Optmia Yellow top leak

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So...I bought a nice, EXPENSIVE, AGM battery because I was under the impression that they don't leak battery acid.

Guess not.
Not sure if this 10*F to 20*F in the mornings tipped it over or the one use of the winch, maybe age?

Replacement for this, almost 7 years later is $270, It seems like I paid around $200. Don't quote me on that.

sigh...

 

[Bumbo]

Dude that's nothing... First off it's not really a leak... it's just some minor corrosion at the terminals, certainly not worth complaining about.

You probably developed some hairline cracks around the terminal over time, due to hard use, or rough handling. Causing a little hydrogen out-gassing which leads to that corrosion.

Preventative Maintenance: You could, and should take the time to clean and grease your terminals with a dielectric as preventive maintenance and to maintain a lower resistance connection. I do it once every couple years.

7 years is pretty much about the end of the service life for an automotive battery. Its had a good run. It probably suffered an internal short. What is the voltage at the terminals?

Its also a common failure for an old cell and not uncommon to just die or give out one day.

I recommend NOT buying another Optima, they don't like em like they used to anymore.

Install these on your next battery to help with corrosion.

If it looked like this after 7 years, then I would be a bit more upset.

 

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Haha, I guess I did sound like I was complaining didn't I.
Didn't mean it that way.

I have delt with battery acid killing a super fun little car I have, so I didn't want to deal with ANY battery acid in the T4R.

It is up into the ground cable...I can fix it.
Just had the battery out last July...so its just since then.

I have used the felt o-rings on standard batteries.
That last pic makes me cringe. (Of the foaming over battery acid)

Its reading 11.99v so I guess its on the way out.

 

[Bumbo]

11.99v was a lot better than I thought it was going to be... I doubt its an internal short, because you would have a much lower voltage.

Its probably just fatigued and/or on its way out. Might have an issue with the electrolyte or with heavily sulfated plates.

You could try a desulfator or sorts and see if you can breath new life into it... might be worth a shot.

Did you use this more as a starter, or has it seen some deep cycles? Well beyond 50% depth of discharge deep?

The deeper you go, the lower the service life.

 

[Beaumont67]

Optima AGM batteries used to be made in the USA.
- but manufacturing went South to Mexico, a decade ago & so did brand quality
- I had 2 USA Optima's, that lasted 9 years each...the originals were excellent
- now their too expensive, and poor warranty
- AMG technology batteries are superior, but I only buy ones made in the States

 

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This battery was 11.85v this morning.
Driving its jumping from 13.7v to 14.1v.
Never any deep discharges.
Went to O'reillys and they could order a Yellow top.
Went to Napa and all they have is Optima red/yellow/blue, for AGM style.
Went ahead and bought another yellow, at Napa, $18 core (seems like the last time it was $9). Pulled the old one in the parking lot, and the new one had the wrong posts, since these are reversed posts. Put the old one back in. Have to say even though it is on its way out it still starts right up like nothing is wrong with it.

Guess I will just order something, maybe try a Northstar NSB-AGM 35, seems like I have read some of you guys are running.

 

[Bumbo]

Driving its jumping from 13.7v to 14.1v.

When you are driving, all you are doing is seeing the output voltage from the alternator. As expected, those are the voltages you should be seeing.

The real question is how fast does it start to loose its surface charge after turning off the truck? After turning off the truck, it should be anywhere between 12.75 - 12.25 after resting. High elevens might be OK for a battery that old too after resting for a day or two.

 

[Bumbo]

Put the old one back in. Have to say even though it is on its way out it still starts right up like nothing is wrong with it.

This is why I mentioned cleaning the terminals as preventative maintenance.

You probably had a high resistance connection resulting in poor starting performance. Now that you have removed and replaced it, its probably improved because you broke though some of the gunk/build up.

Chances are there is nothing wrong with the battery if its working as expected.

 

[BackOff]

This is why I mentioned cleaning the terminals as preventative maintenance.

You probably had a high resistance connection resulting in poor starting performance. Now that you have removed and replaced it, its probably improved because you broke though some of the gunk/build up.

Chances are there is nothing wrong with the battery if its working as expected.

It has never had any starting issue. Allways fires right up.
Seems like running it was at 14.7v fairly steady if I remember right.

I thought this just happened like a poof but looking back at pics I can see it had started before November and after I had it out in July.
Found a pic from June and early November.

It would be 7 years old next April, so I guess its been a good battery, I just didn't think they leak.

 

[riceandpho]

u can do the blue, its the same as the yellow but has extra terminals. but i dont use optima brand anyway, odyssey battery or northstar is a good agm.

