Just bought a battery relocation bracket from BMR to mount the battery where the spare tire was. Thinking of buying an Optima Yellow top for deep cycle capacity or just go with the delco (not sealed). Do I need to vent the battery and how would I do it. Thinking of possibly cutting a hole under the bracket to let air come in. Will this work and is it enough? Do I need to bother cutting a hole?

Any suggestions? Thanks............Bill

 

go optima.. no need for vents.. battery is completely sealed..

 

Plus its just a better battery. Go with a red top if you dont have anything extra to run. If you have a big system or a ton of electronics that you run with the engine off, go with the yellow. The red will save you some $$$ if you dont need the yellow...

Justin

 

BTW, i run a redtop.. best battery i ever had/have.. i accidentally drained it to 3volts once.. my window switches are manual on-off-on switches and one got left on.. i put the battery on the charger and couple hours later, good as new..

 

I've got a red top now. I love it. Never drained it. I just need a new alternator...

 

Have fun trying to pass tech if you decide to hit the tracks. That is unless you make a firewall and a kill switch for it. Would be pretty cool if you pulled it off though.

 

I was planning on going with a delco battery. Plus not all Optima's are sealed. The yellow top one I saw was not. So I still need to know if I need to vent the battery and how.............

 

??? Where did you find a non-sealed Optima? More specifically the yellow top? One of their main selling points is they are sealed and can be mounted in any position. Are you sure it wasnt a regular battery with a "yellow top"? I have one of those in my dad's car. Its an interstate battery, that sort of resembles an optima...but isnt sealed. Got it for free as a used battery...

Im pretty sure they are all sealed... Are you installing heavy stereo equipment? Or do you regularly drain your battery down? Because if not you dont NEED a yellow top..... And I can tell you a good place to get a red top online and you wont spend that much more than a delco....

J.

 

Saw a yellow top Optima at a booth at a car show. It had two little holes on top I thought were vents. Hence not sealed.

Regardless I was leaning towards a delco as they are $100 compared to a Optima yellow at $ 300.

So.............do I need to vent and how do I do it...............

 

you are looking at this battery right??? should be $230 AT MOST.. and trust me, optima is sealed.. thats what they made their name from.. sealed batterys that can be mounted in any position

 

Ok...Ill answer your question before saying anything more about Optima. If your battery has a vent...yes you need a vent tube. You'll need to run it to the outside of the car. So you'll need to drill a hole in the spare tire well...or use one of the little body plugs that are down there. Not hard. Not sure if you need to seal the battery off in some sort of box if its a vented battery though. Someone else can chime in on that. Most of the battery relocations I see have the batt sealed off in a box...either plastic or metal.

Ok...that said...

Delco for $100? I never priced one so I didnt know how much they were. I would be going optima red top and never looking back. You keep saying yellow top but you arent saying why you need a yellow. Again...if you arent running extra electronics that use a heavy load, you do not need a yellow top. $300?? Haha...highway robbery. I know a website that you can get the red top for $99... and shipping is around $20 for me (near philly). Thats a no brainer. Better battery than delco... NO VENT... no worries about leaks...

Sounds like your choice should be pretty easy. I hate having to run tubes/vents/hoses that arent needed. But its ultimately up to you. If you have any question about optima and dont want to rely on our info...go to their website or give their customer service a call. Good luck man. When you get your kit and install it and do the wiring...post up some pictures and let us know how it goes!

Justin

 

5678 TA,

What do those two holes on the top of the battery in front of the terminals do? I thought they were vents? I could be wrong.
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Justin,

I was looking at the yellow top as I might add some stereo equipment in the future.

Also, as I am in Canada I am quoting CDN $$. Sorry did not specify. Now you know what thing cost up here and why we go to the US a lot to pu parts.

The bracket will just fit a battery and won't fit a box unless custom made. I will give Optima a call and will post pics later when I install.

Thanks all.............

 

they are not vents.. thats all i can say.. i have flipped an optima battery upside down before.. i think its screws for the yellow "top" portion under the little foam thing.. thats my guess.. but definetly NOT vents

 

if you're running an OPTIMA battery in the rear of the car. what do you need to do to make it track legal, lets say I wanted to go see what my time was sometime. or With an Optima do you not need to do any of that firewall, box casing or killswitch for the track?

 

where i race, the battery needs to be secured and you need a kill switch.. dont really need a box or firewall if its sealed

 

where do you put the killswitch does it require drilling?

 

If you are racing at a track that abides by NHRA standards then any relocation of the battery outside of the engine compartment requires a firewall to completely separate it from the drivers compartment or (i think) a marine type battery box, but I think it must meet certain standards, maybe SFI.

you also must have a kill switch that is accessible from the rear of the car and must be clearly labeled. it needs to completely kill anything running off the battery immediately. There are more specifics such as the firewall metal type and thickness but neither I nor anyone I know checks that much detail during a tech inspection.