Optima Yellow Top D35

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Cambino123

Cambino123

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Threads
4
Messages
40
Location
Virginia
Hi All,

I Swapped my crusty old battery to a D35 Optima Yellow Top as a main battery.

It sparked up right away the first day then after 5 days of not driving, the car wouldn't start.

I spent a while thinking it was my alternator or starter, then speculated that it may have been the RS3200 alarm's anti-theft. After hours of research online it turns out the Optima yellow Deep cycle\starter model wasn't strong enough to spark the FZJ-80's engine. I took it back to Auto zone and luckily the Red Top Starter Battery was available . I'm now sparking up with the Red Top and its working fine. Let's hope it keeps firing up after another couple idle days. Does anyone use the Yellow Top as their main starter battery?
 
I had dual optima red tops in my cummins, they lasted 10 years.
Optima batteries aren't what they used to be and I wouldn't purchase them today. Those who are forking over the cash for an optima are much better served by an AGM battery such as an odysssey or deka. I use a die hard platinum personally.
Whether or not anyone is using a yellow top as their starter battery on here.... I haven't heard of anyone trying it.
 
Cambino123 said:
Hi All,

I Swapped my crusty old battery to a D35 Optima Yellow Top as a main battery.

It sparked up right away the first day then after 5 days of not driving, the car wouldn't start.

I spent a while thinking it was my alternator or starter, then speculated that it may have been the RS3200 alarm's anti-theft. After hours of research online it turns out the Optima yellow Deep cycle\starter model wasn't strong enough to spark the FZJ-80's engine. I took it back to Auto zone and luckily the Red Top Starter Battery was available . I'm now sparking up with the Red Top and its working fine. Let's hope it keeps firing up after another couple idle days. Does anyone use the Yellow Top as their main starter battery?
Click to expand...



I would take my truck to Auto-Zone or Advance Auto and have your charging system looked. It's free.:)
 
i needed a new battery a few months ago also so i went to the lordco salesperson and he highly recomended the optima batteries so i then told him what kinda of truck i have and he sold me the yellow top and it works fin no problems ....i also have no acessories im bone stock....
 
I've started to hear too many horror stories about optimas to actually buy one now. I used to have one years ago and they worked fine. I think they shifted the battery production to Mexico about 5 years back and now they are no where near as reliable as they used to be.

A Die hard platinum is only about $10 more and is heads and tails above the optima.

When I do my dual battery system that will be the second one I put in.

As for now I run a group 65 Interstate Megatron Plus.... gives me 850 CCA and works fine for the time being since I don't run too many accessories.

I would still recommend the Die Hard though as the Megatron pluses normally run $150 ($50 difference isn't too much) but through my work they only run me $75 and that is the only reason I don't currently have the Die Hard
 
I had the same experience as you, just did it a long time ago. I had a yellow that did the exact same thing, swapped it for a red & it's been fine for the last 5-6 years.

I think Interstate owns Optima & as others have said - they aren't what they were ~10 yrs back & when this one goes I'll be shopping around on dry cells - I know I'll stay dry cell just because I hate sulfuric acid messes, but I'll probably go Odessey next, no gripe stories about them that I know of.
 
Optima is owned by Johnson Controls


Interstate is privately owned but markets batteries made by Johnson Controls to interstate's specs
 
I would be surprised if the battery is the root cause of your problem. Some thorough troubleshooting is needed to track the no-start issue.
 
i dont know, i have an orange top, [now red top 34R] yes orange top optima for at least 7 years now, in my 1996 FZJ80.
AND i have let it run down at least once a year [clock radio or leavin the lights on-auto offf relay] due to the truck sitting too much [connected to my boat etc] and this battery has always come back, so when i see these reports of "optima not what they used to be" it makes me wonder.....so about three years ago i put a big blue top marine optima in my boat [188.00 at advanced auto] AND i have run it down too [clock radio or damned corsa exhaust switch, jeez] a few times and it too has always come back......

so when i need one i will prob buy again, or try an odyssee maybe [use a pc535 in my ducati].......

YMMV

doug
 
Day 2 and the Red Top is starting fine

Red Top seems to be running fine on Day 2.

Today I was running the truck and disconnected the positive cable on the battery and the alternator was still powering the truck.
 
I have a yellow top in a 50 chevy truck. It has "drained" even though I have no accessories. I've recharged with another battery in parrallel I believe, and it seems to still hold a charge. I'm not impressed by any means and if you buy one from amazon you will not receive the warranty commitment as promised. The truck starts at the speed of light, so I never crank on it, though it did crank a vw bus over for an hour for what it's worth. It does look cool.
 
Please keep us posted on if the red top hangs in there or not (depending on what else may be wrong). I popped a yellow top from Costco in my 3FE and have not had issues with it thankfully. I still have a pulsating dash display at night with a turn signal on, but that was there when I purchased the rig (non OEM alt the cause?) with the old battery. I have other stuff before that gets fixed.

I have had a few Optima batteries in the past 10 years on multiple vehicles. Thankfully I have not experienced any horror related solely to the batteries. However, I have heard the internet stories of such which I guess we can all take with a grain of salt.
 
The yellow top should've been more than adequate to start the 80. I have a Deka dual purpose (starting/deep cycling) AGM (78DT), which would be similar to a yellow top Optima. Starts fine in -20F weather. They don't have the instant starting capacity as a starting battery, so they crank a little slower in the cold temps, but start fine nonetheless. The AGM batteries also need to be maintained every once in awhile to maintain the peak voltage. A good AGM specific charger with low amps and cycling should do this. Deep cycling a red top or other starting battery is bad for them, and will quickly decrease their useful life. Deep cycling would be simply running on battery power for extended time periods, like leaving the lights on, stereo, fridge, etc. and draining the battery down.
 
You can buy a Optima battery from a Interstate Dealer and get the warranty for it. I'm not sure the price savings from mail ordering a battery is offset by the high shipping cost.

Disclaimer: I like Optima battery so much that I signed up as a Interstate/Optima dealer.
 
yoopercharged said:
The yellow top should've been more than adequate to start the 80. I have a Deka dual purpose (starting/deep cycling) AGM (78DT), which would be similar to a yellow top Optima. Starts fine in -20F weather. They don't have the instant starting capacity as a starting battery, so they crank a little slower in the cold temps, but start fine nonetheless. The AGM batteries also need to be maintained every once in awhile to maintain the peak voltage. A good AGM specific charger with low amps and cycling should do this. Deep cycling a red top or other starting battery is bad for them, and will quickly decrease their useful life. Deep cycling would be simply running on battery power for extended time periods, like leaving the lights on, stereo, fridge, etc. and draining the battery down.
Click to expand...



so right!:cheers:
 
Third Day and the Red Top started quite quick early morning. It was around 60 Degrees this morning in Fairfax Va. Up to now, I have no idea what I did to the YellowTop which caused it not to fire up that day. Perhaps i left the door light on overnight and it completely drained it. Even so, I attempted to jump the Yellowtop but it failed to start the car, instead it was smoking.... so i disconnected it immediately. At this point i'm happy with the Red Top. Thanks guys for being nice to this Newb.
 
I have been running a yellow top as the primary battery in my 40 since May 2007. However, I have had 3 of the blue tops die within 18 months. One in a cruiser and the other 2 in a solar panel setup.
 
I have a refurbished group 35 yellow top in the front and a small red in the back isolated. They have worked fine for me, been running this setup for three years now. The red top is better for starting, that's what it was designed for. The yellow should have been enough as had already been said. Good luck, I think the optima batteries are wonderful. IMHO!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom