Optima yellow crap battery & Auto Zone

You'll want to go back and check on the yellow top specs. There's now 2 distinct types of yellow tops, and one *IS* designed for use in starter applications.

And yes, you really don't want to use the side posts for high draw applications.
 
5-90 said:
Piffle. The test benches they have aren't LOAD benches, they're VOLTAGE benches. They don't test output capacity of the alternator, just that it's putting out the specified voltage - whether it's a 100A, or 1mA, it will "pass" on their bench...

Yet another reason to go to a small rebuilder - they usually have load benches. When I get an alternator from Rod, I can watch him test it (he lets me) and KNOW what the peak and idle output of the alternator I'm getting will be - not in volts, but in amperes - the important number!

I've taken alternators that "pass" at a chain store to Rod, and they fail his bench (low current output at all RPMs.) I've taken alternators that fail on Rod's bench (low current) and watched them "pass" at a chain store. Maybe 1mA is an exaggeration, but it's plenty to swing a voltmeter - and I did take one in that was generating a peak of 500mA and watched it pass. I can make more than that with a stack of AA batteries!

5-90
Click to expand...

thats a good thing to know, thanks 5-90
 
Love the Red Tops I've had - every vehicle I've owned has started off an Optima, and a couple of them had more than one. Build a mobile drafting studio out of a Sprinter van for an archetecht a few years back that used six Blue Tops to power computers and lights in the thing, worked great.

I did have a Yellow Top grenade a while back, due to overloading the sideposts as mentioned above. Took it back to Sears, got a new one, no questions asked.

For me, I'll stick with ordering from WorldPac - if the part's the wrong thing, it's my own damn fault, because I can look it all up myself on their site.
 
I had heard many times before that the side posts wouldn't hold up long under load so I never even used them.
I'm still pissed!:flamemad:
 
99XJSPORT06 said:
Can't say anything for the Optima....but I agree with you on the morons at Autistic Zone.....which is why i'm a Napa guy.
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Don't give Autistic people a bad name...My 4 year old son is smarter than most Autozone employees.
 
Whats with the NAPA love fest. Where I am, the guys at NAPA are jerks, and unwilling to help anyone out with hardly anything. Maybe it's just the area I'm in but every employee in the store I work at (CSK) knows how our battery testers work and would warranty almost anything out as long as the customer is polite. Never trust the hand held tester results on a battery I use them to tell quickly if the battery is the good, but if it is below its rated CCA's or 12v it gets put on the bench unit that charges and puts a load on the battery. A charge and retest result does not mean a good battery. I guess I should be glad the nearest autozone is 40 minutes away.
 
dphillips said:
:flame:
Excuse me while I vent. Just had my optima yellow top battery crash on me last weekend. Damn thing was only 14 months old. So I take it back to the Auto Zone I purchased it from and they try to tell me it's still good. When I asked the guy what exactly his tester did, he couldn't even tell me. I wanted him to explain to me how that battery was good but would not crank the jeep when another battery would. Anyway, after that BS the manager stepped in and said they would pro-rate the waranty instead of replace the battery. More BS! Gave me back 65 dollars on a $165 battery. I thought these things had an awsome waranty! What a freakin joke. The folks at "Moron Zone" won't ever get my business again. To top it all off, the battery I purchased (after questioning the moron three times) was the wrong size for the jeep too. :flamemad:

Is this typical for an Optima? Have I just been fooled by their advertising.
Click to expand...

i'll put 20 bucks down that the kid tested it as a regular lead/acid battery and not an absorbed glass mat. seen it done tons of times and a brand new one off the shelf will test bad.
 
nothing but good experiences with optimas.

1. roommate with dead alternator, we would swap batteries every 3-4 days so he could still get to work. Optima held up to the 3 day drain and recharge cycles for a month and was good for another 6 years

2. My yellow top has been killed a few times by faulty relays stuck in the on postion in the last 3 or 4 years and rebounds every time, most times by itself if left unloaded for a few hours. Got the yellow top for me because of the winch, got the wife a red top because of all of the good experiences.

I have noticed no quality decline to speak of, just a lack of a model that specifically says it will fit the cherokee.
 
dphillips said:
:flame:
Excuse me while I vent. Just had my optima yellow top battery crash on me last weekend. Damn thing was only 14 months old. So I take it back to the Auto Zone I purchased it from and they try to tell me it's still good. When I asked the guy what exactly his tester did, he couldn't even tell me. I wanted him to explain to me how that battery was good but would not crank the jeep when another battery would. Anyway, after that BS the manager stepped in and said they would pro-rate the waranty instead of replace the battery. More BS! Gave me back 65 dollars on a $165 battery. I thought these things had an awsome waranty! What a freakin joke. The folks at "Moron Zone" won't ever get my business again. To top it all off, the battery I purchased (after questioning the moron three times) was the wrong size for the jeep too. :flamemad:

Is this typical for an Optima? Have I just been fooled by their advertising.
Click to expand...
Which AZ did you go to?
 
