So I went wheeling today at Coal Creek Windrock here in TN today and had a blast. Wheeled for about 5 hours, got the JK slap covered in mud.

When I was done, I opened the hood to connect my airline to my compressor and noticed my Optima Yellow Top Battery was bulging on the top. There were 3 of the "cells" that had bulged and form 3 large bumps on the top of the battery. I didnt need my winch all day, or any of my offroad lights, yet the battery was really hot.

I only had that one 12 months, and took it to Autozone (since I bought it there) and they replaced it for free. Wondering how long this one is going to last. The only good thing is that it has a 36 month FREE replacement warranty, and not that pro-rated crap. The only thing worrying me now is: what if I needed my winch today? Would that have blown the battery up? I don't like wondering if I am going to need a spare battery when I am 15 miles from nowhere. Anyone else have this problem?

 

I have always had good luck with my optimas. They are a great battery. Got a blue top in my 2012.

 

the optima gel cells used to be top of the line but were bought out and the quality went to crap not long after that...i have seen a lot of problems with the optimas and will be replacing mine with another brand deep cycle gel cell when mine finally takes a crap...but...that being said,i have been running my yellow top for a little over a year with a lot of week long hard core trips and a ton of night runs using all my lights and have run my winch off it a crapload of times as well without even a hiccup...i would say i would call it reliable from my personal experience.. so far....

 

Guess I will just carry a spare on my trips. That damn battery was $200 but since it has a 3 yr free replacement warranty, i can just keep getting em swapped out. Hard to put it on the shelf for 200 bucks. Grrr.

 

i wouldnt go as far as to carry a spare..thats a lot of weight to be carrying around and after you jump it and get the jeep started you dont need the battery anymore for the jeep to run anyways...you most likely just got a bad one...

 

I had the one in my jeep since 2008 I had it in my KJ before I put it in my JK 2 years ago. I have one also in my classic mini clubman. Had that for 3 years I think. Never had a problem with mine. I will only run them. That sucks what happened to yours, glad they replaced it for free.