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I had to replace my battery today

6K views 24 replies 14 participants last post by  LBee 
#1 ·
After some research I discovered that our batteries are pretty unique (IOW rare), but a group 78 was recommended.

First my car is a 2007 and I thought it did very well for the stock battery to last this long in our hot weather. My experience over the past 40 years is that batteries in our hot climate usually only last about 36 months. My theory is that the insulating blanket that comes around the battery really helps it.

I called my local big Interstate Battery dealer, which is actually a local Firestone store. The salesperson knew what I was doing when I asked if they had a group 101 battery in stock, but they don't stock it and he doesn't know why. When I asked about the group 78 he told me it might not fit under the cowl, but he said "it's your car so you can do what you want". I bought the battery, about $130 for their best battery out the door, and put it in. It went right into place and fit under the cowl without forcing it. I connected it then looked around for potential problems. The hood hinge lowers right over the top of the battery and actually appears to touch the battery when the hood is completely closed. It doesn't touch when you set the hood down and the safety latch catches, but that last inch to close the hood puts the hinge in contact. I don't think this will be a problem but I will check it after a couple of days to see if there is obvious sign of wear. The hood hinge could be modified pretty easily and I might do that. OTOH modifying the battery tray looked like it would be really difficult. If the edge of the tray closest to the fender would drop down 1/4" that's all that it would need. If I had more time and patience I could probably make that happen.
 
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#2 ·
Well unless your battery is the reverse of mine the post closest to that hinge is the postive terminal. The risk is not just wear on the terminal - the risk is a giant short/fire/circuit damage when the terminal grounds against the hinge. You need to fix it now, unless I am missing something.
 
#3 ·
I will check but I'm pretty sure there is a good amount of gap between the top of the cable connection and the top of the battery, and the hinge tapers a bit as it goes out to the end. I think there is plenty of clearance to the terminal itself. I'm more worried about wear or cracking of the battery case. If it survives today and tomorrow I will look at it closer Saturday and reduce a little on the hinge if needed. I've heard of plenty of people using the group 78 battery, or at least the one that WalMart sells. I don't know how close the dimensions are for one manufacturer's group 78 vs. another manufacturer's group 78, but I needed a battery this morning and Interstate was really the only option open to me at the time.
 
#4 ·
I will check but I'm pretty sure there is a good amount of gap between the top of the cable connection and the top of the battery, and the hinge tapers a bit as it goes out to the end. I think there is plenty of clearance to the terminal itself. I'm more worried about wear or cracking of the battery case. If it survives today and tomorrow I will look at it closer Saturday and reduce a little on the hinge if needed. I've heard of plenty of people using the group 78 battery, or at least the one that WalMart sells. I don't know how close the dimensions are for one manufacturer's group 78 vs. another manufacturer's group 78, but I needed a battery this morning and Interstate was really the only option open to me at the time.
Okay, I read your post to mean that the terminal was close to the hood - we had some folks run into that problem a long time ago while experimenting with different alternatives to our stock battery.
 
#6 ·
I too had to replace my battery. I changed it a year ago with a group 78 from auto zone. The first two years its a free replacement so no out of pocket expense for me. I had no problem with how it fit. If you like i can take a picture of how it looks in the car.
 
#7 ·
My Optima that I purchased a year ago died on me this week. Now I get "Service Stability Control", Service Vehicle Soon" messages on the DIC. Also my traction control is always off now and does not seem to do anything when I press the button.

Did you guys get the same thing? Never had these issues before the battery dying.

I'm also getting "Battery Not Charging" issue also but I think this is a separate issue and found the thread on this issue.
 
#17 ·
Yeah I noticed that the voltage goes down while sitting but when driving/hitting the throttle the voltage goes back up. Is that an indication of the alternator dying? I know people had problems with the message "battery not charging" issue and that had nothing to do with the alternator.

Its not a daily driver and I have been busy working on my jetski lol. So I have'nt been messing with the car much but I want to get it fixed.
Does it drop lower than 12 Volts? Or spike past 14 Volts?
 
#18 · (Edited)
Does it drop lower than 12 Volts? Or spike past 14 Volts?
\

Drops to about 12, a few times its gone to 11.8, never more than 14.5. Like I said before I dont drive the car much (mostly weekends) so I'm not exactly sure how low it gets.

Just went out, started it and let it idle for ten minutes. 14.4 volts at start up then slowly went down to 13.6 in the ten minute span. Normal? I believe the alternator is working because when I blip the throttle the volts go down but jumps right back up.
 
#10 ·
Funny, my battery died today and had to replace it.

I ended up going with a Group 78 from Napa (700 CCA) and was going to get one from Sears (diehard) but it was about $20 more.

Note the 78 is a little taller (~1/2"), but does fit nicely and uses the oem mounting and side terminals. I did not try to re-use my battery cover, but imagine it would still work, just be a little short on the bottom. Mine has that pull handle still on the (new) battery so that's why I didn't try to put the cover. I may cut off the pull handle though, as that may hit the hood and eventually rub paint.
 
#13 ·
I replaced my battery yesterday with the group 78 from O'Reillys. I prefer the fitment of the Group 101, but the 78 is a stronger battery, has a better warranty, less expensive, and Made in the USA. As far as I could tell, all the group 101 batteries I could find were Chinese made. This includes the AC Delco that I pulled out.

Jake
 
#20 ·
Anyone had this? I had my battery replaced by the dealer in my 2007 V1. After I got it back, I noticed two things.... 1.) Usually when I turn the key to on or start the car the screen (on the dash gauge cluster) that shows the tire pressure was missing the little picture of the car... the pressure digits were there but no car. Sometimes turning it off then back on will bring the car pic back. 2.) Starting the car, the Nav unit will tell you (if you have it set to) how many miles are left on the tank. This number changes dramatically between starts. I can go fill the car up.... FULL and the screen will say I can go 180 miles (sitting at idle)... turn it off and back on... now I can go 283. Off and back on, now I can only go 73 miles.

The car is at the dealer now for the end of luxury warranty check (very sad moment) and the tech is telling the service rep that what I'm saying doesn't make sense. I assured them that while I very well may be crazy, I'm not in this instance.

Anyone have any ideas what is happening here and what to have them fix?
 
#21 ·
1.) I had that tire pressure display issue once or twice, cycling through the different displays seemed to fix it. Don't know how you would address that issue beyond cycling the display.

2.) The number of miles left is calculated based on how much fuel the car thinks it has and what kind of mileage you have been getting lately. Replacing the battery probably reset the mileage history, so the average mileage is bouncing around depending on how you are driving.
 
#23 ·
I just replaced the factory battery in my 05, used the Optima. Of course I don't really have the heat issues that some of you guys have! But as a side note when it does get hot here, mid to upper 80s when I bring the car home I usually just open the hood and let the heat escape.
 
#25 ·
Well dealer said they can't figure it out and would like to keep it and look at it on Monday. They've already had it 8 days for other items. Today is Friday faced with a v6 loaner over another weekend I said I'll bring it back Monday. They went through two techs and a foreman who thought it maybe I leave my key on while fueling. Nope. Or because I sit and idle a bit in the kiddo pick up line. Didn't do this the first year I drove it. Frustrating.
 
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