I have a generic Sears battery that came from the PO with the car. It's a little weak and makes it hard to start, especially after the car sits for a few weeks.

It rarely sits longer than 3 weeks without being driven, and I don't plan to use a battery tender / trickle charger.

This is a relatively stock 2.0 (40mm carbs). Will rarely if ever get cranked while temps are below freezing, but perhaps in the 30's/40's.

Would prefer not to spend a ton...

Optima. I put a used one (no idea of its age) on my '70s Ford diesel tractor 4 years ago. It sits for 3-4 weeks at a time, sometimes longer. This is a diesel, mind you with no preheat available. Starts every time. Admittedly costs a lot new, but you'll never look back....
Of course I've got one in the 914.....

I just bought an Optima today (35) from Batteries Plus. Not sure if you have a location near you, but they were about $25 cheaper than Napa or Autozone. Sit down - it was still $165, but I don't need my rust getting any worse, and from what I read, it is about the best on the market. I would rather spend the money up front.

BTW, for less than $20, you can get a solar charger that puts out a couple of amps. I bought one for my riding mower, and it has worked great, even with only partial sun where the panel is. The cord is probably 10 or 12 feet, so you might be able to put it on a window ledge or something. I plan on getting another one for the 914 as I don't like the idea of a trickle charger that is "on" all of the time.

I've used small interstate batteries in 222. Two of these batteries sat for 2 years when the engine was out. They were connected to small battery tenders. Like the kind you can get pretty cheap at Amazon.

They just keep working great and my engine has a bunch of compression.

The battery I am replacing is an Interstate that might still be good, but after all of the work I have just put into making my car road worthy again, I am not going to trust a battery that has sat for 4 years. Perhaps I will get it tested this weekend and give it away to a local teener if it is still good.

I have an interstate battery in an Audi S4 that sat for 6 years in storage.
Was completly dead but after trickle charging it for a day or so it has been starting the car for several months now. I have not charged it again and it does not run for very long so I don't really know why it keeps a charge.

My RV sits for months at a time and starts without any problem, it just has the medium range Duralast batteries from AutoZone but after about 4 years they go give up.

My Honda on the other hand won't go 24 hrs without having to be charged up.

Jim

The last thing that I want to do is hi-jack Flip's thread, but the reason I am replacing the Interstate with the Optima is that I have serious rust under my battery. The Interstate did not cause that, BUT looking at the terminals on the Interstate, there is no question that it is NOT sealed well. There is a great deal of corrosion around the positive terminal. I don't want to put it back in my car, given that I don't trust non-sealed batteries in a car that will sit for months and is prone to rust under the battery. I am not knocking Interstate batteries in any way. Anyone in or around Cincinnati looking for a free battery, shoot me a pm.

I second the Optima red top. I bought one used for my Saab Sonett over three years ago, and it has held a charge after more than a month of sitting.

Yellow Top Optima and a Battery Tender, I prefer Deltran. Mine just died due to an interior light above the glove box left on.

It had 3 volts. Came back and sitting steady at 12.8. There's a little secret on getting them back. Shock charge of 100 amps, then 15, then 2, then 100, etc.

I use a regular lead acid battery...take your pick of vendors.
Start it at least once per month...let it run (Outside) for at least 30 minutes....all is well.

OR
I remove the battery and bring it in the house to keep it warm and prevent freezing.
Dont store a battery directly on concrete...I put it on a piece of wood on the floor...lasts all winter with no charging needed...
Put it in the car and start it...

Rich

No need to store a modern battery on wood anymore, that was true way back before manufacturers switched to plastic case material.

I second that , and even thought i am reluctant to say so sometime's my teener

sits for a month ,


and I never worry about the optima red , starting or



battery acid poisioning the car

Yup. Concrete thing is old.

Get the Battery Tender Jr. It comes with two plug-in pigtails. One you can hard-wire to the loom and leave in place. Plug it in when you leave it and you're good to go when you want to go.

The Yellow Top is a deep cycle; designed to go dead and recharged over and over.

The Red top is not a deep cycle. If this battery goes dead it will cause slight damage to the charge cells. If this is repeated often, the battery will not hold a charge as well.

I have had both on my truck. Sits for weeks, battery dead every time. The yellow comes back to life with every charge. The Red one got thrown away after it would no longer hold a charge over night.

i bought one of those solar chargers at the "help china rule the world store" and keep it hooked up to whatever vehicle i am not using. as long as it faces the sun part of the day the batteries stayed charged

I'm running an Optima red top battery. I also rewired the cigarette lighter to always be on, so I could plug in a trickle charger when the car sits for weeks at a time. Otherwise the stereo clock, will eventually drain the battery. My Optima is over 10 years old, so it does not hold a charge longer than two weeks.