hi all,

wanted to ping ya and see which batteries will fit in our car with the stock battery cover on. what would you recommend?

optima red - needs a spacer, right? how much do they cost? does costco carry them? what size?

sears diehard - which one is best....the gold? does the stock battery cover fit?

insterstate - who sells it?

costco brand (kirkland)....any good?

help me out guys...thanks!

oh yeah, my stock battery was changed just under 2 years and covered 100% under warranty. now, 9 months later, the replacement is dead. they said warranty only covers 50% now and would cost me $85 (down from the $170 regular price) and would only give me 1 year 50% pro-rated warranty left. they said that battery warranties from acura are 3 years and don't renew, unless you buy a new one at full price.

 

if you change the battery yourself, does it matter which terminal you take out first or plug in first? is it like jumpstarting....put the "plus" on first, then the "gnd" when installing? how about for disconnecting?

 

You got it. Same as the jump. The logic is this -- the (-) is the entire engine bay when the battery is connected. If you play with the (+) with a connected (-) you may be in for a jolt.


When removing, take off (-) first, and when installing connect (-) last.

I have an Optima Red top, size 34 which you should get with the spacer. I got mine from www.remybattery.com which had the cheapest price including shipping and had great pre-order customer service.

Our batteries are Group 24, but Optima doesn't make a 24 -- the 34 is the same length and width, but shorter by like an inch.

EricL reviewed some of the battery reviews in this post https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...=151799&page=2 check it out. You won't go wrong with pretty much any aftermarket battery, they all exceed the OEM by a lot.

 

Which 34 size is the Optima? I see there is a 34-1050, 34/78-1050, and a 34R-1050.

 

34-1050

You have to talk to the vendor (or email) to make sure they include the spacer if you want it.

The 34R has reversed polaraity at the posts. The 34/78 has side poles for GM or Ford or something.

Also if you get the Optima then the stock plastic battery cover won't fit without a little dremeling. The poles are a little differently placed then OEM. Not a big deal.

 

heat is the #1 killer of all batteries...

do you have a stereo system?

e-bay has a ton of optima batteries...BUT buy local so if you have a problem it can be addressed

 

what about sears diehard? any good? how many cca do they have compared to red top?

 

DieHards are great too, so are Interstate, and pretty much any aftermarket brand.

Look at that link I gave earlier, EricL shows which batteries did best depending on climate.

Most would consider Optima overkill for general starting applications. I have no issue with that.

 

I got the Optima red top 34/78 about a month ago. It has the top mounts and side mounts. It was about an inch too short, so i put in the spacer and it fit perfectly and the battery cover went back on without a problem. I paid $129.

The Optima's are a little pricey and probably not that much better than a Sears Diehard.

 

I have the Optima yellow top. I am impressed, I must say. I have 1000/1 amp and it handles it well. I do need a cap though. I am not sure if worth the $$ though. Oh well its in the car now. If I were to redo it, I would probably pick up the die for short cash.

 

Advanced Auto Parts had a highly rated battery (consumer reports) that was around 50 dollars. Two year free repalcement and something like 6 year pro-rated! It fits without any mods under the shield.

 

Ended up getting the Diehard Gold at Sears....while driving home from work after my coworker give me a jump, the rpm bounced around a bit and the maintenance and ABS lights kept flicking on and off. Kinda worried me, so instead of heading to Costco, I just hit Sears and had them check it out. Weird....for a 6-speed, I wouldn't have expected the rpm's to jerk around, but maybe the voltage from the old battery was just spiking or something.

In anycase, the Diehard they put in is the same size, but the height seemed a little higher. While the OEM battery was flush on top except for the terminals, the Diehard had the 2 terminals as well as the 2 rectangular caps sticking out (they were flush on the OEM). That prevented the cover from fitting too well. Between that and probably the location of the terminals, you really had to work the cover on. Will probably need a little bit of Dremel'ing to shave down part of the cover to make it fit alright (the 2 round posts on the bottom side of the cover).

Car runs okay now....all for just under $100 (including install).