Optima Battery Life Survey
- Thread starter Kayvan
- Start date
JCSB
Ex GT Owner
Triheart7
GT Owner
SteveA
GT Owner/B.O.D
My first battery lasted 1 week due to the dealer letting it go dead on the show room floor then putting a 50 amp charge to it. They replaced it in Aug. of '05, the battery is still in the car and always on a trickle charger.
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cobrar1339
GT Owner
Been using and dealing with Optima for many years. Actually I brought this battery to the retail market back in the day. Our Company has sold more than anyone.
Here is my experience from our customers an some with the GT an other personal cars.
1. They have an above average life on daily driven cars. Seen 9 years an still going in my son's WS6.
2. When drained completely they are much more difficult to revive. May not be able to jump start, either.
A. For some reason when very low, they do not do as well with a jump pack device either.
3. If they have some charge left they will come back when using a trickle charger.
4. High amp chargers and an Optima are bad news. There is not enough mositure in them for this and it drys the spiral cells very quickly. Steve A mentioned this with his dealership experience. Very common occurance.
5. Charge at 10 amp max when in a jamb. 2 Amp is what they like best.
6. GT electronics act up when you don't have a fully charged battery. The gauges will do funny things. Because it starts, it does not mean the GT has a fully charge battery. Once it becomes fully charged the electronics seam to get back to normal in almost all cases.
A.
Don't assume it's your battery if there is zero power, either. There is a
ground that goes to the X frame near the battery. This 10mm bolt has been the culprit in the past. A 1/4 turn of this bolt can bring things back to life. If you have voltage an no int lights, brake lights or headlights. Look here first.
7. The factory charger cig lighter charger will not revive a very low battery in my experience. A minor dis -charge it works fine. No lights or state of charge reading is No Bueno for me.
8.:thumbsup Kendall aka Cooltech sells a charger system for the GT that makes it easy to keep the battery tended to automatically. Highly recommended for the enjoyment of the car at anytime. This should be at the top of any mod list IMO. I was a little lazy and let mine drain too far one time, my first call was to Kendall. Some of us don't get to drive the cars enough with travel schedules, winter storage, etc. He has done a good job customizing this well known and reliable device for the GT. Brought this charger to the retail market as well. Very reliable unit.
Check it out here he has some very detailed information.
http://www.cooltechllc.com/ford/gt_chargeport_gt_float_charger_kit.htm
Here is my experience from our customers an some with the GT an other personal cars.
1. They have an above average life on daily driven cars. Seen 9 years an still going in my son's WS6.
2. When drained completely they are much more difficult to revive. May not be able to jump start, either.
A. For some reason when very low, they do not do as well with a jump pack device either.
3. If they have some charge left they will come back when using a trickle charger.
4. High amp chargers and an Optima are bad news. There is not enough mositure in them for this and it drys the spiral cells very quickly. Steve A mentioned this with his dealership experience. Very common occurance.
5. Charge at 10 amp max when in a jamb. 2 Amp is what they like best.
6. GT electronics act up when you don't have a fully charged battery. The gauges will do funny things. Because it starts, it does not mean the GT has a fully charge battery. Once it becomes fully charged the electronics seam to get back to normal in almost all cases.
A.
Don't assume it's your battery if there is zero power, either. There is a
ground that goes to the X frame near the battery. This 10mm bolt has been the culprit in the past. A 1/4 turn of this bolt can bring things back to life. If you have voltage an no int lights, brake lights or headlights. Look here first.
7. The factory charger cig lighter charger will not revive a very low battery in my experience. A minor dis -charge it works fine. No lights or state of charge reading is No Bueno for me.
8.:thumbsup Kendall aka Cooltech sells a charger system for the GT that makes it easy to keep the battery tended to automatically. Highly recommended for the enjoyment of the car at anytime. This should be at the top of any mod list IMO. I was a little lazy and let mine drain too far one time, my first call was to Kendall. Some of us don't get to drive the cars enough with travel schedules, winter storage, etc. He has done a good job customizing this well known and reliable device for the GT. Brought this charger to the retail market as well. Very reliable unit.
Check it out here he has some very detailed information.
http://www.cooltechllc.com/ford/gt_chargeport_gt_float_charger_kit.htm
PL510*Jeff
Well-known member
No problems at all.
Been in the car since Feb,2006. Had one in a race car for 9 years.
Never had a charger on it. Have not had a ground problem etc.
If you guys would or could drive the GT more often, battery will always be in good working order. Leaving them parked for the monthly,quarterly, and in some cases I'm sure, the annual drive, in my opinion causes more harm than good.
just my $ .02
Been in the car since Feb,2006. Had one in a race car for 9 years.
Never had a charger on it. Have not had a ground problem etc.
If you guys would or could drive the GT more often, battery will always be in good working order. Leaving them parked for the monthly,quarterly, and in some cases I'm sure, the annual drive, in my opinion causes more harm than good.
just my $ .02
Well said Jeff. Here is my experience: 4 GTs. First was purchased June 06. Car was 8 mos old then. I drive it weekly, if not daily. Never had a charger on it. Orig. battery.....20K miles. Car 2 is Nardo. Who knows about the batteries & number. Not a good specimen for the survey. Car 3 05 with 4K miles purchased this year. Was stored a great deal of it's life...trickle charger. The prev owner put a new Optima in when I bought it. Car 4 06 stored nearly all it's life on a trickle charger and rarely driven. Battery went out about a month after my purchase. Wouldn't hold a charge and guages started going crazy one by one. New battery solved all it's problems. Jeff is right...just drive the dang cars. I don't think trickle chargers are worth a crap. I have a 2 & 10 amp charger and whenever most any of my cars (other brands too) go dead I generally charge on 10 amp for 6hrs or so or on 2 amp overnight. Still not as good as driving the cars. My 2 cents from experience.
I'm with these guys - battery has gone low a couple of times during storage in the winter months, but a 2A max trickle charger has always brought it back. It's been in the car since delivery in September, 2005. I recently installed Kendall's Charge Port Battery Tender, and will keep it on this winter, but I will still fire it up monthly to keep the condensation down in the oiling system, and to maintain the battery charge. My San Diego mechanic thinks that non-use is the biggest cause of most of the Ford GT problems reported & I tend to agree with him.
PL510*Jeff
Well-known member
for those seldom driven, or long term storage GT's, you may want to just disconnect the battery. It'll hold the charge quite well, and negates any trickle issues that have come up for some folks. Just takes a few minutes.
Or in stall a "twist to disconnect" on the battery.
Trunk liner comes out and goes back in quickly.
Or in stall a "twist to disconnect" on the battery.
Trunk liner comes out and goes back in quickly.
BlackICE
GT Owner
IMHO a Optima battery in good condition and never allowed to significantly discharge will have a very good service life. The problem is that many of our cars were purchased from dealers that had the cars for some time before the initial sale. Therefore condition of the battery is unknown. Did the dealer always has the car on a trickler? Was battery ever fully discharged? Was the battery ever charged at high amperage? I believe the bulk of the early failures are caused by less than ideal storage and care before purchase. Any battery with the exception of those designed for deep discharged, are compromised if they ever are allowed to get weak.
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timcantwell
Le Mans 2010 Sponsor * Moderator
My 2005 has been fine for just four years now. My other 05 was replaced by the previous owner. The pattern of failure I see is overcharging. You must use a float-charger charger to keep it alive or as Jeff suggested, just disconnect it.
isaakgt
GT Owner
Build date of my car is 6/05 and battery is still going strong. I have used the Deltran Battery Tender from day one and not the unit supplied by Ford. So far, so good.
SYCO GT
GT Owner
