About 9 months ago I put a new Optima red top battery in my F355. In the last few months I have noticed that "it will not hold a charge"...I say it in this way because I have an idea and would like to hear any thoughts. I do leave the car for 3-5 weeks sometimes between drives - this often leads to the battery going low, which of course I then charge...however my charging sometimes leads to me leaving the battery charger on the car for a day or two, on the 2 amp setting. My thought is I might be creating memory in the battery and I have shortened the life span down to about nothing...? It is not a battery tender that I use... it is a charger. When I try to start the car it acts like it has no power, but if I hold the key in the start position it slowing starts to turn over then gains a little speed and eventualy the car starts...its not very confidance inspiring to say the least. Ironincaly this is the same thing that caused me to replace the battery 9 months ago...and with the new battrey in place it worked great for about 6 months...??? Could it be something else altogether? Any ideas? Thanks
Optoma Red Tops do not like to be discharged and then recharged that far. You need to get a tender if you don't want to keep having this problem. I would replace this battery, and add a tender with a quick disconnect. The easiest place to add the quick-disconnect is at the jump start terminals in the engine bay under the right side cover panel. Most of the tenders come with these quick-disconnects. If you attach it in the engine compartment, then whenever you park the car you can just pop the motor cover and plug in the tender. Takes two seconds and will save you lots of battery problems. I have them on all of my exotics and have not had a battery issue in years.
Some Advice: Invest in a Battery Tender ! If you don't Start your Car Regularly, it is a MUST !!! Take your Current Battery to any Local Auto Parts Store & have them Test for Dead Cells; i.e. whether or not it will "Hold" a Charge.If your Battery always Requires a "Full Charge", you are Drastically shortening its Life.
Thanks for the thoughts, Has anyone used a battery tender that uses the lighter for access? Any pros / cons?
I had a optima red go bad, sounded just like yours, replace it and try again, the tender needs to be one that has a new style circuit for optimas. I saw one in a magazine had a special optima (AGM Type) button.
Your $100 battery is about to cost you a $700 alternator. 348's and F355's *hate* charging up a low or dead battery. This makes the alternator work too hard, and these alternators are already at their heat threshold (these engine compartments are high heat areas). As a general rule of thumb, replace your battery rather than jump starting your car or attempting to start when the battery is so low that the engine *barely* turns over (as you mention below). Once your battery gets that low and your alternator is working so hard to recharge it, *other* additional electrical issues can begin to appear in 348's and F355's (besides killing your alternator). As your alternator dies, it will charge your battery less and less, too. This will further cause you to go through many more batteries (until you change your alternator), all because you started the car once with one low or dead battery some great time ago. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
