optima YT wont hold charge, what to replace with?

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

I've had my YT for probably 4-5 years now. Just recently my bat light started coming on. Got it checked at autozone and they said the bats not holdin a charge. It still starts and runs fine but the light keeps comin on and twice the electric cut out while on the highway. The bat costs $200 and I just found out it only had a 12 month warranty...kind of a joke for such an expensive battery. So I'm not gettin another optima for sure. I can get a die hard that will have a waaay longer warranty. It don't matter if I'm pushing 1800w, at least I can get a replacement if its nuked. So what do u guys think I should do? Die hard, interstaten kenetic? Warranty is pretty important to me now. Also I got a 200amp excessive amperage alt with big 3 in 0awg.

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[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

Deka Intimidator is my choice. But diehard platinum are good is you can get them local (made by odyssey or northstar, i forget). Most batteries like that do not have a long warranty because they are used in extreme situations.

Interstate that you metioned is who makes Optima

 

[wesl56 10+ year member]

or walmart/auto zoo batteries... cheap and they generally dont give you any shit when you try to return them

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

Lol very true about walmart

Well I looked up the DH platinum and its got 4 year replacement and 100 month prorated warranty which is the best I've seen yet...much better than optima, interstaten SVR, or kinetic. So I may end up going with that one. Its the same price as my YT but its got a much better warranty. Plus its in stock now at the Sears auto right outside the mall I'm workin in right now lol

 

[gotparts90 10+ year member]

interstate IS johnson controls too? I worked for them and did not know. I thought they where separate. When I worked for JCI we got batteries for 60-70 shipped. 100 shipped for the biggest one

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

I've had my YT for probably 4-5 years now. Just recently my bat light started coming on. Got it checked at autozone and they said the bats not holdin a charge. It still starts and runs fine but the light keeps comin on and twice the electric cut out while on the highway. The bat costs $200 and I just found out it only had a 12 month warranty...kind of a joke for such an expensive battery. So I'm not gettin another optima for sure. I can get a die hard that will have a waaay longer warranty. It don't matter if I'm pushing 1800w, at least I can get a replacement if its nuked. So what do u guys think I should do? Die hard, interstaten kenetic? Warranty is pretty important to me now. Also I got a 200amp excessive amperage alt with big 3 in 0awg.

4-5 years is not bad and is around the average lifespan of any lead-acid batt.

That diehard platinum is a $60 batt that you are paying a huge premium for the warranty.

With 1800w, get ready to deal with dimming problems if you choose anything less than Optima, Kinetic, Deka, Odyssey, any decent "car audio/deep cycle" batt.

In my opinion, if you are concerned about warranty, you should check out the higher end Odyssey batts. I believe they come with a 4 year warranty and they have some decent AGM batts.

FYI Interstate and Optima are completely different batts. Just because they are both owned by Johnson Controls doesn't mean anything.

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

4-5 years is not bad and is around the average lifespan of any lead-acid batt.
That diehard platinum is a $60 batt that you are paying a huge premium for the warranty.

With 1800w, get ready to deal with dimming problems if you choose anything less than Optima, Kinetic, Deka, Odyssey, any decent "car audio/deep cycle" batt.

In my opinion, if you are concerned about warranty, you should check out the higher end Odyssey batts. I believe they come with a 4 year warranty and they have some decent AGM batts.

FYI Interstate and Optima are completely different batts. Just because they are both owned by Johnson Controls doesn't mean anything.

4-5 years isn't the average of a stock battery with no high end audio or anything. You can expect

A good ten years out of a stock one or regular diehard.

I highly highly doubt ill see dimming with a 200a alt + big 3, even with 1800w. And even a little dimming

Is fine with me, I just want it to last. I don't care if its not a "car audio" bat, I just want to be

Covered. Ill look into those odysseys though if they truely have that long of a warranty.

I mean ideally, a car audio bat is better, but I'm not droppin 200 bux every couple years for something that's not that important

The rest of my electrical is adequate, and if need be I could always add a secong bat.

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

4-5 years isn't the average of a stock battery with no high end audio or anything. You can expectA good ten years out of a stock one or regular diehard.

