[s-cars] Optima battery

[Mark Strangways]

I used the blue top I think. I have NO issues with it hitting the underside
of the seat, and I just had to remove a wire clamp around one of the wires.
For get which one though.

Love the battery so far.

Mark //S
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Igor Kessel" <KBATPO at comcast.net>
To: "Audi S-list" <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 1:42 PM
Subject: [s-cars] Optima battery


> Folks,
> my battery gave up this morning. The test revealed the following:
>
> Overall voltage: 11v
> Standby current consumption (all doors, trunk, hood closed): 51ma
> Individual cells' charge: 1 - 50%, 2 - 50%, 3 - 0%, 4 - 50%, 5 - 50%, 6
> - 50%;
> Verdict: the cell #3 is shorted, the battery is kaput.
>
> Now, here is the most bizarre part of the story. My records indicate
> that I installed this Autobahn battery at a local dealer under
> warranty on 20 October 1999.
> The sticker on the battery says: 60 month warranty.
> Today's date is 12 October 2004.
>
> Gotta love this German precision. Or would it be better described by the
> term "planned obsolescence"?
>
> I called up my local dealer and asked about the warranty replacement.
> Well, just as expected, I'd get almost next to nothing for my battery
> due to the pro-rated coverage. This has effectively ruled the dealer out
> of the equation.
>
> Since I couldn't bring myself to wasting $80 on aregular Group 48 Lead
> Acid crap with a reasonable life expectancy of 2 years, once again I
> decided to get a good battery for 1.5x this price. Only this time around
> I wanted to try the Odyssey.
>
> However for some unclear reason the Odyssey dry cell batteries appear to
> be roughly $50 more expensive than the comparable Optima dry cell
> batteries. As the popular proverb goes, money talks... Besides Odyssey
> batteries are only available mail-order, whereas the Optima are now
> being sold retail by just about everybody: Sears, Pep Boys, Autozone...
>
> Conveniently enough Sears is currently running a sale on those
> batteries, so I just got one for $116.99 and mounted it under the seat.
>
> You might want to save the following information for your future
reference:
> 1. The Optima battery is rather tall and if mounted vertically it will
> interfere with the metal seat carcass, which is hazardous. You'll want
> to mount it sideways. For the sideways mounting get the regular Red Top
> battery 34/78 for GM vehicles, not the Orange Top battery with reversed
> polarity suitable for the European cars.  It fits perfectly in there and
> the <+> gets properly position on the RH side of the vehicle with the
> sideways installation.
> 2. Buy a longer negative lead. The OEM 14" strap is just a hair too
> short. I had to buy a 16" lead for $8.99 in Pep Boys.
>
> -- 
> Igor Kessel
> http://home.comcast.net/~KBATPO/
>
>
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