battery time

what brand of battery do yall reccomend i have stock 318 and what size cca i dont have any amps or any major power draws

no ideas

800 cca group 24 i go to the parts house they usually have blems 25 to 30 bucks and since your in j ville if your in the orange park area try the advanced see is a john detomisso (spelling ck) works there big mopar fan b body's he will hook ya right up

bought mine from parts america-- they had an internet special-- no one else would match---- saved $25 . Lawrence

I got a little crazy with mine......1000 cranking amp Optima red-top. Dropped about 120.00 for it but it gets the job done. Bout a 11.5 to 1 408 and it spins it over real quick

Optima batteries are great but they have to stay on a trickle charger unless you're driving the car every day. Optimas on my Cuda, the '83 D150 440 shop truck and the '64 Ford tractor, and the daily-driven shop truck's Optima is the only one that doesn't need charged any time you want to fire it up.

Just ask GTGrinly and his wife who stopped by a few months ago. My Cuda wouldn't start. That red top was as dead as the FABO chatroom on a Tuesday night. :-D

thanks guys and gals

wow Leanna,I didnt know that about the optimas,I was going to put one in thje dart but it only gets driven about 3000 miles a year.Maybe I will rethink it.

AAA battery. $100, and three years roadside replacement and diagnosis.

........................But i'm THAT guy who leaves his lights on constantly.

tiltsix said:

wow Leanna,I didnt know that about the optimas,I was going to put one in thje dart but it only gets driven about 3000 miles a year.Maybe I will rethink it.

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There are special instructions to recharge them too (copied from Optima's FAQ without any permission or anything so don't turn me in ... this is merely a public service announcement :-D):

How do I charge a deeply discharged battery?


If an OPTIMA is deeply discharged (below 10.5 volts) most basic chargers will not supply a charge. Also keep in mind an OPTIMA will not recharge properly if treated as a regular flooded or gel battery. To charge the battery, you can wire a second fully charged automotive battery (12+V) to the discharged AGM in parallel (+ to + and – to –). Then hook up the charger to either battery, setting the charger at 10 amps. Leave for two hours, monitoring frequently. During this process if the discharged battery gets very hot or if it is venting (hissing sound from vents) then stop this process immediately. When the discharged battery reaches 10.5 volts or more, remove the standard battery and continue charging the AGM until fully charged. [emphasis added]

For normal charging a relatively low current, such as one or two amps can work well, but when the battery has been deeply discharged, some sulfation of the battery plates may have occurred. If you charge at 10 amps, the higher current will help to break up this sulfation.

If you have an automatic charger, let it run until the charger indicates charging is complete. If you have a manual charger, you can get a rough estimate of the charging time in hours of a completely discharged battery (11.2V) by multiplying the capacity (amp hours or Ah) of the battery by 1.2. If your battery is not completely discharged the time would be less.

In most cases these steps will recover the AGM battery. It’s okay for the AGM battery to get slightly warm during the charging process. If it’s hot to the touch it means there’s a short and the process should be discontinued.​

CudaChick1968 said:

Optima batteries are great but they have to stay on a trickle charger unless you're driving the car every day. Optimas on my Cuda, the '83 D150 440 shop truck and the '64 Ford tractor, and the daily-driven shop truck's Optima is the only one that doesn't need charged any time you want to fire it up.

Just ask GTGrinly and his wife who stopped by a few months ago. My Cuda wouldn't start. That red top was as dead as the FABO chatroom on a Tuesday night. :-D

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Rely? Thats strange. I have one and it works good for me. I can let my Dart sit for a few weeks, go out there and she fires right up.

CudaChick1968 said:

Optima batteries are great but they have to stay on a trickle charger unless you're driving the car every day. Optimas on my Cuda, the '83 D150 440 shop truck and the '64 Ford tractor, and the daily-driven shop truck's Optima is the only one that doesn't need charged any time you want to fire it up.

Just ask GTGrinly and his wife who stopped by a few months ago. My Cuda wouldn't start. That red top was as dead as the FABO chatroom on a Tuesday night. :-D

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Dang....I've had good luck with mine. Mine is pushing 2 years old now. Got another last summer for my 383 Duster and It's doing good too. Got a shut-off switch on the Duster and it sits for weeks at a time and starts just fine.

We run an optima yellow top on a 440. It holds charge fine for down periods of a month at a time, but acts like a typical deep cycle, or agm, if its fairly discharged, it takes a very long time to recharge and prefers a slow charge. It does not respond well to charging by a 30 minute drive in the car.
A while back we discharged it to about 7 volts as I left the key in acc for three days, which is not a good idea, nor good for the battery, would not accept a quick charge with a 30 minute drive (100a alternator). We did the same as instructed above after bitching to optima about their battery, they gave us the directions over the phone and it worked perfectly. Jumped it to a charged battery for like 6 hours, then trickle charged it on a 5a smart charger for 24 hours which it must have taken 20 hours to fully charge. I took it off charge and put it back on that evening, it charged for another 6 hours before it completed again. Freaking deep cycles, deep charge, deep discharge, not really optimum for an automotive battery. Should have got the red top but the fans and wires are yellow. I think the red is most recommended for automotive due to quick discharge volume.

iggys68dart said:

what brand of battery do yall reccomend i have stock 318 and what size cca i dont have any amps or any major power draws

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For my street cars I go and get the cheapest,lightest,battery I can find.
Light is good for speed !!!! 8)
I cut the handle off (if it has one)and take all the stickers off.
Depending on the car,there is some cool Mopar batt stickers you can buy. Or just leave it black.

