Well, I finally had to replace the yellow top I had bought from elearnaid. I knew it had been a while, but even I was surprised to see the date stamp. 8 years is a pretty impressive run, particularly as the heat in Phoenix tends to eat batteries. 2-3 years is considered pretty common for most starter batteries here. At least I remembered to put on anti-corrosion pads this time Rob iPhone ?
WOW! That is a L O N G time for a 12v battery in the heat of Phx, I know that in Saudi Arabia they get like 2-3 years from even high quality ones, 4 is rare. Even golf cats in parts of MX eat a battery pack per year or less, so that would be like $2/day just in battery replacements!
Hey there, quick question: were you the one who swapped out the now dead battery years ago? Just curious because I just pulled an Optima 12v out of my 2004 Prius and it was stamped '09 as well. I wasn't sure of the longevity of these batteries. I'm also curious to know if the stock 12v battery has JIS or SAE terminal posts. The new replacement Optima Yellow Top I got has the wrong terminal posts for my cable/connectors. I got the Yellow Top Optima (DS46B24R) but when I got ready to install it I noticed it had the JIS pencil post terminals and the old one that was in there was just like yours in the pic (a D51 with the SAE terminal posts). Did you have to get different (SAE) cables when you swapped it out in '09? I'm just trying to figure out why my cables/connectors are SAE and the Optima battery that is commonly stocked around here has JIS terminal posts. Thanks
The DS46B24R has JIS posts and is the stock battery in the US for 2nd gen Prius with SmartKey. That battery used to be very hard to find outside of a Toyota dealership, so some vendors sold terminal kits to allow the use of a battery with SAE posts. It looks like your car was converted to SAE.
My wife's 2006 Prius currently has an elearnaid supplied Yellow top installed a bit over seven years ago. I used their supplied SAE conversion hardware, and have been worrying about whether I can undo the conversion for her next battery and use the (cheaper and more widely available) Japanese terminal model, or whether I'll need to stick on the SAE side. The car is garaged, and does not see very much of the high temperatures possible here in Albuquerque. For the last three years or so I have also been giving it a monthly topping up with a Battery Tender Plus, which some folks assert may assist in extending battery lifetime. So far the car has not given any of the two or three distress symptoms it gave before I replaced the OEM battery at a little under five years.