CW said:
Whats with the NAPA love fest. Where I am, the guys at NAPA are jerks, and unwilling to help anyone out with hardly anything. Maybe it's just the area I'm in but every employee in the store I work at (CSK) knows how our battery testers work and would warranty almost anything out as long as the customer is polite. Never trust the hand held tester results on a battery I use them to tell quickly if the battery is the good, but if it is below its rated CCA's or 12v it gets put on the bench unit that charges and puts a load on the battery. A charge and retest result does not mean a good battery. I guess I should be glad the nearest autozone is 40 minutes away.
Click to expand...

Tha NAPA stores around here are great.Employees are very helpful and seem pretty knowlegable (as compared to Autozone, Checker, etc.).I've had nothing but good experience with NAPA.
 
planefixer said:
Tha NAPA stores around here are great.Employees are very helpful and seem pretty knowlegable (as compared to Autozone, Checker, etc.).I've had nothing but good experience with NAPA.
Click to expand...


Around here in my Neck of the woods, Autozone is the place to go. Schmucks and Napa are for weeners.

There is a Napa right by my house (right down the street from Randys Ring and Pinion) and I don't go there anymore. The super duper manager guy there sold me two wrong camshafts for a 4.0L jeep when I wanted a 2.5L camshaft.
 
One thing I would like to add is that many part stores hire inexperienced and not that knowledgable employees because the pay is terrible to start out with. Nobody that knows enough to pick everything up imediatly and has any real world experienc would take an associate job. When I started working at Schucks I made less than the starting wage at McDonalds accross the street and the only training is a series of tests that I passed quickly without reading the manual but most employees take a while to get through them. You really can't expect a college kid with inadequite training and very little low pay to know everything an ASE certified manager will know. I've seen so many of my coworkers freeze up when harrassed by an "all knowing" customer when they would normally be able to find the answer. The only reason I am any good at my job and stayed with the company is because I learn about cars in free time. The turnover rate is rediculous in parts stores because of all of those factors but the rude customers contribute more than anything. My tips for a succesfull trip to any parts store are:
1) bring your broken part in with you when possible to compare with the new part.
2) If you need a somewhat odd or potentially hard to find part, get a part number online if possible.
3.) Call in ahead of time to see if they have what you need, and if they need to research a part don't be impatient and if you don't want to be on hold leave your name and phone number, and they will call you back.
4.) get prices when you call around or look on the companies website for prices. Most stores pricematch competitors and their own cheaper online prices.
5.) If you go in with none of the above try to talk to someone with an ASE certified or Parts Pro button on. That means they have gone through the companies training at least.

Happy shopping.
 
I have not had any problem with my Yellow Top but a friend of mine had lots of trouble with i holding a charge. We both got them at Interstate Batteries shop. What the guy at Interstate told us that the Yellow Tops need a lot longer to charge than the Red Tops. This made sense to us because my friend lives 4 miles from work where I lived 19 miles from work. He started using his trickle charger every Sunday night and has not had a problem since with the same Yellow Top battery.
 
dphillips said:
Furry's Ferry Rd. Over by River Watch.

And thanks again on all the responses guys.
Click to expand...
Yeah. I am right around the corner from that one. I stopped buying anything of importance there because of their incompatence(sp?). I go to either NAPA or advance now. Advance has been REALLY good to me lately. One of the managers knows me by face and always hooks me up fast.
 
I think it just depends on the people and not the chain.
I was having really good luck with the local advance. I asked for things, they didn't ask questions, just went and got me that part number.
My last experience was horrible though. Wrong bearings, argued with me at the counter that they were the wrong bearings, then told me the store would be open at 7:30 the next day and they would have them.
They don't open until 9 on sundays, so I was at the store at 7:45 like a tard, looking at locked doors.
anyway, I'm over to AZ, they seem to know what's going on. Until they get the next batch of employees and they don't know anything.
The local NAPA is run by an asshole, so I won't go there.
 
I had the same problem with my yellow top about a year ago. It was dead and I took it in. They tested it several times. It kept saying to retest. I threw it on a high amp charge and its still working today. When its cold out and I have all of my crap plugged in it will drain the battery and not start when I am doing short trips, but when I go to work about 30 miles it starts up fine after that. Just can't make short trips in the cold (below freezing). I had the yellow top in my YJ first for winching duties but now its in the cherokee as a starting battery. Should be close to 4 years old now.
 
 
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