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6.2 diesel guys, Batteries? Rene?

Zeus33rd

Zeus33rd

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My "new" dd has the 6.2 diesel and needs a couple new batteries. Been sitting foreeever- old ones just won't hold a charge. Any reason not to go with Optimas? Red or Yellow top? Or should I stick with a more concentional battery for the 6.2? I want whatever will be the best.:D
 
I just got a pair of Red Tops this winter and it helped cranking speed slightly with ambient temps below 10 degrees and otherwise no problems yet. A diesel doesnt require any special kind of battery, but the more cranking amps you get the better, thus the two battery setup in them.
 
I'm just not convinced that the Optimas are really worth it, especially for a DD. I guess if money is no issue, go for them, but my 6.2 has been running on the same pair of Duralast Gold batteries since '96 which are about half the price.....................................
 
An employee at my local Interstate battery store told me Optimas don't like being charged up rapidly. He said that if you run one down you have to slowly recharge it, I think it was because they get too hot trying to recharge too fast but only IIRC. From there rep. they are good batteries regardless.

I personally would go down to the local Interstate store and get two 700+ CC econo batteries, you can't beat $20 for a battery, especially of that size.
 
I run two AC Delco 1000 CCA batteries in mine. Great ing speed even when it's cold out. Most important is to replace both at the same time and use identical batteries.

Rene
 
mine has what came in it!

My 82 K20 has 2 duralast batteries that came in it when I bought it--one is a duralst "gold",and the other is a plain "duralast"--they dont appear to be very "big" either,I'm not sure of the "group" size,but they dont appear to be as large as a group 74 that usually comes in GM trucks--

I wasn't aware they should be a matched pair,I thought as long as one battery doesnt have a bad cell and suck the life out of the other one was all that really mattered--hasnt affected mine so far at least--It cranks over fine even in the sub-zero arctic blast we had last month,I figured on just using theese batteries up,or perhaps I'll swap one into my van and 79 C10 and buy 2 new ones for the diesel --if I ever find a job and have money again..:frown1:

.I dont think I'd buy an optima battery though--from what I've heard about them on the web,and my friends experience with his yellow top,I think I'll buy 2 "old fashioned" lead-acid batteries for the same price as 1 optima--and I'll see if I can stuff a bigger than stock battery in the tray when I do it...I'm leery of the optima's design,its not "proven" yet in real world conditions if you ask me--looks good in the lab tests though...:crazy:
 
Thanks for the input...I kinda figured the Optimas wouldn't be worth it. Guess I'll go look for a couple 1000cca conventional batteries. :)
 
diesel4me said:
I'm leery of the optima's design,its not "proven" yet in real world conditions if you ask me--looks good in the lab tests though...:crazy:
Click to expand...

I'd say that 6+ years of use in the Navy and Marine Corps' aviation ground support equipment, in environments ranging from the Arctic Circle (Norway) to the sandboxes (Iraq and Afghanistan), to the high seas (all Navy aviation ships - CVN, LHA, LHD, LPD, LSD), and everywhere in-between, proves pretty damn conclusively that the design is sound and is tolerant of most abuse. But hey, that's just MY real-world experience....
If you winch a battery dead, especially without the motor running, you're gonna damage ANY battery. They're just not designed to be discharged to nothing by having the amps ripped out of them with a winch.
 
i dont know???

The main problems with the optima's I've seen and read about is they go dead while sitting more than a few weeks--recharge them and they will crank all day,or until the starter melts--but let them sit idle,and they will go dead--i realize any battery will,but the 4 out of 6 people I know or heard of that had them have had this problem with them,and arent happy with them because they are advertised to start a vehicle that has sat for 2 years(a bit overkill perhaps,but thats what their ad says!)--but the places wont warranty them as defective as long as they recharge,so they feel they got ripped---I have read many similar reports on the web too---I'm not saying your wrong!-:crazy:

I'm sure the military wouldnt buy them for their vehicles if they werent up too snuff(at least I hope all the humvee's start if and when we need them!:blush: )--but they havent won me over yet--for now,I haven't got 150 bucks to shell out for 1 battery,when I have 3 vehicles that sit quite often more than get driven a lot..maybe after they have been around a few more years I'll see how their reputation is then--maybe its just a fluke or a bad batch of batteries that had bad cells or something??:confused:
 
i ran two duralast gold 1200 cca's. They were great, but after exactly one year they stopped holding a charge. The new one's they just gave me to replace only had 800cca's and they are almost dead now too after only a couple months. I love warranties.
 
savagek5diesel said:
i ran two duralast gold 1200 cca's. They were great, but after exactly one year they stopped holding a charge. The new one's they just gave me to replace only had 800cca's and they are almost dead now too after only a couple months. I love warranties.
Click to expand...

the best budget buys:

everstart MAXX from walmart

interstate workaholic

With everstart you get a no Q"s asked warranty... so just bring them back every year and they will replace them for you... not to mention, they are pretty good batts.

Interstate makes some kickass batts for the buck, I use the workaholics in my monte carlo and they are about on par with a regular yellow top, for much cheaper.

The best battery as far as cranking/reserve/$ is probably hawker - they make stinger's batteries... the 2150 is just a *beast*. The optima group 31 is no slouch, but doesnt have big CCA.
 
They have been around for over 10 years, that isn't long enough for you? Also, only the yellow tops are 150, the reds are around 100, which is only 30 bucks more than a comparable conventional battery.
 
Spkrman said:
Interstate makes some kickass batts for the buck, I use the workaholics in my monte carlo and they are about on par with a regular yellow top, for much cheaper.
Click to expand...

Interstate batteries are made by the same company as the batteries sold at Autozone.

diesel4me said:
My 82 K20 has 2 duralast batteries that came in it when I bought it--one is a duralst "gold",and the other is a plain "duralast"--they dont appear to be very "big" either,I'm not sure of the "group" size,but they dont appear to be as large as a group 74 that usually comes in GM trucks
Click to expand...

Most GM trucks come with a group size 78 from the factory...which is the same as a group size 34, just has side posts. Some newer batteries like mine will be called a 34DT or 34/78DT which means they have dual terminals and can be used for both.

I dont think I'd buy an optima battery though--from what I've heard about them on the web,and my friends experience with his yellow top,I think I'll buy 2 "old fashioned" lead-acid batteries for the same price as 1 optima--and I'll see if I can stuff a bigger than stock battery in the tray when I do it...I'm leery of the optima's design,its not "proven" yet in real world conditions if you ask me--looks good in the lab tests though...:crazy:
Click to expand...

I think everyone knows that I don't care for Optimas so I won't go on another rant.

If anything, I think the military would use Optimas because of the mounting options and because they're 100% sealed.

I've been around many a military vehicle that wouldn't start when needed....luckily we had slave cables for EVERY vehicle quickly available...plug it it, wait a minute, slave vehicle #2 off #1 and you're done.
 
I have dual Red tops mounted behind the cab of my truck. The 6.2 turns over much faster than it did with the old 24 volt system. My truck gets driven a couple of times a week and has sat for long periods of time. I did have ground problems at first but now it works perfect. I couldn't be happier.
 
I had Duralast Golds in my 6.2 since I got it, and they had been in our combine before it, so they had been through, hell, I just replaced them last summer.
 
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