Show cars get the Mopar,sealed,maintenance free,yellow tops. But dam are those things heavy. The only time it is in the car is when the car is at a show.

I do not like OPTIMA even a little bit!! I have 5 vehicles, got a deal on optima battery's when they first came out....oh boy dry cells!!! longevity, no worry about vibration etc etc etc etc etc..... with all 5 Optimas purchased bought a "special" DRY cell charger $130 got them all in the month of October ( B day present to me FROM me) My pickup does a lot of sitting mostly drive the GTW car..... the following January rolled out the house at 6 am bout -12 outside, freezing rain the night before.....turned the key on the GTW ride DEAD as ABE LINCOLN..... moved to the PU, DEAD AS DINOSAURS WTF??? called work got docked and pulled out the special charger.(40 amp)....6 hours later the GTW still would not start...moved it to the pick up.......5 hours later still dead as dinosaur!!! WTF????? these things back then COST PLENTY!!!! for that kinda money I expected WAAAAAAAYYYY more than 3.5 months of usable service!!!! took then out of BOTH cars and called a buddy and took them BOTH back......sure enough the "special tester" for OPTIMA ONLY batteries showed them as flawed.... got 2 new ones came home put them both in gave them each a 3 hour trickle to make sure they were up to proper charge....started both cars and hooked up the multimeter...all showed well!!!! The very NEXT morning -15.... BOTH OF EM DEAD AS A DOORNAIL.....called work again, jerked em both out of the two cars on home ground...went to storage tried the three cars sitting there.....ALL DEAD...jerked them out and headed for the parts store......wal;ked them all back inside and ASKED NICELY FOR MY MONEY BACK AND GOT IT WITHOUT A PEEP!!!! the guy told me he had been exchanging them all day long .... not a single burp of resistance.....took my card and fully refunded my purchase price.
Did some research, and got the next set of acid filled from Costco & SAMS club......still going strong my classics sit all winter ( detached) in spring I hook them up and fire the car ZERO issues, no charge!!! Recently a buddy bought a SEARS DIE HARD PLATINUM dry cell...bragged about his great battery....I cautioned him and got summarily dismissed...... 2 days before Christmas 2010 he called me and asked where I got my batteries....I told him COstco KIRKLAND.....he then told me he took his 82 year old Mom over to his sisters house for xmas.....when they came out to go home...dead as a rock and it was only about 27 degrees...no subzero crapola..... I will never buy another one and if someone gave one to me I would deposit it in the trash......not worth pissing off a friend by giving him a battery I already KNOW is going to fail.... they are JUNK in a plastic case and not worth the powder to blow them to hell IMHO

I've also had problems with the OPTIMA battery. I bought one a few years back (for about a zillion dollars) and it only lasted about 1 year. I only drive the car about once a month and don't draw any current while it sits there. I went back to the cheap Kragen specials... going on 3 years now with no problems.

Optima batteries are great but they have to stay on a trickle charger unless you're driving the car every day.

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where did ya get that from? maybe you have a slow draw in your electrical system. my red top will sit all winter out in the tent. i'll let it sit a month or so at a time ( i try to start and warm it up about once a month, month and a half during winter ) and the car fires right up. that thing has to be about 5 years old by now.


i have read a few posts saying the optima isn't what it used to be ever since johnson controls run the show now. but i really don't know. i believe mine was bought before they started making them..


i have a few friends running the duralast from auto zone and they have nothing but good to say about them.


here are the optima and dura last batters for a 318 71 dart. should be the same for your car.. http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/1971-Dodge-Dart/Battery/_/N-iq34sZacy27

on the subject of batteries-- just how many places actually make them anymore? They used to have an exide plant up the road 1.5 hours-- guys said they wouod just switch labels on the batteries. lawrence

China makes them, sticks different labels on them. My neighbor swears interstate are the best. I have an interstate that is easily 8 years old and doing quite well on our farm truck. It will only run the radio for like 4 before its discharged.. Who knows if interstate is still made by the same bunch or not. I just get top o de line napa, kragen, autozone generally where ever I am near by when a battery dies. Just last week I bought the top o de line kragen battery for an 05 f150, the lady told me it was made by the same company that makes interstate.. Who knows if thats true...

abodyjoe said:

where did ya get that from?

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Joe, I thought my explanation of the problem was pretty clear and, judging by some of the later responses, I'm not the only person having it. My red top's probably almost five years old but it's always been unreliable.

I'm not aware of any draws on my system but since it's pretty much been a garage queen forever while my resto is underway, I haven't had much road experience with it yet. Time will tell. In the interim, thanks for the head's up on the potential electrical issue -- I'll keep it in mind if regular driving doesn't keep the battery up. :-D

got a sure start 1000 CCA as it gets cold here , works well for the plow truck (75 AMC jeep)

Odyssey PC1200 had one sit for (4) years and then cranked up my 565" 15-1 stroker.....8) Also is a drycell 8)

Rickster

Our US Air Force has a contract with Optima- the guys that deal with batteries are trying to cancel the contract, as they are a problem.

I run a E-25-S Energizer from Sam's Club for the 1968Plym 318 with nice stereo system. 680 cranking amps with 550 cold cranking amps for California is fine. Sam's just like Costco have great warranties. When mine is about to expire, I take it in and tell them it has left me stranded several times and they issue me a new one. My 1966 F100, 2003 Suburban and 2002 Tahoe all run Sam's or Costco batteries. Pricing is good.