've had alot of red top Optimas and have had mixed success. The red top in the Jeep really didnt die but was starting to and as its my daily driver and I do alot of leaving stuff plugged in to charge/radio on not running, I bought a new battery.

We'll see how the P1 does but for now, if I had to replace other batteries in other cars, thats probably the direction I'd go over another red top.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:18 pm

IMO get anything beside another optima.

audiboy86 · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:20 pm

I have the P1 it is a beast of a battery I run my edgestar fridge all night in 80 degree heat in my jeep and it doesn't even touch this battery. I will definitely be buying another one. I mean they are designed for Sears by Oydessy batteries which list for 300 easy and are designed to have the crap beat out of them and still work flawlessly.

WolverineFW · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:45 pm

papaindigo wrote:

Bunch of options out there depending what lights your fancy. Bottom line is any Group 34 battery will work if 1) the terminals fit, the OEM battery is a 34R but unless you have a right hand drive a regular group 34 should work if mounted with the + on the drivers side although you might have to slightly twick the - cable to fit and

If you buy a group 34 that has the terminals centered on the top of the battery, it will fit without any adjustments. Just line it up with the right terminals.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:43 pm

My Sears P1 cranks faster than the Optamas ever did.

naturist · **Posted:** Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:18 pm

Well, ya gotta have a battery, unless you need a new lawn ornament . . . .

tailfeathers · **Joined:** Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:23 pm **Posts:** 13

I just replaced the redtop in my liberty crd with an agriculture deep cycle battery, group 34, 850 CC, 84 month. I got it at the local farm and home store for I beleive it was $116.00.

tomasnc · **Posted:** Mon Feb 13, 2012 10:54 am

I ordered a Interstate Mega-Tron MPT34 for $97.00

I would like a Sear P1 battery but the $209.99 on sale deal kills it for me.

The interstate bat has a 30 month free replacement policy too.

Thank you guys for all your excellent guidance. This forum is a blessing.

Regards,

Tom

UFO · **Posted:** Mon Feb 13, 2012 4:16 pm

Wow, what a coincidence! Mine failed Sunday as well. I drove to Costco in my pickup and got a group 34, 795 CCA for $80. Good enough for me. Funny, Costco's fitment guide had no recommendation for the CRD, just the group 34 for the 3.7L engine, but it said 800 CCA minimum. So I got the group 34, as it said 795 CCA. We shall see..........

MRausch82 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 13, 2012 8:43 pm

My wife and I drove the CRD to DE on Friday to visit family and check on my property there. I bought and replaced my Optima on Saturday (a Day before the Sears sale) with a P-1 since there is no sales tax in DE. It cranks a hell of a lot faster, and starts much nicer now! I need to call Sears and see if they will credit me the difference... though I am not holding my breath. They never charge me a core at that Sears though, so I kept the Optima as a spare for the gasser Volvo's.

flman · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:13 am

I read every one saying the lead acid battery cranks faster, but what are you all comparing it to? Did you make a recording of your Optima cranking over when the Libby was new? Of course the new battery is cranking faster then the tired old Optima. :roll:

MRausch82 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:22 am

flman wrote:

I read every one saying the lead acid battery cranks faster, but what are you all comparing it to? Did you make a recording of your Optima cranking over when the Libby was new? Of course the new battery is cranking faster then the tired old Optima. :roll:

Who said that the lead acid batteries specifically crank faster? The consensus here is that the Sears Platinum AGM batteries are good batteries. Yes, it'll crank faster, but it was not said that it will crank faster than a brand new Optima. Optima's suck. Their customer service sucks. And their warranty now sucks.ost are going away for these reasons. I don't think anyone got one over an Optima because it'll crank faster than an optima... :roll:

flman · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:07 pm

MRausch82 wrote:

flman wrote:

I read every one saying the lead acid battery cranks faster, but what are you all comparing it to? Did you make a recording of your Optima cranking over when the Libby was new? Of course the new battery is cranking faster then the tired old Optima. :roll:

Who said that the lead acid batteries specifically crank faster? The consensus here is that the Sears Platinum AGM batteries are good batteries. Yes, it'll crank faster, but it was not said that it will crank faster than a brand new Optima. Optima's suck. Their customer service sucks. And their warranty now sucks.ost are going away for these reasons. I don't think anyone got one over an Optima because it'll crank faster than an optima... :roll:

Please elaborate, why do they suck?

