OPtima Yellow Top failues

[Aussie]

The car in question is my 68 Camaro, with LS1 & 6 speed. Not driven much recently. Lives with a Ctek battery charger attached. Has an immobiliser & E-Stopp brake. No electrical changes in years.

Last May the battery had suddenly died completely, this battery was around 3 years old. Replaced it with another yellow top, it was dead in 4-5 months, during that time it had fully charged and all signs on charger were correct. So it was replaced. I purchased another battery charger in case it was the culprit. Yesterday I go to car and again another battery has died completely, again 4-5 months old. This one I had done a couple of drives, and charger showed all was good until I checked yesterday.

The last 2 batteries have been replaced under warranty, but what are my possible options to look for, or a different brand of battery?

[btmatt]

My Company is a supplier to Clarios (formally Johnson Controls) that manufacture optima batteries. Several years ago, they moved manufacturing to Mexico and Quality suffered.

That said, Clarios manufactures for many brands. Seems that all lead acid battery brands have quality issues now.

[Tsaints1115]

The common denominator is your car. Maybe there's a hidden issue.

[79 Camaro]

For many years I used optima's in my hot rods but maybe 7-10 years ago they seem to fail within 3 years. Always kept them charged. I went back to the premium Fleet Farm brand. Almost about $100 cheaper. No issues.

[Vimes]

You need one of these.



A clamp-on ammeter that will read DC will let you check to see if you have a drain somewhere on the car. Your car should have a very minimal drain when everything is off. It's possible you have a short somewhere that is putting a drain on the battery.

It would also be a good idea to check the alternator. A bad diode won't necessarily show any other signs of a problem when the engine is running, but will drain the battery when it isn't. The ammeter should show current passing through the charge wire to the battery if this is the case. Whether it does or not, it would be worthwhile having the alternator checked.