C5 battery recomendations

[Ian V]

Just aquirred a 1998 C5 yesterday after selling my C4. Anyway, drove it home from Manchester yesterday and all was fine. Turn the key this morning and nothing, flat as a pancake. The previous owner has had the car laid up for a t least a couple of months and I guess that the battery has been left and has total discharged. I assume he must of jump started it yesterday and that got enough charge into the system to get me home, but it looks like the battery is screwed and will not hold a charge.

Anyway, any recommendations for batteries and suppliers, and costs ?

[C5RagTop]

There's some info here:
http://www.corvetteclub.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=577...

http://www.corvetteclub.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=608...

http://www.corvetteclub.org.uk/search.php?mode=res...

Optima seems a popular choice but if you want an original equipment AC Delco try OCW (15% discount for CCCUK members)

[mitch_]

Is the battery a Delco Freedom? If so then the following may be of use. If a Freedom is completely discharged it is very hard to get a proper charge back into it. You will need a fairly heavy duty charger as you need to leave it on a boost charge for the best part of a day. Sounds extreme, but anything else will only produce a surface charge, hence the rapid discharge since you parked her up. If it's been flat for long then I would suggest replacing it all together.

Mitch

[mrobin33]

Don't leave the key in the ignition when parked up - it drains the battery for some reason. Possibly not the issue here but worth knowing anyway.

[Ian V]

mitch_ said:

Is the battery a Delco Freedom? If so then the following may be of use. If a Freedom is completely discharged it is very hard to get a proper charge back into it. You will need a fairly heavy duty charger as you need to leave it on a boost charge for the best part of a day. Sounds extreme, but anything else will only produce a surface charge, hence the rapid discharge since you parked her up. If it's been flat for long then I would suggest replacing it all together.

Mitch

Thanks for the info Mitch, the battery is a Delco 78H-6YR. You may possibly know the car as I bought it from Manchester (C5 HCA) from a guy named Danny.

As it had been off the road for at least a couple of months I,m guessing that its been flat for a while. I think its going to be a new battery to be sure.