Optima Yellow Top died suddenly after only 3 years

[Calgary ZR2]

I am not to sure what happened. My alternator voltage was around 14.5 and the Yellow Top was around 12.8V before starting. I drove about 50 Km and parked for about 10 hours. The Blazer started up again with no troubles and drove for another 50 Km. After parking for about 45 minutes the battery was dead and will not even engage the solenoid. A smell of sulfur was present and the battery was very hot. Even when boosting the battery to get home it became very hot. All the signs pointed to a voltage regulator failure. However, after testing the alternator and regulator both by myself and professionally it tested to be good.
Would any of you know what may have happened, had this problem before, or have any advice for me.

Thanks
Vern

[TomB985]

Don't know much at all about Optima batteries, other than the fact that they are completely different from all other car batteries.

But...the fact that the battery was hot suggests to me that you may have had some kind of high amp drain on the battery for awhile. Maybe your starter relay was sticking? Or perhaps there was a short? Batteries die all the time, but if it felt hot when it did, I'd say the vehicle was the culprit, not the battery.

That being said, I absolutely 100% do NOT believe in spending twice the money on an optima battery. I've read all kinds of good things about them, but I've also read lots of people who have had them fail at or before the normal lifespan of a "regular" car battery. To my knowledge, the average optima does not last any longer than the average lead-acid battery...they just cost a lot more!

[Calgary ZR2]

Thank you for that.

If it was a high amp drain, would the alternater not recharge the battery, and would the battery still not take a charge?

How would a high amp drain kill the battery Vs only discharging it?

Thanks again for the help.

[TomB985]

Hrmmm....

Well, as I said before, I don't know enough about them, or if a short can fry one or not. But...if there was that kind of a short, your truck likely wouldn't start wven with a good battery, so I don't know.....

I just know it's real odd to have the battery hot like that afterward. No, the alternator would not charge the battery through a short of that magnitude, as the battery would be putting out over 1,000 amps, and the alternator's only rated to 1/10th of that, so it wouldn't even charge...

Don't really know, have you tried another battery?

[BlazerBoyLT98]

If you do infact need to replace the battery I would save the money and go with the most powerful Duralast you can fit. Much better price then Optima and more powerfu. Good luck

[jbarsalou]

Sounds like some kind of short to me. I would have a parts store load test (usually for free) the battery before just trying another battery. You may blow up another one if it is the truck.

I have heard of some people having problems with Optimas. But as an owner of one I love mine. Back in 1997 I bought an Optima yellow top for an '87 TA with 2 large amps (400w and 300w McIntosh's). I used it until 2002 (besides winters) until I sold the car and then put the battery on a shelf in the basement. It sat for 3 years on the shelf until the original battery in my '97 Blazer died. Instead of buying a new battery, I tried the old yellow top. Much to my surprise it still worked! And starts my Blazer every day since. Expensive but worth it in my case.

[Calgary ZR2]

I agree it does sound like some kind of short.
Some things I have found out so far is that heat is the number one battery killer. The Blazer was parked in the sun at +33C for 7-9 hours then driven at highway speed for almost an hour. I noticed the engine compartment was very hot since there is no air flow under the hood. The original AC Delco battery had a blanket glues around it. The yellow top had no heat sheilding.
I also found out that the voltage regulater could be intermittent by working fine at start then fail when hot and under load. So to be sure I bought a new alternator.
I also noticed the air conditioner condenser drips the condensation on to the starter. It seems like a poor design, however it can't much different from driving in wet conditions.

Where are other common areas to look for a short that may result in my situation?

Thanks for all the help guys.
Hope you keep it coming.

[Calgary ZR2]

Thanks for all the great information.

I have replaced the alternater and battery. I then did a full check on everything I could that may have been the fault if it was not just a battery failure.
The battery at off is at 12.52 V
Durring starting it dipps to 10.11 V
In park at 550 RPM it stays at 14.15 V
In Park at 2000 RPM it atays at 14.22 V

I also tested off the Alterneter and the results were not off by very much.
I then retested with my MSD bypassed and again the results were not off by much. I also did a load test and it checked out to be normal.

Everthing I have been reading claims that these results are in a normal range. Would anyone have any other ideas or tests I could try?