My new Optima cranks faster then my old Optima :goink:

http://www.offroaders.com/directory/pro ... Redtop.htm

MRausch82 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:12 pm

flman wrote:

MRausch82 wrote:

flman wrote:

I read every one saying the lead acid battery cranks faster, but what are you all comparing it to? Did you make a recording of your Optima cranking over when the Libby was new? Of course the new battery is cranking faster then the tired old Optima. :roll:

Who said that the lead acid batteries specifically crank faster? The consensus here is that the Sears Platinum AGM batteries are good batteries. Yes, it'll crank faster, but it was not said that it will crank faster than a brand new Optima. Optima's suck. Their customer service sucks. And their warranty now sucks.ost are going away for these reasons. I don't think anyone got one over an Optima because it'll crank faster than an optima... :roll:

Please elaborate, why do they suck?

My new Optima cranks faster then my old Optima :goink:

Their warranties suck compared to others on the market... Their customer service is not helpful and stinks as well. Optas are not as good of a battery as they once were.

UFO · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:15 pm

And they still cost 2x-3x more than a normal battery. Mine lasted 101k miles (over 7 years), no complaints, but the replacement is warranted 100 months at 1/3 the cost.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Feb 14, 2012 10:22 pm

Quote:

OPTIMA® is a trademark of Opens external link in new windowJohnson Controls (JCI) and is available worldwide.

The wound cell technology of OPTIMA® Batteries was first used in 1969 for the US space programme to power the Lunar Rover. In 1972 this technology was bought by Gates Rubber, and in 1983 the firm began to develop it for automotive applications. The Gylling Group of Scandinavia bought OPTIMA® in 1994, opening a factory a year later in Colorado. In 2000 OPTIMA® was acquired by Johnson Controls. In 2007 JCI laid the foundation stone for a new production site in Monterrey, Mexico, enabling it to keep pace with global demand.

I think last year they closed US manufacturing - it was ~ 50% before - the reliability of the Monterrey manufacturing has been less than stellar....

flman · **Posted:** Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:57 am

Here is a good post at the Sprinter forum on battery replacement by one of the electronics geeks.

http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpo ... ostcount=2

Quote:

Re: Should I replace original battery?
I wouldn't change it merely for calendar reasons... i'd *measure* it and make my decision from that (you could well have another two years of life in it or more).
Buy a vehicle-monitoring system like a ScanGauge II (my fave), DashDaq or UltraGauge.
One of their displays is battery voltage.
If it's below 12.4 volts in the morning before trying to start (NOT with the glow plugs heating... they'll lower a good battery to 11.xx), then: yes, it's getting weak.
(mine's down to 12.1 on cold mornings, in large part due to a self-caused "flattening" incident at Xmas. So i'm warned, but not frantic)
If it's 12.7 or above, it's as fresh as a daisy.

The ScanGauge will also let you see as-you-drive MPG, accurate MPH, LOD (keep it below 70% and watch your MPG improve by over 10%), etc.

Welcome to the (hopefully) happy Sprinter club...
--dick

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:09 am

Sears P1

I had 2 red tops and and both were weak on voltage causing slow starts:dizzy:
The reason why is that per the Optima site a fully charged Red Top's voltage is 12.6 to 12.8 and that is just not enough :5SHOTS:

Get the Sears P1, the first time you crank it you'll have a smile on your face :jester:

The terminal type is way over blown, the P1 fits perfectly!
My P1 measures around 13 volts all the time and charges to 13.4 just like any liquid acid battery except it's a AGM :BINGO:

Optima Red Top is gone

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