Car Died
 

So.. I'm driving home, everything is great... then my car sputters... shuts off... kicks back on... then sputters and dies.


Needless to say, I'm sitting there thinking WTF!?!?!?!?!?! :mad2:

So I coast to the side of the road, park it, let it sit, and turn the key... nothing. Not even a click. TOAST. (my speedo was still sitting at 10mph, but all other gauges were at 0 )

Pop the fuse panel and take a look... PCM fuse is ok. Didn't bother with the others... everything was working fine prior to epic failure.


So I pop the hood and take a look. Check my wires first... and see this.

wow.


What would cause that?

So... uh... yeah. I need a new battery. :glare:


after a little McGyvering with some needle nose plyers and a small section wire that went from my battery to the fuse for my amp, i got the car home.

I think my ex's battery (that wasn't bad, but her dad insisted on replacing) might fit. Until i can order another.



Luckily... silent sells them.. right?



beats the eff outta me. I'd also like to know how my battery terminal MELTED. btw.. i have another pic of the metal that is gone... its sitting in a puddle at the base of the battery. clearly.. it did melt.

Wow man...at least you can be happy that it was as simple as a battery.

Or you can measure it and write down the CCA and go to Autozone/Murray's/Costco/Sams/Sears/your favourite Interstate dealer and get a cheap one, put it in and go.

go to pepboys, havin a HUGE battery sale, i got a 140$ ACDELCO for 30$

NEW!!!

with the stereo/lighting/etc... i'd rather get another opitma (or better for a cheaper price. :lol: ) i DO have a spare sitting here.. i'm just not sure if it'll work or not. I think it has top posts, not side. :glare:

yeah, i think they had a dual post there, i obviously dont need it, but check it out, they stopped dealing with AC Delco and are now selling off stock for mad cheap.




What the hell are you runnin off that crap, make sure your alternator is not cookin batteries, that seems a bit off to melt that, i think there was a surge and it melted it to bits

gotta check w/ my bro. he might get a decent discount on Autozone batteries. I'll find out. Luckily, it doesn't need to move until tomorrow morning.

Don't Optima's have a Lifetime warranty?

i think you are right

Holy Shit! Thats not suppose to happen! Those batteries only have a 72month warranty. It looks like that statement of won't spill, leak, or corrode - it's the safest...is BS. The store you got it from may have an additional warranty on it but I doubt it.

I have never seen or heard of that happening before! Who made that battery?

And how long is the Pep Boys sale?

doesn't silent sell batteries?

NICE!

the sale is until they sell out on the batteries, ask them about it

i dont want a redtop now.....lol

3 yr on redtops... and i've had it longer then that.


clearly.....


i've never seen battery destruction on this level.... ever.

maybe it had swine flu..

WOW maybe running all those LEDs was a bad idea :lol:

That is one cooked battery, some serious arching going on there :cry:

How long did the original battery last in these cars? My 1999 battery has only been replaced once, and the original owner doesn't know when.

damn.... maybe you had an arch blaste lol. anything that could have jumpped wires or connections?

i killed my original a few times w/ my amps being left on (had them wired like a tard) so i replaced it with my redtop. and well... it decided to 'splode.

i'm guessing my original would still be kicking had left the car stock.


nope. that first pic is the housing for where the terminal screws into. it was arching around that.. for some reason. clearly... catastrophic failure occurred... for reasons unknown.

thats crazy, did you hear any noises before the car died or smell smoke lol

unfortunately... stereo was turned up, windows down, and driving with wind against the driver's side door... so.. that eliminates nearly all those possibilities. :lol:

lol i guess you may never know... freak accident? unless you put in a new battery and it happens again...

the new question... red or yellow?

is there really THAT big of a difference between the red's starting capabilities vs the yellow deep cycle features?

lol not 2 minutes after i read this thread i went outside and my battery was dead xD

yes..

OMFG! SOMEONE CALL DAN RATHER... ITS A BATTERY PANDEMIC!!!11!!!!1!!!eleventeen!1! :lol:


and about the battery question. i mean... i know the red "starts quicker" and the yellow is deep cycle (can't be killed easily) but should i just stick w/ red? is its "starting speed" that much better then the yellow's deep cycle feature?

obvously the yellow top is going to start the car, go yellow

yellow ftw

X2....

I've heard that red's are great for starting but yellow is better for delivering constant power.

The best thing to do is compare the stats on the red and yellow, if I am not mistaken they have the same reserve capacity rating. I have owned both, and they can both handle a night at the drive in with subs running. If you do shows and such you will have better luck with the yellow for running subs, lights, etc yet the red will do it for a while also.

isn't that just lead???

don't take much to melt lead.

i know a lot of people that have had problem with yellow tops, i would never buy one. i'd get a red top or a kinetik.

i've seen this happen to plenty of people.... surprisingly, it's always on GM cars but with the original AcDelco battery. it happened on our suburban. the car shouldn't have shut off tho, the alternator should have kept it running.

i ran my original battery until last fall when it was going dead every other day.

the terminal completely detached. alt had no way of giving power to the rest of the car.


...better yet... w/ the + terminal off, the ground circuit couldn't be completed... so.. no power.

hmm...interesting... because with our suburban, it kept running when the positive cable was completely detached... ours did the same thing as yours. completely melted off.

Yellow's deep cycle means that it can be drained and recharged without damage to the battery, unlike a regular battery which will die if you run it low too much.
Basically good for things that will draw the battery down a lot without charging it (running stereo/ lights without the car on or a trolling motor). Deep cycles technically aren't meant to be charged constantly like how an alternator does.. but its not a big deal or anything.

Red, AFAIK is just a big beefy starting battery, which willdie quicker if run down a lot.