I just FINALLY installed my optima battery today after some fine tuning with the fitment issues I was having.

Went to autozone and picked up a universal battery tray and placed it in the OEM batter tray and the wires stretched to fit it nicely with a little left over.

I also asked many of the questions you did and deliberated heavily before getting a new battery.

Here is a link to the thread I started and inside the help I received from Dave with links to other threads.

Hope this helps...

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ghlight=Optima

-Anthony

 

just got the diehard gold for $80 from sears thats my pick for price and quality

 

Got my red top for $100 at Cosco

 

Just bought a Die Hard Gold today as well for my SC400. Group 35 for $80. Looking at the specs catalog as I was waiting at Sears, this battery has a CCA of 680, slightly higher than the Die Hard International at CCA 625. However, the International at $20 more and 10 lbs heavier has an RC of 150 minutes while the Gold has only 100. Both also come with a 3 yr. full replacment warranty and 100 month prorated warranty. Anyone know what the specs are on the OEM batteries from Lexus?

Also, Sears does the install and a charging system check for $10.

 

I agree the specs on the Lexus battery would be intresting as well. I e-mailed Optima battery folks & they are sending a brochure my way & also mentioned the battery # is the Red Top # 35.

 

my optima orange top battery hm....... but it wasn't pretty when it died... on the BLVD one of the stone caps poped out and the (steam) all shot out of the battery.

lasted a little under 20 months..... unchargeable..... optima= runaround. = me new cheapo battery. = no difference.

 

Sorry to hear, but be assured your SC won't even know the difference- it will start up and run just as if it still had that Optima in it (um, before it exploded, that is)!

 

Yea Optimas are the best. But anything from Johnson Controls (who make Optima) is good.

I just paid $30 at COSTCO for a Johnson's Control battery (KIRKLAND brand) and its going to last 3 years and I can buy another one then, and STILL Have $$$ left over instead of buying an Optima. Interstate and Die Hard Gold are also made by Johnson's Controls and are good, but the KIRKLAND is good also.

 

The design of a regular car battery is that you start the engine using the battery juice and then the alternator takes over and recharge the battery and supply juice for all the electronics for you car. Under this normal driving condition, your battery will last the warranty period.

The issue of a regular car battery is that they are not designed to be fully discharged. Everytime it gets completed drained, it gets DAMAGED and its life span will be shortened about 20% or so. If you car is designed to shut off all electronics (like interior light, headlight, whatever) when sitting overnite and you would never get the battery drained by, say, playing your stereo while engine is off or leaving the car untouched for 2 weeks. You can live by with a regular battery. Otherwise, your next battery should not be just a regular car battery.

The better solution or alternative is DEEP CYCLE BATTERY. It allows fully-discharge WITHOUT damaging the battery. It gives good cold cranking (which doesn't really matter because the engine of our Japanese cars, unlike those V8 or diesel engines, don't take make effort to crank up) and it gets recharged faster.

Optima makes three types of batteries. The red top, the yellow top and the blue top. Their website doesn't show much info, specifications or comparions about their products and they have been changing the model numbers and they don't list info about their older models so studying, shopping and comparing their products is quite confusing.

The red top is NOT DEEP CYCLE. It is a starting battery. For us with Japanese cars, don't bother with it.
The yellow top is DEEP CYCLE. THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED FOR YOUR BATTERY. The model that fits our cars is "D34" or "D34/78". Same spec. They are about $140 on ebay. I suggest getting the "D34/78" as it has the side screw-in type posts so that you can wire your add-on accessories directly to these secondary posts instead of messing with those 4AWG or 8AWG wires and those distribution blocks that fit nowhere.

One thing about Optima battery is that they aren't quite perfectly fit in our Lexus. I had to put a 0.5" wood board to lift up the battery and bend up the brackets a bit to allow screws to be tightened. The posts are also located forwards the center of the battery making fitting the terminals very difficult (at least for my 2000 GS). I had to replace them with those $15 a pc designer terminals The installation process for my optima was not as smooth as I planned.

Also, look into the Blue top. Blue top is marketed for Marine but it actually has the SAME SPEC as the YELLOW top. (Well at least the D34M that I have been looking at) and since it is marketed for marine, most people will just skip looking at it and therefore the demand for that is not great. That means you can get a good deal for it.

So, buy the BLUE TOP D34M because it is a deep cycle, with side posts, and cheaper than the yellow top.
Also replace the factory battery terminals (postive and negative have different sizes) for easy fitting.

For GS, if you want to lift up the battery for better fit. use a 1/2" thick board underneath the battery. Don't lift up too much as it might hit the hood.

I have killed two batteries on my GS300 and my Honda Odyssey during my alarm and video installation as I drained the batteries numerous times. The battery on my Honda didn't hold much charge after my alarm installation and died overnite. I thought I made a mistake somewhere in my alarm installation thus pulling too much current and drain my battery. I spent so much time to troubleshoot and recheck all wire/connections. It was a painful experience. Finally I concluded I might have a dying battery. I researched my tail off to find a better battery solution and now with the optima under the hood, not only my engine cranks like no spark plugs installed, it starts even over two weeks of not using my van.

One thing to keep in mind. There were couple places I found on Internet newsgroup talking about the quality of the Optima batteries drop for the past 1 year or so after the mgmt change. There are many dead on arrivial. I don't know if it was just BS from those battery vendors who don't carry them or it is a fact. But keep that in mind.

I don't work for Optima and good luck.

DC

 

Optima IS the way to go!

I killed my Lexus battery in just 8 months after I got it (aftermarket stereo). 1 Farad Caps weren't helping at all. I would kill the battery in less than 2 minutes and it just kept getting worse. I thought I might have to replace the alternator. As soon as I connected the Yellow Top - everything woke up : )

True, the fit was not "optimal". I used the 1.5" dense foam that the battery ships in tolift the Optima to the height of the stock battery, then locked it down with the stock battery brace.

 

i think im gonna grab a optima also...just incase i do some serious mods..

CEO

 

Lets forget about batteries and alernators and switch to a generator like they did back in the day.

 

I would only get an optime if you plan to relocate teh batter to the trunk or something. You will really not see any benefits from the battery if you're not pulling more power than stock. I had an optima in my Z3 and the thing drained every 2 days. If I let the car sit in the garage for a couple days I couldn't start it. It appears that the gell does not hold the charge nearly as long as standard acid filled cells. Get a 72 month batter with 600+ cranking amps and you should be fine. If you plan to ad a stereo, ect.. upgrade the alt. You cal allways go for a 2 battery setup in the future.

 

They are worth every penny .............Plus no fumes ....no corrosion.............perfect for trunk mounting

and 3 year free replacement not prorated !................We drive Lexuses $135 dollars is nothing !

 

deep cycle is a waste of money if you are stock. red tops will last longer and will not drain as fast as cheap batteries.