Advice on car battery!
 

so yeah, i need to find a battery for my 04 WRX to have it running before its too late! i'm just wondering what you guys would suggest i get. thanks! ps. i cant press enter and start a new line from my phone... it automatically clicks on 'done' insteqd of going to a new line. so im sorry if this is hard to reqd, i have no ideq since everything seems like a wall of text on my e71.
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optima red top, hands down.

high CCA rating, and gel cell on top of that.

What is too late?

You need a BCI Sized 35 battery. The key of finding a good battery is the warranty and freshness, especially since technology improves all the time... I would try places like Walmart / Canadian Tire (especially high volume ones, the date code are usually sticker-ed on the battery). It is more important to save the receipt than to go for anything fancy (assuming you don't have any huge stereo system etc).

Shouldn't be more than $100 bucks.

While you are at it, you should also verify that your old battery is really dead.. ie checking whether the battery can't hold the specified AMPs. I think some Canadian Tire does it for free, they put it in a box where they do a long charge for you. You want to do that because you want to make sure it is not your alternator / charging system that is screwed up.

Federal Battery
#3 - 11560 Voyageur
Richmond

Yeah definately check to see if its your alternator. My GDA bugeye wrx had a problem with the alternator, kept draining out the battery and eventually my car would suddenly shut down with instrument panels flickering like crazy.

+1, bought my red top from there too, car has died a few times from long term storage and 1 quick jump its good as new.

@Raid3n
"OPTIMA RedTop™ batteries are designed for short term high current applications such as starting engines, and short high amp uses of a winch motor. They do not like to be "deep cycled" (like ALL automotive starter batteries) however the Red Top battery with its SpiralCell Lead Plate Technology, will suffer much less from the occasional deep discharge such as leaving your lights on or winching until the battery dies. Because of the fact that SpiralCell technology can store more energy for a given sized battery these types of battery are ideal for use in offroad vehicles where reduced weight is important because a much larger "conventional" battery would need to be used in place of an OPTIMA to give the same starting current capability."

Is that why you're so confident in that battery? I guess that is a pretty good thing hah considering that that's probably why my current battery died... but I'm planning on getting a trickle charger? or battery tender? along this purchase so I don't kill another battery. Do you think it's still worth it?

@godwin
Hah woops, I just meant before the snow comes... hah don't want to get stranded out there.

The threads I dug out warned specifically NOT to go Canadian Tire... how come you recommend them? And you're right to assume that I don't have a big stereo system.

Thanks for the heads up, the reason why I thinks it's my battery is cause I left the car in the garage through the whole summer so when I started it up a week ago it was dead... jumped it and drove around for half an hour and the battery was still dead. After that, jumped it again and drove into Coquitlam (from South East Van) but there still wasn't enough charge to turnover the engine. During all the driving, the lights and stereo worked fine so am I right to assume that the alternator is working fine?

@Bender Unit and RX_Renesis
Thanks! I will definitely call them or something to see what they have for me.

@turbomelon
lol i don't have anything crazy like that, do you still think it could be my alternator?

Red tops are pretty good

that said i run an interstate. and have for a few years.

red tops are awesome, if you can shell out for it, and if you have a nice sound system, it's a must!

but i'm running my stock battery, and a oe replacement is dirt cheap from energeizer anyways...

Optima red tops are basically oem. they are not meant to be drained and recharged. They are a gel 6 cell type enclosed battery. which means u can mount it any direction even laying on its side.

the one u want is the yellow optima top. That one is meant for car audio, where u can drain it recharge it and keep on doing it. thats the one with the long life. bt also means it doesnt exactly make the model and sizing for your car.

I would seriously ask any car audio expert if you are going to be investing money in a good battery!

scanned from the current issue of consumer reports... hope it helps:

http://www.revscene.net/forums/pictu...pictureid=1914http://www.revscene.net/forums/pictu...pictureid=1915

If you are going to go through deep discharge cycles.. don't waste money on red tops.. The battery will die no matter what, just get the right BCI size for you car.. which is 35... The BCI size is a specification of the dimension of the battery and the CCA. People say red tops have deeper CCA often is not matching up with the right BCI size. I rather have a battery that fits right and can bolted down to OEM tray, rather than a vibration resistant red top that has to be jury rigged into the battery try. Spend the left over money on a Ctek charger instead (which Canadian Tire sells for $40 bucks from time to time)

I don't know why people don't like Canadian Tire.. they just OEM their battery out just like everyone else. Most people who bitch and moan don't know anything in the first place and expect red carpet treatment.. For me I only go to Canadian tire when I know which exact part with part # I am getting, especially battery, I rather they have a service department, convenient (they open late), and is nice enough to do service on the battery on site for you. That's why for non type 94r (that is BMW battery).. I rather go to places like Walmart and Canadian Tire, they have the right size and open late. Unless you are one of those lucky people, who only have car problems during business hours. Walmart's employees don't give a hoot of what you return, in my experience they swap the battery without questions asked.

Your current battery is probably sulphated beyond repair. The only way is to put in a high voltage and hopes that it can be restored.. You need one of those cart sized charger and a cabinet and hope it won't explode when you do that.

No your car can't start.. how do you know your alternator works fine? That doesn't make sense. In fact I would say repeatedly trying to do an underamp start don't do wonders to the charging electronics.

costco or cambodian tire

i love shit kicking canadian tires batteries then getting them replaced under warranty

Honda OEM batteries are $85 a pop btw. 5yr warranty. And man do they take a beating.

they're made by interstate

huh mine says Made in Japan on it.

So Yuasa makes batteries for both Honda and Interstate.

how do you make that work? i tried it once (actually 3 times) but after getting stranded because they got fully discharged/won't jumpstart i just gave up and got something else...

interstate battery is pretty good


if you dont mind spending $150 on a battery than get the yellow top IF it fits your application

Along with buying a new battery, I'm probably going to get a tender/charger because I do realize that batteries die very very fast going through full discharges.

That said, I'm probably looking at an interstate battery because it doesn't seem like I need the powers of the red top.. and the yellow top doesn't have a size that fits. But I can't find any interstate batteries for sale on the CT website or the Federal Battery website.

Where did everyone get their interstate battery?

Thanks for everyone's help thus far!!

^ Ok tire on minoru blvd carries interstate, i dont think they stock so u might have to order tho.

back in the day when i had a system in my car i would constantly drain it, jump start it , charge it and repeat

i would also pour tap water in the battery when it ran low on fluid

i had their eliminator series with 3 year free replacement and 9 year total warranty

had it replaced 3 times free, then one last time and it cost me $20 or so on year 6 or something

each time i bought it in for warranty, the counter guy would test it and say its fine, but i would tell them it wouldn't hold a charge and they just shrugged and gave me a new one

i run an oddyssey pc925 lightish at 24lbs, sealed dry cell, 3yr no questions replacement warranty, and 10yr warranty on some other stuff. holds up to winter and a tiny amp. it exists in my hatchback, without any poisonous gases. 225$ taxes in from battery direct with terminals.