Damn Optima battery is dead
 

Guess I should have listened to everyone. My car sat for maybe 2 weeks without driving it, now the battery is totally dead. What a piece.

I was going to charge it and drive it to the auto store, but I think I'll just rip it out, bring it in, and demand a new one. It's not even a year old!

Gonna have to use the manual pull cord to get the boot open too :(
What a pita.

FWIW, my MINI sits for weeks at a time. Starts every time with my year old Optima.

An Optima is one of those batteries where people either love them or hate them. They did change owners or plants or something a few years back and that is when people noticed that the battery that used to last at least 7 years now failed in less than 2.

Look for a drain...
My car has sat MUCH LONGER....a month or more with an optima... Mexican production....no issues.

if you are using an onboard obd11 for the torque app that will drain it. For me, not that my car sits, but I just plus a trickle charger in, the cord is right under the headlight and all I need to do is plug it in when i get in the garage, keeps the battery fully charged and also de sulfers it, no issues yet with a 5 year old battery

+1 on a trickle charger!
I've been using CTEK for years and am very happy with it.
There are a bunch of chargers popping up that are the "intelligent" type.
If you're going to leave your car sitting some time do yourself a favor and hook it up to a trickle charger.

On the flip side of the coin, I had an Optima in a rarely-used old Porsche. I would start it up once or twice a month. That thing would not die. It lasted for nearly a decade, starting eagerly every time. With the motor out of the car for what has turned out to be a couple of years, I've finally killed it, but I can't complain.

Brought it back to autozone. After some run around bc they "couldn't find my warranty" and finally some cursing from me, got a new optima.

I refuse to believe my car has a drain, bc it has sat for over a week with no issues on my old battery. The optima used to work great, then after about 6 months, I noticed the car voltage sat low on a regular basis. I had The autozone test the battery, alternator, ect, and it all "passed", but the batt charge was only 12.3 volts, nearly dead for a car battery.

My car started fine the other week, then the batt just crapped out. I do have a trickle charger built in, 2 solar panel chargers in the rear sunroof! That was prolly the only thing keeping it alive, bc it was right after I put the car under a home made carport that the batt took a dump ( not getting the trickle charge from the sun). Hoping this new one will last longer.

IMO it still sounds like u have a drain on the system. I have used optima batteries for years and never had issues like yours. Advanced Auto Parts has a machine that can test your entire charging system and to let you know if there's any drain on the battery I would take it there to get it tested.

+1
Like I said...my car has sat for weeks...(on numerous occasions due to my job) and at one point nearly 2 months...fired up OK.....think that might have been pretty close to the limit with no battery tender...but still cranked fast enough to start....
While modern cars DO use a bit of battery just sitting (think keyless entry, etc) a couple of weeks with ANY quality battery should be no issue...

Please humor us (and, in turn, confirm to yourself that you don't have a drain on the battery). If you want to do it yourself, suggest you get a digital ammeter and connect it in series with the battery (i.e., disconnect the neg lead from the battery, connect one lead of the ammeter to the neg lead, the other lead of the ammeter to the neg battery post). Then close the hatch and let everything "go to sleep". You shouldn't see more than 30-35 ma. drain on the system. If more, you have a parasitic drain somewhere. Start pulling fuses, one at a time, until it quits. Then, you'll at least know where to look.

My last OPTIMA performed (or didn't perform) just as you describe a year after replacing a 5 year old red top with a new one

not as fast as you, but car was exhibiting symptoms of a bad battery after only a year - this on my 79, slow crank ... lazy turn signals ... I kept chasing every other possible cause cuz face it the system in a 79 is prone to problems .. chased loose connections, suspect alternator, old relays.

Finally just bought a new battery - just a plain ol DuraLast Gold. And all problems went bye bye - that was a year ago. AZ wouldn't even recommend a new OPTIMA altho they had 'em and they cost more . . . 10 years ago I swore by 'em ... now I swear at 'em.

Bram, did take it to autozone after I noticed the battery voltage was low on a regular basis. I passed with flying colors, save for the IMO, oddly low battery voltage. My old battery was fine for a long time, and again, the optima was great for 6 months.

I will try the test for parasitic draw, but still find it suspicious that an older battery didn't have problems for a year and a half, and it only took the optima 6 months to start showing signs of wear.

Well. To be further boned by optima, the damn long screw deal that hold the battery holder in place broke off and I didn't notice till now. Fantastic cheap Chinese metal on minis part no doubt. Tried to drill it out, and my cousins cheap ass bit broke off inside the now semi drilled out bolt piece!

1 step forwards, 3 steps back >:(

Not sure wtf to do now. Any suggestions?

Suprised to hear the negative comments on the Optima battery, I had one on my Porsche for well over 10 years and never once did it let me down, and that car was just a weekend summer only ride.

Astroblackmetallicmini
 

Astroblackmetallicmini

I've been thinking about doing this myself (solar charger). Can you give any particulars about the job? What solar panel you used, routing of the wire, etc. Thanks

I got a couple of them actually from harbor frieght. Took them it of the plastic housing, and wired them together. Then built a bracket out of aluminum and wedged that into the sunroof area. Wires go down the rear panels, must remove the weather stripping some and there will be room. My panels came with a 12v socket that has built in protection for overcharging, ect. I soldered right to that, left it in the rear driver side access panel, ran additional wire to battery.

It's a little tedious, but fairly straight forward. I used 2 of the 4x6 panels or something. The "auto" ones, they were on sale.

I'd be happy to take in one of these "bad" batteries if you're looking for homes for them.

Oh how wonderful it would be to provide homes for batteries that have gone down a path of naughtiness. I know I can rehabilitate them in my home for wayward batteries. With a program of kindness and love I'm sure any bad battery can be brought around and loved again.

:wink:

Nah I don't race chumpcar. I do race lawnmowers though. :)

If I eve head up that way I'll send you a message. See if we can reach a deal to help one of those poor unfortunate batteries find a home. :)

So, installed the new battery. Car has sat for several days, and almost wouldn't start this morning. after a few attempts, I gave it a hard rev and it came to life, but noticed the voltage gauge was below 12 after I tried to stat it.

So, assuming I now have this electrical leak somewhere, 1. How did this problem even develop?! And 2. If it exists, how am I supposed to track down the issue? Then fix it?

Lastly, anyone know if the mini dealer can track down the electrical issue? Do they have special tools or something?

What aftermarket electrical items are you running? If any I would start disconnecting them. Go to Advanced Auto Parts and have them do a test on your electrical system they can tell you if you have a parasitic draw.

This thread already has info on what to do to check for a parasitic draw...
My bet...
That e-bay capicator (bat-cap) that you have if I remember right.......it is possible that a diode went bad on the solar panel....they can actually draw current when that happens...and Barbour freight is not exactly known for it quality electronics....
But a $10-20 voltmeter is all you need....
So the optomia battery was OK for 2 weeks....and the regular for A "couple days"....sounds like the optomia battery was pretty awesome......

The vid on how to check for a parasitic draw....aka, a leak....

Awesome. Thanks guys. I'll check it soon.

As for electronics, that capacitor and the solar panels are it right now. Could be either I guess. I'll do some troubleshooting and update.

I did not see if you were running a scan gauge or ultra gauge.