February was unusually cold around here; we got the most snow in like 80 years or some shit. I'd had the battery from original delivery in the car, but never really had a problem because I run the car every other day even when it's not driven. I didn't get to the car for about a week because of the snow and that, combined with the cold, seemed to kill it. The car wouldn't even make that fun clicking noise when the battery is almost dead.
The sad fact is I've had an Optima sitting on the shelf for 5+ years. The battery holder is literally a threaded sleeve and a piece of V-shaped trim welded to the chassis. The Optimas are much smaller, so there needs to be some fabrication to get it to stay put. I'd blanked on the battery all the time it spent in the shop. Was it any good? Once the weather got better, I pushed the car into the driveway and swapped batteries. I figured I'd much rather do a hack job to keep the battery in place and take it somewhere, than have to go buy a same-size battery or get a free roadside assistance tow. Swapped the batteries and the thing was DEAD.
A jumper pack later, the thing is running really rough. It eventually clears its throat and runs well. I drive it around for 10 minutes, come back park it, and it doesn't turn over. I've already rigged the battery, so I pushed it back in the garage and hooked up my battery tender. Two or three days of checking the status lights with no change and I'm convinced the battery is toast. I do get it to start, but no green lights to be found. Five days later and it's both red and green, meaning there's 80+% charge, but I'm leaving for a week of vacation.
Come back, it's all green and supposedly fully charged. YES. It starts and runs, but does anyone wanna run a pool on how long it'll last and/or where it'll strand me? Note jumper pack will be in the trunk for a little while.
#garagequeenproblems
![[Image: B7oN5gG.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/B7oN5gG.jpg)
The sad fact is I've had an Optima sitting on the shelf for 5+ years. The battery holder is literally a threaded sleeve and a piece of V-shaped trim welded to the chassis. The Optimas are much smaller, so there needs to be some fabrication to get it to stay put. I'd blanked on the battery all the time it spent in the shop. Was it any good? Once the weather got better, I pushed the car into the driveway and swapped batteries. I figured I'd much rather do a hack job to keep the battery in place and take it somewhere, than have to go buy a same-size battery or get a free roadside assistance tow. Swapped the batteries and the thing was DEAD.
A jumper pack later, the thing is running really rough. It eventually clears its throat and runs well. I drive it around for 10 minutes, come back park it, and it doesn't turn over. I've already rigged the battery, so I pushed it back in the garage and hooked up my battery tender. Two or three days of checking the status lights with no change and I'm convinced the battery is toast. I do get it to start, but no green lights to be found. Five days later and it's both red and green, meaning there's 80+% charge, but I'm leaving for a week of vacation.
Come back, it's all green and supposedly fully charged. YES. It starts and runs, but does anyone wanna run a pool on how long it'll last and/or where it'll strand me? Note jumper pack will be in the trunk for a little while.
#garagequeenproblems
'76 911S | '14 328xi | '17 GTI | In memoriam: '08 848, '85 944
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth
"Here, at last, is the cure for texting while driving. The millions of deaths which occur every year due to the iPhone’s ability to stream the Kim K/Ray-J video in 4G could all be avoided, every last one of them, if the government issued everyone a Seventies 911 and made sure they always left the house five minutes later than they’d wanted to. It would help if it could be made to rain as well. Full attention on the road. Guaranteed." -Jack Baruth