Optima battery

[spressomon]

Skypig: How did you determine your problem is not battery related?


OBTW: The Orbital (and Optima?) terminals are reversed...so you need to factor that into your battery installation. Not a big deal as long as you are aware of it.

 

[Augie]

Odessey PC1700MJT are direct replacement. Its just a bit harder to find than Orbital. Batteriesareus.com used to carry them for $179.99 with free shipping. I could not find them anymore on their site right now. They might just run out of stock.

27 K miles might be hard miles if its driven short distance all the time. Miles got nothing to do with starter contact. Its the number of start. Plus the longer the vehicle sit usually the battery voltage drops more and when it happend the amperage needed to run the starter increase quite considerably. This is the reason the starter contact got fried.

 

[skypig]

Skypig: How did you determine your problem is not battery related?

I put a new Optima in and got no change in performance--naughta! Ok, I wasn't paying enough attention in the beginning, so I may have actually provided a little more juice to the situation with the new battery and therefore got the starter to at least make a noise--if I recall the initial attempts provided zero noise, just internal lights, radio and then external lights when I checked. Long winded way of saying no discernable difference from original battery to new.


OBTW: The Orbital (and Optima?) terminals are reversed...so you need to factor that into your battery installation. Not a big deal as long as you are aware of it.

The Optima 35/75 fit nicely on its side with the spacer that came with it. $.99 for a couple of male post fittings to transform the GM side posts to normal top posts.

 

[skypig]

Skypig,
Several months ago my wife thought the battery was dead after listening to the radio for about half hour and it would not start. I cleaned the battery terminals and it started and ran fine since. I suspect there was a slight film or corrosion that was not readily visible, but prevented the battery from getting a full charge from the alternator when running. That may be a possible cause in your case - hard to know the history since you just got it. I doubt the starter with so few miles. I would more suspect the battery because of the age factor.

Before springing for a tune up at 27K miles, I would try Redline gas treatment (Pep Boys in NLR has it) or Techron fuel system treatment. That should clean up the fuel system deposits from relatively low use of the vehicle.

If the previous owner used a "cheap" regular gas (or even premium), there may be some deposits based on minimal fuel additives to keep the engine clean.

Congrats on a really nice low mileage find.

Thanks . . . I am happy with it . . . I've been looking for a long time. I'll take your advise and see what a round of gas treatment will do as well a thorough cleaning of the terminals.

 

[skypig]

It surprises me that its the starter at such low miles. The starter issues that most experience here are wear related and occur more at 60-80K mile mark. At 28K, this doesn't seem like the issue would be the started contacts. But, I guess the starter could just be defective. Did you have the battery load tested to make sure it's not the problem?

To add my vote, I really like the Oddyssey pc1700mjt I added to my 100. The terminals are in the correct placement and it has tons of cranking power.

I did not have the battery load tested, but I called them to say I wanted my "good" core back and would be by tomorrow to pick it up--I'll have them check it then.

 

[skypig]

Load tested the original battery and it read 500 CCA vs the rated 550 CCA. The replacement Optima read 845 CCA vs rated 720 CCA. The mechanic did not think the battery was the issue.

What about the solenoid . . . could it be the culprit?

 

[siglo]

I had a couple of Optima blue tops installed in my LC.. I liked them for the little while they lasted.. it could have been that I got bad batteries in the first place.. I couldn't have them replaced under the warranty as I had a friend pick them up for me from Dubai.. they did not complete their first year and the voltage was slowly deteriorating after the first month IIRC..

Now I have replaced them with two exide orbital deep cycle from their local agent here.. So far I am happy with them, although the Optimas I had seemed better for starting.. I got 18 months warranty on both..

keep in mind, that all the batteries I had were NOT starting batteries.. You could say they are dual purpose to some extent. My LC doesn't see many sub zero temps, so starting was not a big issue for me.. and if the main battery becomes a little week for starting, I could always combine both batteries with a flick of a switch inside the cabin to start it..

both batteries only required a little bending of the stock battery holder.. The exides were taller and wider than the optimas..

 

[mobi-arc]

Could be a high-resistance connection, or I've seen batteries that test fine with a basic load test, but fail on a cycle load test. Most Sears Auto Centers have two methods of testing batteries. The first, and most common, is your basic plain vanilla load test where they create starting load and see how the battery reacts. I've seen batteries pass this basic test, but fail the next less common method where they place the battery on a machine that goes through several cycles of discharging, charging, and loading the battery. It takes about 30 minutes, but I've seen batteries that appear fine, yet they clearly have a problem in actual use, but until placed on this kind of machine, it was impossible to demonstrate and get warranty relief.

 

[100 TD]

Just on battery testing machines, not sure about the automated ones, but the manual carbon pile load testers do not actually test the battery to the CCA specification of actual amps for 30 seconds down to 7.2 volts, they actually test at half the rated CCA current down to 9.5 volts IIRC,(even though you see the meter showing current, is actually isn't that current, it is only half what the meter is telling you) which to me is a waste of time. It does give an indication, but I pressume they do this so that the battery is not damaged by the test. AFAIK they should be tested to full CCA specs at room temperature, which still isn't as harsh as testing at 0 degrees F. If the battery can't handle a full CCA test then they shouldn't be selling it as such.

 

[NMuzj100]

It surprises me that its the starter at such low miles. The starter issues that most experience here are wear related and occur more at 60-80K mile mark. At 28K, this doesn't seem like the issue would be the started contacts. But, I guess the starter could just be defective.

Could be that the 28k were all one mile trips with a start. Starter contact wear is related to # of starts rather than # of miles.

 

[dnp]

Skypig,
Several months ago my wife thought the battery was dead after listening to the radio for about half hour and it would not start. I cleaned the battery terminals and it started and ran fine since. I suspect there was a slight film or corrosion that was not readily visible, but prevented the battery from getting a full charge from the alternator when running. That may be a possible cause in your case - hard to know the history since you just got it. I doubt the starter with so few miles. I would more suspect the battery because of the age factor.

Before springing for a tune up at 27K miles, I would try Redline gas treatment (Pep Boys in NLR has it) or Techron fuel system treatment. That should clean up the fuel system deposits from relatively low use of the vehicle.

If the previous owner used a "cheap" regular gas (or even premium), there may be some deposits based on minimal fuel additives to keep the engine clean.

Congrats on a really nice low mileage find.

Been right where you are, and after going through all of the "it's got to be the battery" machinations, turns out it was the starter. Now, mine had more miles than yours when it needed to be replaced, but if it just won't crank with a new battery, 99% chance it's the starter. Also, the starter replacement is in the sticky at the top of this list. It's not really a hard job, but it does take a little while / effort to do.....I know there are those who will disagree, but since this isn't a 30 min job, just order a totally new starter from CDan at American Toyota, and have peace of mind that you're not going to have to do it again....a bit more expensive, but worth it.

Also, with regard to fuel system cleaners: Techron admits that their formulation shouldn't be used too many times between oil changes, because it actually has the side effect of increasing the viscosity of the oil in the crankcase. Red Line, ont the other hand is EASILY as high-qulity product as the Chevron product, and it doesn't present this same problem. I use Red Line in everything I own, and I trust them as a specialty supplier much more than I do a mass-marketed additive.

Great looking truck! Hope you have fun with it!