Yellow top battery?
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Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2011
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From: Queens. NYC
Yellow top battery?
im about to finish my sound system and im trying to be safe and replace the stock battery with a yellow top battery. does anybody know if i can do that for the 2011 mazda 3 isport by any chance.
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Joined: Nov 2008
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From: southern New Hampshire
Why change out a perfectly good battery?
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Aberdeen, MD
depending on your setup you would want to look @ a high output alternator, then a battery. Ive heard bad things about the yellow tops so id just stick with a red top. The stock batteries are junk, just replaced three in two days, one from an 08 and two from an 05.
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From: southern New Hampshire
While stock batteries might well be junk, replacing one from a 2011 seems kind of silly to me. Am I missing something?
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From: Aberdeen, MD
I think they use the same panasonic battery, they have a hard enough time lasting on a completely stock electrical system. Reminds me of oem goodyears, more or less for display than actual use.
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Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Manor, TX (Outside of Austin)
Personally, I wouldn't waste my money. Those batteries (the red and the yellow tops) are known to have issues and they are EXPENSIVE. I considered getting one to replace my factory batt when the time came, then I started reading up on them. They get you on looks alone, cause they don't seem to have much to back up their claim of deep cycle power.
Also, when they get run down, they are a bitch to get charged back up again and usually are never the same again.
Go to AutoZone or Wal-Mart. I HATE Wal-Mart as a rule, but they have some of the highest consumer rated auto batteries in the country and they are reasonably priced too. 'Got my 7yr battery from them for $75 installed.
BTW: My factory battery lasted nearly 5yrs and in the Texas heat too. I'd say that's pretty good!!
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From:
As to replacing the battery for an installed stereo system..... it may be necessary and it may not. The car/system could run perfectly fine without issue. You could get dimming of lights just on peak output. You could also get severe dimming of the lights at all times and drain the battery faster than the alternator could recharge it..... granted unless you're putting in a monster of a system that's unlikely.
Your options in all of these are battery, HO alternator, and/or a capacitor. If you're just getting a little bit of dimming on peak output then a battery may solve the issue. Likewise an appropriately sized cap would take care of it. Unless you're doing a major system build then I doubt you'd need a HO alternator.
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From: Aberdeen, MD
That's not entirely a fair statement. Yes people have had issues with the batteries, however the OEM batteries are not maintenance free like most store bought batteries, and their lack of longevity could be due simply to people not confirming the water level is good. Beyond that most batteries are good for about five years, so I shouldn't think having to replace two six+ year old batteries would really set off any alarms. I got just about five years out of my stock battery, and technically it was still working. It was just cranking much slower in cold temperatures and it's CCA were putting out about 1/2 of stock (per AAP testing).
As to replacing the battery for an installed stereo system..... it may be necessary and it may not. The car/system could run perfectly fine without issue. You could get dimming of lights just on peak output. You could also get severe dimming of the lights at all times and drain the battery faster than the alternator could recharge it..... granted unless you're putting in a monster of a system that's unlikely.
Your options in all of these are battery, HO alternator, and/or a capacitor. If you're just getting a little bit of dimming on peak output then a battery may solve the issue. Likewise an appropriately sized cap would take care of it. Unless you're doing a major system build then I doubt you'd need a HO alternator.
As to replacing the battery for an installed stereo system..... it may be necessary and it may not. The car/system could run perfectly fine without issue. You could get dimming of lights just on peak output. You could also get severe dimming of the lights at all times and drain the battery faster than the alternator could recharge it..... granted unless you're putting in a monster of a system that's unlikely.
Your options in all of these are battery, HO alternator, and/or a capacitor. If you're just getting a little bit of dimming on peak output then a battery may solve the issue. Likewise an appropriately sized cap would take care of it. Unless you're doing a major system build then I doubt you'd need a HO alternator.
yellow top battery..
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Joined: Feb 2011
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From: bethel,oh
That's not entirely a fair statement. Yes people have had issues with the batteries, however the OEM batteries are not maintenance free like most store bought batteries, and their lack of longevity could be due simply to people not confirming the water level is good. Beyond that most batteries are good for about five years, so I shouldn't think having to replace two six+ year old batteries would really set off any alarms. I got just about five years out of my stock battery, and technically it was still working. It was just cranking much slower in cold temperatures and it's CCA were putting out about 1/2 of stock (per AAP testing).
As to replacing the battery for an installed stereo system..... it may be necessary and it may not. The car/system could run perfectly fine without issue. You could get dimming of lights just on peak output. You could also get severe dimming of the lights at all times and drain the battery faster than the alternator could recharge it..... granted unless you're putting in a monster of a system that's unlikely.
Your options in all of these are battery, HO alternator, and/or a capacitor. If you're just getting a little bit of dimming on peak output then a battery may solve the issue. Likewise an appropriately sized cap would take care of it. Unless you're doing a major system build then I doubt you'd need a HO alternator.
As to replacing the battery for an installed stereo system..... it may be necessary and it may not. The car/system could run perfectly fine without issue. You could get dimming of lights just on peak output. You could also get severe dimming of the lights at all times and drain the battery faster than the alternator could recharge it..... granted unless you're putting in a monster of a system that's unlikely.
Your options in all of these are battery, HO alternator, and/or a capacitor. If you're just getting a little bit of dimming on peak output then a battery may solve the issue. Likewise an appropriately sized cap would take care of it. Unless you're doing a major system build then I doubt you'd need a HO alternator.
AGREED... id just get a cap first then if the dimming continues then id get a new batt... and if that doesnt help then a HO alt
what kinda system are you running?
i have 2 12" DUAL's with a 1000 watt amp and it hits HARD! i get some dimming at peak but not a ton... but i do have an aftermarket batt but not an red or yellow top just one from walmart from the previous owner
and as far as optimas go i had a blue top (marine batt lol) in my truck and it was the best thing ever. i bealy ever drove the truck and it sat for about 4 months and i want out turned the key and started right up no problem. so just from my experiance they are great!..... but
when i wrecked my other truck ( not the one with the blue top) i got a 2000 focus zx3 and it had a red top and one night i left a light on and it went completely dead... and that was a pain in the ***... but that because i didnt know how to proporly charge it. if you get a optima batt you might wanna look at a charger for it just in case ( or you could cheat and hook a charger to a regular batt and then hook that batt to the optima and it will charge that way lol )