348 battery replacement suggestions?

If the cables will reach like on a 355, then you should be able to fit a standard Group 34 battery which is the same as the 34R, but with the terminals not reversed. (R stands for "reversed") The top rated Group 34 battery on Consumer Reports two tests years in a row is the Sear Platinum...which apparently is made by Odyssey, as the construction and cosmetics are identical, with the exception of the outer case color.

$189 at Sears. Rated at 880 Cold Cranking Amps. The factory battery is around 650 or 700.
5 year free replacement warranty, and no risk of leaking, as the electrolyte is in a paste form on the plates. No need to add water either.

Oh and yes, the Sears Platinum is a bit heavier than the oem battery by 5 or 6 lbs I believe (has more lead plates to make that extra juice). Seriously I don't think getting smaller batteries is a big performance issue (from the weight savings) and ultimately they are running with a smaller than recommended battery and may risk getting stuck when those small batteries start to wear, since you have much less reserve capacity and lower cold cranking amps.

 

Excellent!! Thats what I would get too!

The more CCA the better!!

 

PAP, I would have sworn that was said by an American....More! Bigger! Better! rah rah! lol

 

Lol!! Probably was said by an American!

There is nothing like an engine that cranks superfast.

If I could fit a big CAT 1500CCA battery in my 348 I would be happy!

 

I love my Optima Red Top on my 355.

 

The key is to drive your car! If you let any battery set too long without use they will go bad.

 

Wouldn't this only matter for a car that is driven in the cold winter, and that is not connected to a batter tender?

 

When they first came out, they were the top battery to get, and had a stellar reputation for long life, good storage capability (sitting for long periods) and obviously being of "absorbed glass mat" construction, will never leak electrolyte, and never need topping up with water. This was all 10 to 12 years ago, and I even used them, they were great.

About 6 years ago, starting on the FerrariList, but migrating to here too, there have been a substantial number of reports of failures of the Optima Red Top. Usually (but not always) it was from letting the battery draw down, from not using a battery tender. This single full discharge, was sufficient to kill the battery, and prevent it from taking a charge any longer. Sometimes this would happen with no apparent draw down from sitting...it just happened.

Obviously any battery can be damaged by letting it draw down to complete discharge, that is why there are special "deep cycle" batteries, designed for this purpose, but most general "starting" batteries can take this sort of abuse, at least a few times before it kills it. In the Red Top's case, often times only one time was sufficient. (at least that is what has been claimed by the users)

Now in Optima's defense, this is not a wide spread problem, there are people on this forum who have had no problem whatsoever with Red Top batteries, and in fact, the Optima Red Top was second right behind the Sears Platinum in Consumer Reports testing of Group 34 batteries, so they must make at least some of them that are good still.

My thinking is it appears they have developed a quality control or production problem, as the failure rate is common enough and reported enough to be significant. The question for the consumer, is whether you are willing to take a chance or not?

It is pretty clear that for the same cost, the Odyssey/Sears Platinum option is a safer bet, simply because all the users here on this forum have had a good experience with the product (I'm including those using the smaller "half size" Odyssey batteries too). Thus far (knock wood) I have not heard of one failure or problem. The four year free replacement warranty is nice insurance too.

 

Yes, that too!

But the more CCA the better. In cold conditions or not.

We use 2x 1500 CCA Cat batteries to start our trucks and loaders underground. The ambient air temp down there is around 35C. The hot areas where these machines work gets up to 60C+. These batteries turn over and start 16L 6 cylinder engines.

The more CCA the better, trust me.

I used to go the cheap route when buying batteries for my 'other cars'. I finally had enough and bought the same brand battery, but with a lot more CCA. Cars crank fantastic now!! Im glad I spent the extra $50!

I used to have an Odyssey battery for my Ford Fairlane showcar!

An AU $375 battery back 6-8 yrs ago.

Normal big CCA batteries would die within a month because of my huge car stereo. The Odyssey just kept going and going. Every 2 yrs to the day nearly, they would die on me. But all good, I just took it back in for a replacement and another 4 yr warranty.

I let the car for nearly 2 yrs and it ****ed that Odyessy. But I didnt buy another as I dont crank the stereo as loud as I used to. So I bought a big CCA battery and its been fine for the last 12 months so far.

Id reccommend Odyssey batteries for sure!!

 

I was told once that one has to be careful with high claimed CCA batteries, because they usually have much shorter lives. The way to get that high output is to simply stuff more lead plates in the same size case. What happens is vibration and sulfation causes the battery to short out prematurely. Apparently these has been over come with AGM technology as it is harder for the plates to short out against each other.

This is way some low CCA rated batteries can seem to last forever. Even if sulfation starts, it can't build up enough to short out the battery internally.

 

Drive and enjoy the car as much as you can, keep it on a tender if it's less than once a week or for just short drives. I also just replaced the battery after the winter with the car just sitting for 2 months wihtout starting in the cold. Needless to say it was quite dead. Bought a Sears Gold 34R and all is well.

 

Thanks PAP.