Originally Posted by OptimaJim

While our Group 27 and 31 batteries both have this feature, they are quite large. The other battery that could be used in a custom-fitment application with venting provisions would be our Group 78 RedTop, although it is a side-terminal only battery.

Originally Posted by OptimaJim

While our Group 27 and 31 batteries both have this feature, they are quite large. The other battery that could be used in a custom-fitment application with venting provisions would be our Group 78 RedTop, although it is a side-terminal only battery. Our other products that have provisions for external venting may either be too small for the application or may only be available at specific locations, like the 35C, which is an OE battery on the Jeep Liberty diesel and only available through Chrysler dealerships.

Originally Posted by RadioTek

Finally got to the point where I had to replace the battery. I'd been getting by with occasional recharges from a trickle charger, but that finally stopped working.

I've been hearing a LOT of negative info about the quality of Optima batteries; that the quality had taken a severe nose-dive when the factory was moved to Mexico. I looked around a bit and talked to a local battery specialty shop, the guy there was not impressed with them either, saying that he had been exchanging them under warranty at about a 100% rate: "10 out of 10" going bad, even at the shorter warraty period enacted after the factory relocation.

He was trying to push me to another battery, with the name X2(?), but that would have been $300.00 by the time taxes were included. I told him I could afford that if I could figure out a way not to buy groceries for a month, and decided to go online.

I entered Group 35 AGM battery into Google, and started looking at the results. The one I stopped on was a Bosch Platinum at Pep Boys (a regional chain parts store) that had a 25% discount for online orders over $100.00. The list price was $189.00 and the discount brought it to $142.50. Taxes brought it to about $155.00 after I brought back the old one (core charge).

The main difference was that the terminals are 'backwards' on the OEM battery, but I was able to get the connectors on the terminals by putting them at the back of the enclosure. It just took a little bit of fiddling.

The vent hose fitting pulled out of the OEM battery and fit into a hole on the new one with no trouble.

The temp sensor pull out of the hot glue easily, and was hot glued and duct taped to the new battery. Duct tape was to keep the sensor in place
until the glue cooled.

Since this was a group project with a couple of my sons' friends, the sensor didn't get hooked up at first. So when the car 'booted up', the "Check Hybrid System" error message appeared. One of the kids has a scanner, so it was applied to the car. (He was imressed that it had the info for the Camry Hybrid) and it showed a Batt Temp Sensor error. Plugging it in cured that, and the car is now happy.


I'm attaching a photo of the same battery, but branded for Exide. The guy at the parts store said that they are manufactured in the U.S.A. by Johnson Controls for Bosch, Exide, and probably others.

While this was almost exactly the same size as the OEM unit, I did note that it was quite a bit heavier, by 5 to 8 pounds. I note that the weight of batteries is often associated with the quality; the heavier, the better, due to the amount of metal / number of plates. The old one lasted 5 years in Phoenix, so I'm hoping for a like lifespan on this one, maybe even better.