 

[criera]

Im about ready for a new battery myself as well. Right now batteries+bulbs has 10% off if you order online and pickup in store as well as a $30 mail in rebate on their X2 batteries which are rebranded northstar AGM's. you can get a group 35 or 24F for $240 after discount and rebate. They come with a full 5 yr warranty and they have stores everywhere, so thats probably the route Im gonna go.

edit: oops, i thought i was in the 3rd gen forum so disregard the size specifics since you are in a 4th gen, but still worth considering for your size imo.

 

[613runner]

Optima Yellow Top Leak

I work in a battery store, the best thing to do is to dump those nasty thin bronze terminals and replace them with decent solid lead marine terminals - I do that on all my vehicles, yes use the colored felt collars, but also spray them and the terminals with some anti-corrosion spray, a small can is very inexpensive from batteries plus bulbs etc.

Personally, I use an American made Duracell/Deka SLI24FM, Gold battery in my 4Runner, and in my classic car I use a Red-Top Optima, which is just fine since I bought it in 2011. It is on a battery maintainer when I am not using the car.

 

[BackOff]

I hate to say it but this leak could just be due to my negligence.
I have a ScanGuage2 in front of me but didn't have it on the voltage setting.

Playing with LiPo R/C style batteries over the last few years. If you try and charge a battery with one bad cell it tries to over amp the rest of the good cells and they can get VERY hot and sometimes explode and burn vigorously.
Seeing as the PB(lead acid) batteries are more stable they just out gas, I am guessing.

This morning the yellow top was at 11.80v and it was just a tiny bit slow starting.
Drove into town and back, 14 miles, and its at 12.18v, sitting an hour its at 12.03v. Also running it was 13.9 to 14.1 but stayed at about 14v most of the time, not jumping around like yesterday.

I did only pay...only right...$174 for this back in 05/13/2011, guess I was a month off thinking it was April.
...we must have sold all the Lead mines to the Russians.

Looking at the AGM options.
----------------------------------------------------
Duracell Ultra Platinum AGM
SLI34RAGM $200 @ 42.25lbs
--------------------------------------------------------
Northstar
NSN-AGM 35 $250 @ 48lbs
---------------------------------------------------------
X2Power (BatteriesPlus)
SLI24FAGMDP $300 (With rebates $240) @56.9lbs
(group24)
----------------------------------------------------------
Optima Yellow top D35
8040-218 $270 @ 36.4lbs


I am kinda reluctant to add much more weight to the front driver side than I have to, I am already nose heavy, probably going the Yellow again...grrr.

Unless anyone else has any great ideas.
BatteriesPlus looks like a good deal, and is, but they are $30 over everyone else, the 10% gets you the price at every other place.

Thanks for everyones input...gotta love this forum!

 

[Bumbo]

$174 was a great price for a battery like that. In today market, you pay a lot more and unfortunately get a lot less.

Assuming the same group size, and looking at the weights of the batteries, the lighter Yellow is very telling.

Out of curiosity, you should throw the old one on the scale. Id be curious to see a weight difference between one manufactured in 2011 and one today.

Personally, I would go with an odyssey or northstar battery before buying a Yellow. I hear way too many "they dont make em like they used to" stories to jump on that bandwagon.

My next question is do you really need a deep cycle or AGM? If you are using it as a deep cycle, just get a regular good quality starter battery with a 5 year warranty for $100 and move on. The ones made by Johnson controls, sold at Walmart, are great.

 

[BackOff]

My next question is do you really need a deep cycle or AGM? If you are using it as a deep cycle, just get a regular good quality starter battery with a 5 year warranty for $100 and move on. The ones made by Johnson controls, sold at Walmart, are great.

Probably don't NEED a deep cycle, want AGM because I don't want it spilling/leaking on the bad/rough roads I seem to find myself on. I am a spirited off-road driver so things get shook up. I keep my cars forever so I don't want acid eating them up, its bad enough with all the crap the county sprays on the roads.

I went to Johnson Controls website...they show Optimas.
I will weigh this old Yellow when I figure out what I am going to replace it with.
Thinking I may see how far this one will go down and still start, just for the heck of it.

 

[Bumbo]

Probably don't NEED a deep cycle, want AGM because I don't want it spilling/leaking on the bad/rough roads I seem to find myself on. I am a spirited off-road driver so things get shook up. I keep my cars forever so I don't want acid eating them up, its bad enough with all the crap the county sprays on the roads.

I went to Johnson Controls website...they show Optimas.
I will weigh this old Yellow when I figure out what I am going to replace it with.
Thinking I may see how far this one will go down and still start, just for the heck of it.

I rather have the piece of mind of a fresh battery in my car, especially off-road. You can always re-purpose the old yellow as a garage battery... maybe use it on the bench for testing 12v gear, or as a spare just to have around. I keep an old cell on float just for that.

