Long story short, I've given up on Optima batteries altogether...
I've had a chronic battery failure in my Cav since I got it. 5 brand new yellow top batteries later (all replaced under warranty) the problem still persists.
Alt checks out both in and out of the car
Starter solenoid checks out.
Load test is only pulling .1 amps when the car is off and key removed (meaning that the battery should last 500 hours before critical voltage, however its only lasting 7)
Any suggestions for a good battery that is not Optima/Interstate?
NAPA sells one its called the Orbital. its the same as a yellowtop. its made by EXIDE. but it seriousely sounds like something else is going on. i cant see you having 5 bad batteries.
Here's what I've done to remedy it:
battery to chassis ground cleaned and reattached
Alt post cleaned, ring terminal cleaned and reattached.
factory amp disabled
alt checked both in and out of the vehicle, works fine and within spec
starter checked out of vehicle, within spec
fusible link between alt and battery spec'd
pulled the radio fuse for a week... no help.
pulled the power wire for the aftermarket amp, no help (also tested when the radio fuse was pulled)
disabled aftermarket alarm (only plug it back in when I actually have a need to use it) -- no go
purchased a
J-38758 to test the load, that's how it was determined at the .1 amps when the car is off.
disabled the underglow
unplugged the acc power socket fuse
pulled the trunk light bulb
unplugged the socket from the AC compressor
there's not much more I can disable after that...
freekin wierd man. have you tried replacing batter cables???
Hi Kardain
are you able to check the charging voltage while driving?
Alont
yeah something seems goofy. i know ive heard optima having some issues but i find it hard that 5 of them have died in a row on you. has to be something deeper. with this kind of issue i'd just go out and find something cheap with a one year warranty and see if it fries as well. you say you pulling power from it when the car is off. whats pullling power. and has it been checked when the car is off? the yellow tops are made to be ran down to nothing and recharged hundreds of times so even if its drained they shouldnt be dying on you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sndsgood/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/Square1Photography
alont wrote:Hi Kardain
are you able to check the charging voltage while driving?
Alont
14.2 - 14.4 volts
sndsgood wrote:yeah something seems goofy. i know ive heard optima having some issues but i find it hard that 5 of them have died in a row on you. has to be something deeper. with this kind of issue i'd just go out and find something cheap with a one year warranty and see if it fries as well. you say you pulling power from it when the car is off. whats pullling power. and has it been checked when the car is off? the yellow tops are made to be ran down to nothing and recharged hundreds of times so even if its drained they shouldnt be dying on you.
HU pulls .01 amps, ECM/BCM pulls the rest.
Thanks, there goes another theory, thought it may not have been charging properly!
Does seem weird that the car has killed so many batteries and you seem to have checked all obvious possibilities.
Are you able to use the J-38758 to check the Alternator charging current, just to see the amperes the alternator is giving?
Alont
My multimeter only handles 10 amps, so not really
I'll see how battery #6 works... put in a standard, wet-cell 78 series this AM
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Sunday, May 20, 2007 11:44 PM
Thanks, awaiting results with interest.
By the way, I like your web site
Alont
Everstart Marine Maxx is where it's at!
dude its not the batterys i had the same problem in my 91 s10 and my 1980 luv i think you have a short in your vehicle wireing some where some on told me if you tern off the car and dissconnect the negative from your battery and take a test light and hook one end to your negative cable and the other end to the negative on your battery if it lights up you have a short so while its light up go to your fuse box and start pulling every fuse till it turns off and then that shouls be the area of your problem and now you have to hunt down the wire and replace it good luck bud hopefully this helps
tim
I have the Optima Red top battery and havent had any problems for over a year+. Is there any oxidation around the battery terminals, ground loops? Plus your battery is reading very high isnt the standard voltage 12.6 volts on all batteries. The .1 amps is coming from the alarm l.e.d if you have one in your car. Does the car die while your driving or after a period of time that the car is off? What Gauge wire are you running as well maybe that can narrow down where the problem may be..
Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:Everstart Marine Maxx is where it's at!
im interested as seeing how you fit a marine battery in or on the cav... ive actually thought about getting one cause the quite a bit cheaper than the optimas but its just too damn big. pics?
timothy fries wrote:dude its not the batterys i had the same problem in my 91 s10 and my 1980 luv i think you have a short in your vehicle wireing some where some on told me if you tern off the car and dissconnect the negative from your battery and take a test light and hook one end to your negative cable and the other end to the negative on your battery if it lights up you have a short so while its light up go to your fuse box and start pulling every fuse till it turns off and then that shouls be the area of your problem and now you have to hunt down the wire and replace it good luck bud hopefully this helps
tim
ECM draws constant power which is consistent with the .1 amp draw I was registering w/ the multimeter.
Bubba00Sedan wrote:I have the Optima Red top battery and havent had any problems for over a year+. Is there any oxidation around the battery terminals, ground loops? Plus your battery is reading very high isnt the standard voltage 12.6 volts on all batteries. The .1 amps is coming from the alarm l.e.d if you have one in your car. Does the car die while your driving or after a period of time that the car is off? What Gauge wire are you running as well maybe that can narrow down where the problem may be..
No oxidation. Standard is 12.6-13 with the car off, was registering 12.6-12.7 on the meter. See above about the .1 amps. Dies overnight sitting in the driveway. Stock gauge wiring.
alont wrote:Thanks, awaiting results with interest.
By the way, I like your web site
Alont
About a week later, and no problems whatsoever
never again is an Optima/Interstate product touching my vehicles.
It's as simple as that. a .1 amp load should not run the battery dry in 7 hours. Either it wasn't charged, or something else was happening. If there was a short, there would be more than .1amps in circuit with the car off. Who knows maybe there was something draining the battery 1,2,3, or 4 hours in after you shut the car off after the installation. That's weird. If other people would have had 5 dead optima yellows, you'd think they'd be out of business But since you've tried another type of battery and a week later it's going strong, then something is really messed up since it only happens with the yellows. I don't have the slightest clue as to what it is, but I do know that sometimes when a small problem is hinted at you, a month later it turns into a big problem and I usually can't get my car started until I remedy it. Just be cautious (spelling?), you never know what could branch from this problem assuming it wasn't the batteries and is actually with the electrical system.
Kind of a stupid question, but how's the hood clearance between the hood and battery? The yellows have top and side ports, so if your top ports aren't capped and are touching the hood, it's shorting out the battery when the hood is closed and you're away from your car. This seems highly unlikely, but you never know until you eliminate the possibility.
I got an autolite 78 series wet cell w/ top and side terminals. the ground is still capped, positive terminal isn't (amp power wire) and the fireblanket is still on the hood, so that would act as an insulator based on where the terminal is mounted.
there's enough clearance
honestly, I think it was the batteries that were crap. I have kind of luck though.
As for the recommendations, I'll be looking at a those when the Fire gets running again to replace that Optima as well (the source of the warranty since the Cav already had a yellow when I bought it and the warranty wasn't transferrable)
