Is my Optima battery garbage?

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Bigmd

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Ok , been letting my gf use my 4runner so she can keep miles off lease. I wake up today and see it parked in front of house and her car gone. She tells me car wouldn't start. I go check it and nothing , not even a click. I look and see she left the seat heater on. I'm sure this is what killed battery even though she swore she shut it off. Anyway I hook it up to my Mercury Grand marquis and all I get is door chime and a few clicks. Am I beat on this one? Is battery done?
 
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Bigmd said:
Ok , been letting my gf use my 4runner so she can keep miles off lease. I wake up today and see it parked in front of house and her car gone. She tells me car wouldn't start. I go check it and nothing , not even a click. I look and see she left the seat heater on. I'm sure this is what killed battery even though she swore she shut it off. Anyway I hook it up to my Mercury Grand marquis and all I get is door chime and a few clicks. Am I beat on this one? Is battery done?
Click to expand...

Hook the Optima in parallel with a normal lead acid battery and let them charge together. When the Optima (spiral cell) gets fully discharged (likely below 10 volts) most chargers will not register that there is a battery connected.

EDIT: Now after reading post #3, you may have a different issue....keep us in the loop.
 
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Sometimes the jumper wire clamps don't grasp the metal terminals well. You may have to put some force on to the clamps to make a good contact with the terminals. The reason why I say this is because you get the door chime to come on but no crank.
 
people have been complaining about optima batteries for months now. it's a forum trend to avoid them.
 
I had followed Optima's overly complicated process for recharging a dead battery: https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/support/charging/resuscitate-deeply-discharged-battery

It worked. However, I also spent the $110 later on one of their specific chargers. It's a damn good piece of kit. I had a yellow top deep cycle Optima that wouldn't come back even following the link instructions above. Tried the Optima charger.....that was 3 years ago. Battery is still powering my Lotus. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ult-150-40008

I'm NOT claiming buying their charger will fix your problem. I'd go get the battery tested first to see if it's good. If it is, then I'd consider the Optima Charger.
 
Ok guys , I took the optima out and put the Toyota battery back in. This battery has been sitting for at least two years since I put the optima in. Hooked it up and she started up. I let it run for a bit and shut it down. He started up fine again basic I took for a ride. Came back and shut it off. On next start up she wouldn't crank over. I jumped it with my car and she started only to not start again the next time. Am I to assume this battery is no good from sitting?
 
Bigmd said:
Ok , been letting my gf use my 4runner so she can keep miles off lease. I wake up today and see it parked in front of house and her car gone. She tells me car wouldn't start. I go check it and nothing , not even a click. I look and see she left the seat heater on. I'm sure this is what killed battery even though she swore she shut it off. Anyway I hook it up to my Mercury Grand marquis and all I get is door chime and a few clicks. Am I beat on this one? Is battery done?
Click to expand...

take it in to an interstate dealer, and have them charge/test it. it may very well be able to be recovered, and give many more years of service.

question about the seat heaters, are they aftermarket?
directly wired, the key doesn't need to be on?
 
Yes aftermarket and directly wired to battery which I found weird. My girl said she knows she turned off though. Also she said it was slow to start up yesterday. I noticed the same thing when I used it.
 
Disconnect the aftermarket seat heater. Remove variables. A seat heater is useless if the vehicle is dead and you will be a lot more cold over all sitting around waiting for somebody to come help you somewhere.
 
Just went out and the truck started no problem but now check engine light is on.i shut it down and restarted but it was slow to start. Alternator was rebuilt when I put new motor in a few months ago.
 
Could be a bad alternator, even though you replaced it recently.

You need to find out what the code is.

And in my opinion, Optima batteries are junk. My red top didn't even last 3 years. They used to be good but are total junk now.
 
Took off terminals and cleaned them and battery posts with steel wool. Reconnected with dielectric grease and snugged everything down. She started right up. Gonna let her sit and try again. Might be going to Walmart for a new battery tomorrow.
 
If there was a problem with alternator is there a different light that comes on? Headlights aren't dim and the interior lights are fine. I'm thinking it's the battery.
 
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The Rostra heater kit I installed is hooked directly to a post on + battery terminal. I don't have the instructions anymore but pretty sure that's what they said to do, however on their site it says to hook to 12v accessory 10 amp circuit. Could the way I have it be draining the battery? What would be correct way to hook up?
 
Seat heaters need to be powered thru a circuit that's only hot with the ignition on. It's almost a certainty that sooner or later the driver or passenger will leave their heater switched on after shutdown.
 
Thanks . I figured it was wired wrong. I disconnected for now until my stereo guys wires the right way. Went to Walmart, which was a zoo by the way. I wanted the 2yr warranty ever start battery. Of course they were out. I spent 25 bucks more for the 5yr warranty battery with more cranking amps. Cost me about 100 bucks. I hooked it up and everything is good . Starts right up.
 
Bigmd said:
Thanks . I figured it was wired wrong. I disconnected for now until my stereo guys wires the right way. Went to Walmart, which was a zoo by the way. I wanted the 2yr warranty ever start battery. Of course they were out. I spent 25 bucks more for the 5yr warranty battery with more cranking amps. Cost me about 100 bucks. I hooked it up and everything is good . Starts right up.
Click to expand...

Good move, Optima is overpriced junk now that they're made in Mexico. The Walmart batteries are made by Johnson Controls & I've had no issues with them yet. Maxx Start! 5 year warranty! $100! You cant beat it.
 
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