I highly highly doubt ill see dimming with a 200a alt + big 3, even with 1800w. And even a little dimming

Is fine with me, I just want it to last. I don't care if its not a "car audio" bat, I just want to be

Covered. Ill look into those odysseys though if they truely have that long of a warranty.

I mean ideally, a car audio bat is better, but I'm not droppin 200 bux every couple years for something that's not that important

The rest of my electrical is adequate, and if need be I could always add a secong bat.

10 YEAR BATTERY LIFE???//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

that a real streatch there.

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

10 YEAR BATTERY LIFE???//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gifthat a real streatch there.

well i guess ive just had some pretty **** good luck with bats then lol. ive had multiple cars that still had the stock battery in and were 10+ years old. my parents have too. my dads taurus's battery lasted the entire life of the car. well the car didnt die, but when he traded it in it was a huge POS with real high miles and quite old lol.

even if i get another 4-5 years out of a battery, thats not terrible i suppose. but a 12mo warranty is a f*ckin joke. they mind as well not even give it a warranty. no battery is gonna die in a year unless it was built wrong or something.

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

but a 12mo warranty is a f*ckin joke. they mind as well not even give it a warranty. no battery is gonna die in a year unless it was built wrong or something.

The 12mo is to cover manufacturing defects. If a battery lasts more than a year and doesn't make it to the 5yr avg, then its usually due to how the batt is used. Often, using the batt when its very hot or very cold will decrease the batt life. Deep cycling or bad charging can also reduce life as well as many other things.

Btw stock (oem) batts usually have a shorter lifespan than aftermarket. A stock batt lasting 10+ years of normal/constant use would be very rare....

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

well those odyssey's are looking promising //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif 4year warranty and reasonably priced.

looks like the size 35 will fit in my 03 accord 3.0L V6, if anyone can confirm that it'd be nice //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

anyone know if theyd take money off for trading in my YT? i know sears auto does that with diehards but im not sure if they do for optimas, and i dont know if other places do trade ins either considering sears doesnt carry odyssey...

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

So you had your yellow top up front? You do realize those are geared more for audio and not ment to be a starter battery. I am surprised you got that to last that long. Also I believe you would have voided the 1 year warranty (lol) if something happen in that year because you were using it for what it is not intended for. That is why they make the redtop as their starter battery.

I have had no problems ever with my Optimas and I have owned the Red, yellow and blue, some 7 years with no issues, other times, I just got rid of my rides.....or they got stolen, lol!

To me, still one of the better values out there in the battery world.

I also like Powermaster a lot! I would say hit up the classifieds, but your all about the warranty, and not sure how buying a used battery would help you. I have nothing but good luck, but meh, I get them dirt cheap, so if they did go bad, so be it.

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

So you had your yellow top up front? You do realize those are geared more for audio and not ment to be a starter battery. I am surprised you got that to last that long. Also I believe you would have voided the 1 year warranty (lol) if something happen in that year because you were using it for what it is not intended for. That is why they make the redtop as their starter battery.
I have had no problems ever with my Optimas and I have owned the Red, yellow and blue, some 7 years with no issues, other times, I just got rid of my rides.....or they got stolen, lol!

To me, still one of the better values out there in the battery world.

I also like Powermaster a lot! I would say hit up the classifieds, but your all about the warranty, and not sure how buying a used battery would help you. I have nothing but good luck, but meh, I get them dirt cheap, so if they did go bad, so be it.

i wasnt aware of that. the guy at sears auto said the YT is fine as the primary/only battery...bastard lol

well in that case maybe ill look into that diehard platinum.

 

[mt2marc1]

yt and rt are only 120 or something like that from costco, not 200, and my rt came with a three year warranty from costco, so look into them..

 

[Big Ry 10+ year member]

yt and rt are only 120 or something like that from costco, not 200, and my rt came with a three year warranty from costco, so look into them..

yeah, i saw the RT's have a longer warranty. and ****, $120 is MUCH cheaper. sears auto does trade ins though, not sure if costco will...