Rally 8 - Panic Time - Murphy almost got me!
I got the call yesterday that Passport would be here tomorrow to pick up my car. Drove it a little last night and when I went to pull it out and give it a final once over this morning, it would not start!!! Adrenalin rush....... No gauges..... Dome light works. Got out my CTEK and plugged it in and it read like the battery was 3/4 charged. All kinds of random thoughts. Bad module somewhere.... ??
So I decided to do something moderately crazy and called BigInch Blake. Good ole Blake. Great to talk to. Helped me work through it probably was the battery and I disconnected it an hooked the car up to another battery and things worked well. Yea!! Know the problem!
Boo. Where I live, can i find a replacement battery today?? Look at the Forum and see Nota4RE recommends a Sears Platinum Die Hard 75/86 as the go-to replacement for the Optima. Go online and Sears in Springfield has one. Drive up there and get the battery and install it.
Murphy again.... Tub does not go in. Dumb me did not check the battery height. Call Kendall and he tells me what to check for as tub fit goes. Great advice. Nope, its not my install as the battery is in and screwed down tight and the car starts fine. All is well, except the trunk tub wont go in and the trunk lid wont close. Do I really need the trunk for the Rally????? Hmmm....
Call Sears and they tell me that the original 75/86 attery has been replaced. The go-to battery used by Kendall and others is no longer made and its replacement, which came up when I clicked on the Forum link, is 1 inch taller!!!
Thank goodness the clerk I was dealing with cared!! I told him the dimensions needed and he found one in stock with essentially the same dimensions as the Optima OEM part. It has less CCA, but Kendall said that should not matter, so back to Sears for another battery. Compared dimensions with the old, dead Optima and they were very close.
Brought it home and as luck would have it the bolt and battery holder fell down onto the belly pan. Good thing I have a lift. Up goes the lift, off comes the belly pan, out comes the fallen holder. Put the car back down, and fought to get the battery in. Not as young as I once was and dang batteries are heavy. Fought with it to get it in place so the bolt would go in and success. Hooked it up. Crossed fingers. Car started!!! Yea!!
Now about all that can go wrong is the lift wont go up. It does! Belly pan back on and car back on the ground. Tub in. Goodies for Rally 8 in the tub.
So Murphy tried...and thank goodness failed... Thank you Blake and Kendall.
BTW. The Sears battery part number that fits is 22850747, and it was $164.99. Its an AGM Group 47 battery. Needless to say, I was not shopping for the best deal, just whatever would get me running today.
I got the call yesterday that Passport would be here tomorrow to pick up my car. Drove it a little last night and when I went to pull it out and give it a final once over this morning, it would not start!!! Adrenalin rush....... No gauges..... Dome light works. Got out my CTEK and plugged it in and it read like the battery was 3/4 charged. All kinds of random thoughts. Bad module somewhere.... ??
So I decided to do something moderately crazy and called BigInch Blake. Good ole Blake. Great to talk to. Helped me work through it probably was the battery and I disconnected it an hooked the car up to another battery and things worked well. Yea!! Know the problem!
Boo. Where I live, can i find a replacement battery today?? Look at the Forum and see Nota4RE recommends a Sears Platinum Die Hard 75/86 as the go-to replacement for the Optima. Go online and Sears in Springfield has one. Drive up there and get the battery and install it.
Murphy again.... Tub does not go in. Dumb me did not check the battery height. Call Kendall and he tells me what to check for as tub fit goes. Great advice. Nope, its not my install as the battery is in and screwed down tight and the car starts fine. All is well, except the trunk tub wont go in and the trunk lid wont close. Do I really need the trunk for the Rally????? Hmmm....
Call Sears and they tell me that the original 75/86 attery has been replaced. The go-to battery used by Kendall and others is no longer made and its replacement, which came up when I clicked on the Forum link, is 1 inch taller!!!
Thank goodness the clerk I was dealing with cared!! I told him the dimensions needed and he found one in stock with essentially the same dimensions as the Optima OEM part. It has less CCA, but Kendall said that should not matter, so back to Sears for another battery. Compared dimensions with the old, dead Optima and they were very close.
Brought it home and as luck would have it the bolt and battery holder fell down onto the belly pan. Good thing I have a lift. Up goes the lift, off comes the belly pan, out comes the fallen holder. Put the car back down, and fought to get the battery in. Not as young as I once was and dang batteries are heavy. Fought with it to get it in place so the bolt would go in and success. Hooked it up. Crossed fingers. Car started!!! Yea!!
Now about all that can go wrong is the lift wont go up. It does! Belly pan back on and car back on the ground. Tub in. Goodies for Rally 8 in the tub.
So Murphy tried...and thank goodness failed... Thank you Blake and Kendall.
BTW. The Sears battery part number that fits is 22850747, and it was $164.99. Its an AGM Group 47 battery. Needless to say, I was not shopping for the best deal, just whatever would get me running today.
Last edited:
