Rep Power: 275

i emailed optima batteries regarding which group size and where i can purchase an optima yellow top for my 03 civic coupe and their response was:

"For your application of a 2003 Honda Civic, our Yellowtop D51R would be the
correct battery.. Unfortunately we are currently in the process of
redesigning the equipment that produces the 51 models.. We currently do not
have any alternate batteries that can replace the 51 models for most Honda
applications.. At this time we are unsure as to when or if we will be
bringing them back in production.. We do apologize for any inconvenience."

it sounds like optima wont be making anymore optima yellows in D51R thats most honda civics size. i tried calling sears, autozone, pepboys, and kragen all over my area and none carry this size.

what battery would you recommend and why that i look into for my 03 honda civic ex that will be a direct fit and perform just as great as the optima yellow? the car is daily driven and i have a lot of stereo equipment. im looking to give my electrical system a better & stronger source overall and get rid of my light dims.

 
Rep Power: 811

good. they're finally fixing them. mine went dead in a year. i got an autocraft silver battery from advance for $55 and it works tons better than the optima ever did. and it has 2 yr free replacement. honestly, a battery is a battery. you take care of it, it takes care of you.

battery care:

1. keep the top clean
2. keep the terminals clean, use dielectric grease
3. drive car 15-20 miles every time after starting, to recharge battery. freeway works great.
4. dont drain the battery with the car off, it will never fully recharge.
5. check the electrolyte levels every so often.
6. heat kills batteries, so try to keep it cool.

 
Rep Power: 346

I used a group 56 battery in my car. All I had to do was take off a clip for the positive terminal wire so it would reach farther. And bend the tie-down slightly. At least in Everstart (Wal-Mart) batteries, the group 56 had more power and was cheaper then any group 51 battery made. Less warranty but oh well. Lot smaller then a group 51 battery

 
Rep Power: 811

heres my g51r

 
Rep Power: 319

^^^ my sam's club battery looks the same too, 2yr full replacement, and 4yr pro rated. (I also previously had an optima)

if you want an upgraded battery look at the Exide one MegaHurtz has..

 
Rep Power: 275

very clean engine bay you got their gearbox.

aside from optima, which battery would you recommend for my needs? im looking to buy locally for convience and warranty

 
Rep Power: 321

just get a cheap walmart battery with a replacement plan bro. optimas suck ***.

 
Rep Power: 811

ya really any battery is fine. a normal battery should last at least 2 yrs no problem, and thats already worth $50. they say you should replace it every 3 yrs whether or not its bad.

 
Rep Power: 301

i am just going to get a optima because my parents know someone that owns a shop so i get it cheaper then an off brand battery.

 
Rep Power: 319

^^ report back in one year

 
Rep Power: 286

I've had my optima for almost 2 years now. I've had no problems so far. I've had it start in -40C weather (windchill factor included), but without the windchill factor, it was still probably -25 Celsius. I remember that day clearly. My temperature gauge was moving down if I didn't step on the gas. This is the only time I've ever seen a temperature gauge in a car go down.

I've heard many complaints about optima's on this board, but I've never had an issue. My car always starts regardless of weather, or usage. Just be smart and don't use your stereo when the car is off. I also heard you can use the group 34 battery (I think it was that one). Its bigger than the group 51 battery, and it has more CCA.

 
Rep Power: 811

haha thats happened here too. i had to keep it in d3 or the car would never warm up and actually it would go back down at idle.

 
Rep Power: 275

is their some sort of website that shows what makes a good battery for stereo needs?

i dont know too much about CCA, gel cells, or what makes a good battery like the optima yellow. i dont want to end up buying some duralast at walmart and find out it has the same CCA/specs as my OEM battery

 
Rep Power: 251

optima yellow top batteries are deep cycle batteries designed to take the abuse of a sound system and manufactured by Johnson Control. Johnson Control also makes Sears' diehard batteries, so go by a diehard battery at sears, warranty is really good, and phuviano a group 34 battery(dodge battery) won't fit. You might be talking about a group 56 battery, that's closest to our size.

 
Rep Power: 346

Johnson controls also makes the Wal-Mart brand Everstart batteries. Hmm, Seems like Johnson controls makes a lot of batteries for a lot of people

 
Rep Power: 286

Read this, and tell me what you think??

Second page, third post (Telly's post)

http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...ellow+top+size

He said he got a D34 yellow top in there.

 
Rep Power: 302

Oh crap!! Can you come over here and clean MY engine bay??

My Group 51 optima is getting sluggish after 2 years, while my normal ones are going strong after 5 now. I wonder if the group 51 was flawed, being the reason for a re-design? Though I do abuse the batteries to no end. I drive so little now that the cars may sit for weeks between starts. I killed standard batteries in months.

 
Rep Power: 811

cca = cold cranking amps. a higher number means easier starts (for colder weather especially). reserve is how much battery power you have til it goes dead i believe.

and ya if you let a regular battery sit for two weeks, you need to drive it 30 mins on the freeway to recharge it. if more than 2 weeks, well the battery might not work anymore.

 
Rep Power: 275

whats an good alternative battery than the optima yellow?

im looking for dual starting and deep cycle purposes. my OEM battery is fine but will those diehards at sears really benefit me for my stereo system (light dimming, reducing strain on electricals, etc)? they seem to work exactly like the OEM battery...for starting purposes only.

 
Rep Power: 285

I have a yellow top in my civic and its working fine for me and I've been pounding my system on it. Still fine. I also have a red top in my old car thats does nothing but sit....the old battery died in like November I think, so my dad got the optima and it just sat there until I needed it when my civic went to Dent Express for hail, and it started up perfectly after sitting for about 6 months and not being used......so optima really does work.

 
Rep Power: 0

some yellow tops have been reported to work fine. rumor has it the 51 series was just over all poor. i had purchased one, and it died in one year. you may luck out, but when they sold out, thats it. i purchased an energizer battery from pep boys. great battery.

 
Rep Power: 246

I guess they just stopped making them? I bought one not more then a week ago and it is working great so far. I have heard they can be bad bateries because they are not lead based but I didn't buy it for its life length and whoever said that they are designed to take a beating from a sound system is right

 
Rep Power: 328

There really is no need for buying a group 51 battery. The standard sized battery fits perfectly fine. The only thing you have to do is remove the cheesy plastic battery slip on cover, which if you're buying an optima, I'm guessing you're wanting to showcase it in your bay anyway. As for the problems with the batteries, I never once had a problem with the Optima when I owned the civic (it's still in there as a matter of fact, for over 3 years, as the gf's sister bought the car from me). I put a standard sized red top in there. Some alternatives are the Exide 34C (this is what Megahurtz ran last I checked. I've been on vacation for a while though, so who knows?) There are others, but that's the first that comes to mind. Still, I loved my red top, and the standard sized offered a tad more CCA's than the group 51 size when I bought the one I had.

 
Rep Power: 811

i think this is a problem with the group 51 because alot of us are having issues. i like my battery trim and the grp51 was cheap, so i got it. idk why a bigger battery is necessary unless you really need the extra cca.

 
Rep Power: 275

do you think the optima D34/78 will fit in the 7thgen engine bay if i remove the plastic tray and a little bending of the battery tie down latch? pepboys had one left over in stock so i bought it and wanted to see if it'll fit...if not, they said i can return it and get full refund

lmk if theirs any pics or special tools needed to fit an 34/78 in the 7thgen bay

heres the link: http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/subca...=optima+yellow

 
Rep Power: 374

go redtop if you need to go for optima, if you live in severe cold or heat. any normal battery should do just fine.

 
Rep Power: 328

I'm not sure what the standard battery size is (ie I can't remember the number) but if it's a standard battery that will fit in pretty much any standard opening, it should fit fine with no modification to the battery tie down bolt. There are no special tools though. Just a little elbow grease.

And they won't refund it if you hook it up, just a warning. They might tell you they will, but unless you know an employee there, they will not give you your full refund.

 
Rep Power: 246

There are still optima batteries around, I just saw like 5 more at costco

 
Rep Power: 275

update:

standard optima yellow top battery size is the group D34/78 (or just group 34...which is exactly the same but without the side terminal posts). $180 +tax at pepboys or autozone.

i installed the D34/78 optima yellow into an 03 civic coupe automatic with some slack and i would say its close to direct fit. i was able to keep my bottom plastic tray which is good. however, the optima yellow D34/78 was wider and longer overall so it was kind of sitting on the edges of the bottom plastic tray...nothing serious. as for the tie down latch, i used up all the threads and still had space inbetween. the battery tie down that connects to the chassis of the car frame was a piece of cake. what i did was pull the tie down and forced it to fit the bolt back on. the tie down bar will touch against the plastic top of the battery (which optima doesnt recommend you do for i dont know what reason). everything turned out to be a super snug fit and works fine so far


i can take pics of the finished install per request

 
Rep Power: 328

The red top is about 92 bucks at autozone. Should be plenty of battery.