The battery on my 2009 is barely starting the car. It wasn't so good in the summer, but now with the cold...

What is the warranty, if any on the battery?

I have a NAPA Gold in my Camry and it starts right up hot or cold. I had a Duralast in my Integra and it seemed to be as good as the NAPA. And what about Optima? I've heard about a lot of returns on these but for people who have had good luck with them love them...

 

if you car is having difficulty starting it is close to the expiration date. get a new car. battery wont help

 

I usually go with Sears Diehard batteries. They're consistently rated very high by Consumer Reports. Never had a problem with them. We replace the battery in my wife's car with the cheapest battery Advance Auto sells since we're planning on getting rid of it soon. It works good too.

The longer you drive on a weak battery, the higher chance you are doing damage to your alternator. Your alternator's primary job is to charge the battery and the battery distributes that power to your headlights and accessories. When your battery is dead or dying, you are now relying on your alternator to power your high amp accessories which its not really designed for. My friend has a truck and he milked a bad battery for as long as he can. He ended up having to replace the alternator due to the preventable extra strain he put on it. Easy to replace $75ish battery or PITA to replace $150 alternator...my buddy lost out on that one.

 

If your car is still under the bumper to bumper warranty you may be able to get your battery replaced under that warranty. I believe the battery warranty is 4 years, unlimited miles.

 

Didn't think about the alternator. Called Acura, they said that I would have to bring it in and only if their machine says "it needs to be replaced" will they proceed further. I think I'll stop at an auto store (a couple on the way home) just to get a quick opinion as they will test for free.

 

i got optima yellow

 

Depending on where you live (cold climate?) you may wish to replace the OEM battery with a larger one (e.g., a 24-F size). You will have much better cold starting power when needed. However this will require some mods (battery holder etc). I would also replace the ground wire with a thicker one.

As for what type of battery, I have had good experience with Interstate batteries (the black top ones).

 

OEM Acura. LOL Just kidding, it's crap but our's just crapped out on us just like everyone on this forum and most likely yours will too. Acura will replace it for free and the new one they gave me says 100 month replacement so maybe it's got 100 months left? If you have the money go for a better battery.

 

Any special mods or did it work ok with existing hardware?

 

I don't understand.

The battery is covered under the basic warranty so if you are still under warranty just go to the dealer.

Even the worst battery will last a couple of years so why would you want to buy a new battery is Acura will swap it for free.

While Optima batteries are great, they won't do anything for you (on a car with stock electrics) than the OE battery.

 

Yeah, I went with that. They tested and replaced under warranty. I didn't realize just how bad it was 'til I started it with the new one.

 

both the red and yellow optima batteries have more CCA than regular junk batteries.

how's it been?

 

Right - and if the OE has sufficient cold cranking amps for the car then more won't be added value.

Me? I'd buy a battery when I had to - out of warranty.

 

doesn't more CCA mean it will crank faster....especially if its cold outside?

 

Kinda-sorta. The rating is the number of amps a new, fully charged battery can deliver at 0° Farenheit for 30 seconds, while maintaining a voltage of at least 7.2 volts, for a 12 volt battery.

Batteries come in all sorts of different specifications and it is important to match it to the requirements of your car. A battery with a higher CCA rating doesn't necessarily bring you any advantages if your current battery provides the requisite power to start your car.

BTW, without actually looking at the battery, research shows that the OE battery is rated at 500 CCA. The Optima yellow top sized for our car (D51R) is rated as 450 CCA.

Is the Optima a better battery? Probably, but you will find no difference when starting your car with a new Acura battery vs a new Optima.

I also don't think that our batteries are AGM and our systems may have a bit of an issue charging an AGM battery.

 

i suggest u get an optima yellowtop battery, i always had an issue start up my car in this cold weather. I bought one of theses babys and never had an issue again... soo far i have a year with it and never had any issues

 

I can't speak for this forum because I haven't spent anywhere near as much time here, but I can share that the first gen forum is heavily littered (relatively speaking) with posts that are highly negative in regards to the Optima yellow top battery (I don't think there's a red top that fits). FWIW, I got over 4 years out of the OE batteries in my 05 and 07, and never had any problems with either of them (replaced them to be on the safe side). And that's in the Northeast. I think just about any name brand replacement battery will work fine, though like wiper blades, I replace them before they need to be replaced. I don't like surprises like the ones that a bad battery provides.

 

I've heard good thing about Interstate Batteries Cosmo.

 

I would go with a Costco Battery- just replaced my TL's today for $74. The warranty seems OK at 36 month unlimited replacement and 100 month limited warranty. I have never had a hassle with a Costco battery. The battery I just replaced today was still working but I got a nervous when it cut out after two hours of radio time while working on the car- it's life was 42 months.

 

no its all plug and play

i have it for over 6 months and i love it

 

We use Optima Red Tops in our HWMMVs (Hummers to most of you) and generators and we've replaced six of them in the last year and a half (I've replaced 3 myself in the last 4 months). When they die, they die. They drop straight down to 7.3-8 volts and that's that. You can jump it (since it is in series with another battery) and get it charged up. The second you stop the truck it drops right back down. These batteries were not used in very harsh environments and those that were replaced were all less than two years old. If you are looking for a good AGM battery, there are others that I believe are a lot better. And even a conventional battery is better than Optima in my opinion. Some that have good experience with them will always speak highly. Isn't that what we all do? So take it with a grain of salt. But I say, stay away from Optima.

 

Haven't had any problems with my Yellow Top yet. It's been about 3-4 months.

 

Maybe you should tell who ever owned theses battery that they need a better alternator.... These Battery die quick because they need to be kept charged at all time... if u are to see the type of voltage any stock alternator produces you will understand why u changing good battery all the times...