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thats good to know, will go for one of those for the datsun in future.

i was amazed with the battery i got in a cheap chinese dirt bike, has lasted 4 years already, and still has plenty of cranking when left for 3-4 months

never had major problems with my oddessey, its a tiny one for a harley but for the price i got it for new, was below cost price for the shop to order it.

As a daily use it was fine, as an occasional use it wont hold charge while hooked up for more than a week. needs a charger... im lazy and cheap so just disconnect it and its fine. Needs a few more cca for cold weather starting if left hooked up so have a battery jump starter as well.

But seems to need less jump starting in cold since hooked up to gas, car is much easier to start up now.

optima batterys suck, it went dead and after multiple charges nothing, now an expensive freakin paper weight

since they changed contract to another company to produce them cheaper and in much larger runs they are far from what they used to be. My advice is never ever ever use SLA without having your alternator adjusted for SLA charging.

Never had good luck with yellow top optimas. That's rediculous that they won't stand up to their sales-pitch "warranty" though.

On the other hand, I've had the same red top in my truck for almost 6 years (2 more months). Ran it flat at least 6 times and didn't drive the thing for almost two years at one point. I'll be replacing it with another red top when it finally dies.

Id go with the option of taking it back to the dealer and get them to deal with it. They will have the gear to test it on the spot, and should replace it on the spot. If you find out that the type of battery is not suitable for your use, then thats their fault for not providing the right advice, and they should do the righty by you to keep you business.

I have had this conversation with a few friends, and they all think that a battery is a battery. Not the case.

Traditional Lead acid?
Calcuim calcium acid?
Dry cell?
Gel cell?
Deep cycle?
(plus heaps of others)

They all have differnt specs depending on the job they do.

The calcimum calcimum batterys are good for weekender cars, as they hold max volts/amps for a longer peroid of time without charging, but they fail very suddenly. They come with a 3 year warrenty for cars, and 2 years for commercial applications. They are also a little more expensive.

Lead acids on the other hand, are cheap, have awsome CCA capacaity, and degrade slowly before they finally die. But they can leak nasty acid about the place, need maitaince (usually), and are very heavy and large for the CCA they provide, and prefer reasonally regular charging (ie daily use).

After all that. Take it back to the dealer, be nice to them, plead a sob story, or better send in the girly, and go from there.

This is why I did not spend the $$$ on Oddy or Optima. They need to be kept 100% charged and charged straight after discharge. Which is why they dont last in a weekend or minimal use vehicle. Unless you are trickle charging.

I went for a Euro style DIN battery. Which is legal to fit in a vehicle if the vent tube goes to the outside of the vechice. BMW, Audi and the like use them and they are only $160 bucks.

Better value than Oddy I think if you nont need huge craking.

Some of these batteries aren't allowed to get flat.
They should be stored on a trickle charger. I killed my odyssey by not keeping it charged after 12 months.

Another option is to spend $8 and get a battery isolation switch from your local marine supplier..





I now use a Pulse (Cheap copy) battery and have had no issues for 2 years.

Are you able to put in another battery - even if it's a standard one so you can see how long IT lasts.
If you've changed nothing else in the meen time, it will prove that it is the Optima Battery.

Make a phone call to small claims,photocopy all the documents..keep the originals and do what they suggest.
Good Luck