Totally understandable why you want an AGM, but it's good to know not all AGMs are deep cycle, and not all flooded batteries are starter batteries. It really comes down to the construction of the internal plates.

Just as an example...
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=ACDelco+agm

 

[riceandpho]

i thought the group 27f is a factory replacement, the 24f is a little small. weight shouldnt matter with batteries, good batteries are design to last more that 5 years + .
if you need a bigger one, do a group 31.

 

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The forums level heads prevailed...also no one in town carries a D35 Yellow.
These 4th gen are oddballs, if the battery wires were just a tiny bit longer you could get a D34 to fit, everyone seems to carry them.

Started thinking that it might not be good on the charging system if its trying to charge a bad battery, was just a thought.
Have a little portable jumpbox in the glovebox I have never used, had the idea I could test that out if the Yellow died. I will save it for an emergency.

Did the BatteriesPlus, Duracell SLI35/85AGM $185.40 after the 10% online buy, store honored it, and a $10 mail-in rebate for $178.40. Seems that was more than enough money... my brain only handed the cashier $120...LOL.
Thought he said it had a 4 year warranty. Made in USA.
Is turning over faster and it only weighs a couple pounds more.

I guess I was wrong before thinking I was charging at 14.7v, its running voltage is now 13.7v +or- 1.
Sitting at 12.64v
Weight is 41.5lbs

I weighed the Yellow top, it is 38.5lbs
Bathroom scale... so take it for what it is.
Its back to 11.84v sitting.

Cleaned all up pretty good with some baking soda and water, still want to cut out the ground wire and replace it and the connection.


Thanks gang!
...And nice wiring riceandpho!

 

[riceandpho]

The forums level heads prevailed...also no one in town carries a D35 Yellow.
These 4th gen are oddballs, if the battery wires were just a tiny bit longer you could get a D34 to fit, everyone seems to carry them.

Started thinking that it might not be good on the charging system if its trying to charge a bad battery, was just a thought.
Have a little portable jumpbox in the glovebox I have never used, had the idea I could test that out if the Yellow died. I will save it for an emergency.

Did the BatteriesPlus, Duracell SLI35/85AGM $185.40 after the 10% online buy, store honored it, and a $10 mail-in rebate for $178.40. Seems that was more than enough money... my brain only handed the cashier $120...LOL.
Thought he said it had a 4 year warranty. Made in USA.
Is turning over faster and it only weighs a couple pounds more.

I guess I was wrong before thinking I was charging at 14.7v, its running voltage is now 13.7v +or- 1.
Sitting at 12.64v
Weight is 41.5lbs

I weighed the Yellow top, it is 38.5lbs
Bathroom scale... so take it for what it is.
Its back to 11.84v sitting.

Cleaned all up pretty good with some baking soda and water, still want to cut out the ground wire and replace it and the connection.


Thanks gang!
...And nice wiring riceandpho!

thankx, but that battery seems kinda small. 680 cca is a bit low, especially you guys that live in the north where it gets to the freezing temps. 27f or the smaller 24f would of work. well if you want to try to revive the dieing optima, put it on a smart charger and let that bring it up back to working voltage. I think it just a dieing cell. blue top should work for you, its a yellow with extra terminal so you can add more wires. trying to revive that optima on the stock alternator can kill the alternator.

 

[BackOff]

thankx, but that battery seems kinda small. 680 cca is a bit low, especially you guys that live in the north where it gets to the freezing temps. 27f or the smaller 24f would of work. well if you want to try to revive the dieing optima, put it on a smart charger and let that bring it up back to working voltage. I think it just a dieing cell. blue top should work for you, its a yellow with extra terminal so you can add more wires. trying to revive that optima on the stock alternator can kill the alternator.

The OEM battery;
Toyota True Start 84 month
00544-24f60-575
575cca 130min RC (reserve capacity)
forgot to weight it...
It was 7 years old too and I just replaced it for safety and was starting to leak on the top.

That Northstar 27f is 68lbs/$330. 930cca/1750ca 195min RC
Northstar 24f is 57lbs/$287. 840cca/1500ca 160min RC

Way more than I need. For reserve capacity that 27f is almost double at 195min. Its like 2 batteries in one.
I am full steel skids and heavy steel bumper/winch, for me extra weight is a factor.

It only got up to 32f yesterday, the Duracell turned the v6 over pretty fast.
Granted the engine was warm. So not really a good cold test I guess.

I will play with the Yellow and see if I can cook it with a R/C charger I have.
The Blue tops are all the wrong posts, would have to extend the cables to make it work...not sure I can even pronounce the name of that wire you used.