Optima Red Top dead

drharv · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:25 am

Heysoos! Will it ever stop!

I was at the lake for the weekend, picking up the trailer and family, and went to start the Heep...got nothin'. I noticed something amiss when the central locking would not work, thought the battery in the fob was dead and used the old school method of opening a locked car door....a key. Put the key in the ignition, turned it on, and voila...no lights no noise, and certainly no start. Puzzled, I threw on a battery charger for a while, waited, and tried the boost mode of the charger (55 amps). Clicking of solenoids, dash lights, chimes, and still no go. Tried boosting from a car, no go. My brother (Mechanical engineer) remembered that his friend had a similar problem with a diesel Ford and what fixed it was a different "good" battery. Pull out ol' red throw in trailer battery, one crank and all is golden. Replaced the red top with a Battery from Dad's Subaru (trailer battery was too tall) and drove home. BUT with a new CEL. Yup, dead battery, replace battery, start Heep, CEL light on. It ran flawlessly for 600 km with the CEL on and got crazy good fuel economy. Wonder if the EGR is hooped? The code will be read by a friend who owns a very well respected garage. That way I know what is up before the pirate stealership starts throwing parts at it.

The question is: WTF happened to the red top. Nothing was left on (you cannot even leave the lights on if you tried they turn off automatically, no accessories were plugged in, no doors left open) and all was perfect when I turned it off 14 hours previously. Mom's theory was that the battery had a dead short between the "plates" which would make sense if that is how these Optima batteries are built. I know the dealership who finally got the Caliberty (Calamity/Liberty) running after the great pump disaster of ott seven, had to recharge the battery at least once during it's stay in intensive care. They probably started the death knell and the logging road/heavy AC use gave it the finishing move.

I have to call the vinyl sticker guy and place my order for not so tasteful lemon stickers. Sorry gang no lemon law here.

0311_DoC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:05 pm

i had the same thing happen to me.

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=22346

mine had only sat for a week.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:18 pm

There was a TSB to re-program the BCM (Body Control Module) for a software glitch that drained the battery. I never experienced the problem before the TSB but when I picked my CRD up from the dealer it was dead with 4 miles on the clock. They figured someone left the lights on but of course that can't happen because they shut off automatically. There were a number of folks here and on KJ Country that reported their brand new Liberty's needed to be jump started at the dealers at brand new pickup.

drharv · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:59 pm

Thanks for the link. Did you try to charge it or did you just get a new one. I have a terrible fear of dealerships and would rather not take the jeeplet there unless absolutely necessary (they will want to check things over before giving me a new battery)

0311_DoC · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:39 pm

drharv wrote:

Thanks for the link. Did you try to charge it or did you just get a new one. I have a terrible fear of dealerships and would rather not take the jeeplet there unless absolutely necessary (they will want to check things over before giving me a new battery)

tried to charge it, it wouldnt work. so the wife took it to the dealer. and today she wrote me this:

Well the kind people at the dealership called and your Jeep will be ready on Friday. They could not find a problem with the electrical but did fix the one recall and will now fix the second recall. They replaced the blower motor and will now fix the torque converter

BiodieselJeep.com · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:18 pm

I left the flip-up glass open one night and killed the battery. Don't know why, I don't think any lights were on. However, it took a trickle charge over the day and it was fine...still running it.

See my note on the code thread, its a "you disconnected the battery or something" code, basically meaningless. Found it on google.

Jimbob · **Joined:** Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:05 pm **Posts:** 160

Had the same thing happen to me, parked it one night. Next morning now juice but a little for accessories. BCM recall killed the battery. I would take it to the dealer, ask them what is wrong and deny you ever recieved the recall notice. Let them fix it and replace the battery. However, dont expect an Optima DC is replacing them with a HD 800 amp battery instead.

drharv · **Posted:** Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:07 am

I took everybody's advice and put it on the trickle charger overnight. This morning it was at 13. 4 volts and seems to have taken a charge. Thanks to all respondents for saving me another trip to the stealer.

Jimbob · **Joined:** Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:05 pm **Posts:** 160

If it was the BCM it will happen again.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:05 am

There is a specific procedure for recharging Optima's(or any gell cell battery) that has been discharged under 10.5 volts.Here it is----

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:50 am

tjkj2002 wrote:

There is a specific procedure for recharging Optima's(or any gell cell battery) that has been discharged under 10.5 volts.Here it is----[list][]

Thanks for the info :lol:

But actually the Optima is a AGM battery, not a GEL :oops:

My new Smart battery charger has a settings for AGM, GEL and WET types :wink:

Info on battery types.
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Batter ... ry%20Types

Joe

litton · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:31 pm

Gotta ask....why bother with an expensive battery like the Optima vs. a more normal battery that has the poop to crank a diesel?

onthehunt · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 7:20 pm

Quote:

Gotta ask....why bother with an expensive battery like the Optima vs. a more normal battery that has the poop to crank a diesel?

Vibration damage. The leading cause of batt failure in otr trucks. Diesels have a little vibration problem!

bbo · **Joined:** Fri Sep 30, 2005 5:17 pm **Posts:** 382

wow .. I never knew people could have trouble charging optima's

I've used em for years ( had a yellow in my sport truck but just didn't have enough CCA's so I got a red)

I leave that thing parked for weeks at a time on occasion and it will drain it .. I always just do the trickle thing overnight and good as new .... ( yes, I am forgetful and don't disconnect it ... I was tired of buying batteries after I killed am and got the red top)

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:43 pm

I have a couple of red tops that have been in my swather for 6 or 7 years and get used about 2 weeks a year. Great batteries. I will probably buy a couple for my tractor that I can't keep regular batteries in.

Jeger · **Posted:** Thu Aug 02, 2007 6:06 am

We have a case skid loader that has had a red top in it for years now, it gets used rough, is constantly covered in oil, grease, coolan, and hydraulic fluid. It isnt even fastened down well (bungee cord), has been submarined several times, and it will still start that cold blooded isuzu diesel even on the coldest day. They are good batteries for sure.

drharv · **Posted:** Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:51 pm

So we figured out the whole dead battery deal. The HEEP had a malfunction of the glow plug control module (maybe it turned on the GP for a long time) and killed the battery dead. Really dead. Like wow dead. Anything I have ever heard is that a really dead battery will not be jump-able in a diesel vehicle. That is why swapping batteries started the CRD. Which immediately threw a code (P1648 - glow plug module malfunction) but started and ran fine. After trickle charging the optima for 14 hours it has held the charge and is in fine condition. Now the GP module is another story.

Optima Red Top dead

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