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74 Eldo Optima AGM battery replacement

Started by 13912, December 04, 2014, 11:00:45 PM

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13912

I have an Optima Redtop battery in my 74 Eldorado that needs to be replaced, and I'd prefer not to get another Optima or other AMG batteries after reading about testing with a load test meter, using a special charger to charge the battery adequately,monitoring if the charge gets below 40% etc. Any suggestions on a suitable high cranking amp replacement is appreciated

TJ Hopland

At one time I had several Optimas and really didn't have any complaints.   Several years ago the original company sold to Johnson controls and I noticed the same model battery got lighter and significantly more expensive.   That made me nervous so I quit buying them.   I do still have that last one and one other older one and they both still seem to be working fine but I have not bought any more.  Its mostly the price that is keeping me away, they are almost twice the price of a similar sized premium battery.  The other factor for me is most of my fleet is now diesel with dual batteries that should be replaced in sets and usually only one dies so I tend to have good used singles laying around for all the places I need a single battery for.     I think the only reason I would buy one again is if the spill proof feature would be useful.

For the longest time I would always buy Sears batteries once the factory battery died.  Always had great luck with them.   Sears historically stuck with the same manufacturer and it was usually good stuff.   About 15ish years ago that all seemed to change and since then I have kinda randomly jumping around to various other brands.   

For regular batteries East Penn Manufacturing seems to be the one everyone likes these days.  It can be kinda hard to figure out who makes who.   Excide also makes a lot of different brands but what I read about them is they are the worst for corrosion at the terminals due to a bad seal design.   Johnson is the other big one and people say overall those don't last.   

After reading that I went out and took an informal non scientific survey of all the batteries under my care which is about 30.  In most cases I was able to see 'manufactured by' on the label.  A few cases I had to turn to the internet to figure out who made em.    Turns out that what I read was true.   I did not have any Johnson Control batteries that were real old.   EVERY Excide had corroded terminals, one was only 6 months old and had new cables at the time.   My oldest batteries tuned out to be East Penn which I didn't even know existed till recently.    From what I can tell those 3 manufacturers have a pretty even market share and cover about 90% of the aftermarket battery market.

Excide seems to tend to be the most popular choice for the least expensive batteries other than that I did not notice any trends in who makes who.   Some brands will have all 3 makes within their options which can make it difficult and confuse things.   You could have bought a brand x for one vehicle that was made by Johnson that worked well for you so when the wife's car needed a battery you go back to the same store and get the same brand that fits her car and that one was made by Excide and turns out to be crap.    Napa has used East Penn for most of their higher end models for quite a while but apparently more recently switched to them for most if not all of their line.    For sure I am now avoiding Excide because of the terminal corrosion issue.   East Penn is where I was apparently moving towards even before I knew they existed because of Napa and a local farm and fleet store that I frequent for other stuff. 
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

TJ Hopland

I think Energizer car batteries are made by Johnson Controls.   I have had a few and they were alright, I would say average.

The pre Johnson Optimas were not much more expensive than a similar regular battery.  What I remember when I was first buying them was the regular premium battery with similar specs was say about $90 the optima was maybe $115.   I really abused the first couple I had and they held up very well.   The spill proof was also a really nice feature for a battery that got moved around a lot like in seasonal stuff.   A year or two ago when I needed a new pair for a Suburban I just bought I was thinking of getting Optimas but price was like $220 each!.   Regular battery (napa premium) I ended up with were I think around $120.   I just could not bring myself to spend an extra $200.   This truck is a year round vehicle so I was not worried about the spill proof design.       

Thing that does not make sense is that before Johnson bought them they were made in a fairly small factory in the USA.   Johnson bought them and moved production to Mexico.   Price went up and they got lighter.  From what I can tell the quality still seems decent but you would think their costs would have gone down moving production out of the USA so why did the price go up?   
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

Dan LeBlanc

I worked for Exide 4 years ago and here's what I do know.

Exide can't make a good high CCA battery.  They have trouble with plate spacing and can't seem to get it quite right.  In a vehicle with lots of vibration, such as a diesel, the plates are so close together that the vibration causes them to touch eventually shorting out and causing a dead cell.  We had lots of warranty claims on those.  The low and medium CCA stuff wasn't bad, but all of them had leakage issues.  Even the new batteries coming off pallets had a bit of electrolyte weeping out of them.

Of course, like every battery company, we bought cores from the dealers.  DIdn't see a lot of East Penn come in (Deka brand), saw lots of Exide (both Exide and private labeled stuff) and Interstate, but not a lot of JCI (Johnson Controls).

Exide used to supply the Die Hard batteries in the US, but that ended in a big lawsuit against Exide for substituting batteries that didn't meet the rated performance.  That was a big hit to Exide.  Exide also supplied OE replacement batteries for Toyota, Nissan, and Chrysler under their private labeling here in Canada.  The offering was a bit bigger in the US.

That said, I would have no trouble buying a JCI or East Penn battery based on what I saw in my brief stint at Exide.
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

waterzap

The only batteries I ever had issues with were the red optima's
I had a Corvette..red of course. And like many Corvette owners I went a bit nutty and of course had to have a red battery, a la optima red. Also, a lot of electronic for the Vette are right under the battery. The battery container even makes a nice little funnel so you can be sure any acid will drop on the computer there. So I thought, get the Optima, gel and all and be safe. I think two or three left me stranded before I got the Optima Yellow. Much better battery, but probably not needed. AND...it clashed with the red on the rest of the car. The horror!
Leesburg, AL

TJ Hopland

What Dan just said fits everything I have read and experienced recently.    Fits very well with what I have observed in some brands where their smaller and less expensive models are Excide but the larger ones come from another vendor. 

Dan, do you recall what era Excide was doing the Sears ones?    I wonder if that was when I gave up on em?  I'm thinking they seemed to turn to crap in the mid 90's.

I have never personally owned anything other than the 'Red top' Optimas.  I see the blue and yellow but have not actually owned one.
StPaul/Mpls, MN USA

73 Eldo convert w/FiTech EFI
80 Eldo Diesel
90 CDV
And other assorted stuff I keep buying for some reason

Dan LeBlanc

From what I was told, it would've been the late 90's early 2000's.  That was a huge loss for Exide and it took them a long time to regain the volume with smaller resellers after losing the account.
Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

13912

Many thanks to all who responded to my Optima battery issue- interesting that no battery mfgr comes out as superior, they all apparently have issues & have disappointed car guys. As usual greatquick  inputs from the CLC members- many thanks
Bob Dwyer