My '03 convertible (torch red, black/black) came with what looked like an Optima battery. I didn't think much of it at the time except: "Cool, they sure do it right with the whole vette package and even put in a battery worth having..."

Well, I had brought my car in for an oil change and just now realized that they swapped my battery out and put in some Delco POS. I really just noticed this now because I've had the car winterized and was just now giving it a good looking over to get it ready for the spring.

Does anyone know what the deal is with the batteries? Was there some recall on them that would have led the service dept. to swap my batteries, or am I the victim of a five finger service discount?

Thanks,
Bob

An optima is definitely not OEM equipment, and you should have an itemized list of what they did to your car. They may have changed the battery if they found a problem with the one that was in there or you may be the victim of the mentioned service discount.

Are you sure you had the optima? I have the optima battery (yellow top) and it is yellow with a grey case. The red top is the other common battery people put in which should also have the grey case. The only other one is the blue top (marine).

If you had an optima and they swapped it out for a delco you got screwed. The delco battery is well known for having cracking posts and leaking acid into the PCM (computer) causing all sorts of mess and repair.

Good luck and see if you can get them to tell you why they changed the battery.

Your car should have come with a Delco AGM originally from the factory. It is similar to the Optima in it's basic design.

Are there any markings on the bolts for the cables or hold down clamps that would indicate it's been changed?

Chris, Bruce,

Thanks to the both of you for the reply. I was looking around on the Net for a photo of the Delco AGM to see if it was that instead of the Optima, but I didn't have any luck in finding a photo. There are markings that suggest a change, but not record of why in the invoice (no surprise really). I guess I'm going to have to make a call to the service manager and I'll see if their responsible enough to rectify the situation.

One thing for sure, regardless of their actions, I'll change the POS they put in there based on what I've read here on the battery problems stemming from the standard lead acid units.

Thanks all for the input. I love the car and love the community and enthusiasm around it just as much.

Regards, Bob