Strange Timing

[64pvolvo1800]

So I got all the hoses and a heater core ready to swap them out on my 98T5 this morning. Disconnected the battery, removed all the trim panels needed, laid plastic down under the core, laid towels out on the plastic, it went like clockwork. Out with the old core, in with the new, new hoses and orings all the way around, new heater hoses, radiator hoses, coolant tank hoses. Put everything back together and refilled system, still waiting for it to burp and bleed more, i know it'll hold more than the one gallon and a half i put in so far. Put the battery back in and go to start the car.......clicking. Check the battery with a DVM and find it's down around 11.5VDC. Open the door to the car, starts dropping to 9.5 with just the inside light on. Bah humbug! It's a Sears battery so I go through my receipts for the car maintenance and find the receipt sure enough.....I bought it in feb 2001!!! 72 month warranty. Guesss I could go get a new one and take the $1.50 prorata credit!!

Or, I'll get a new Optima.

Any recommendations??

OH, another interesting tidbit I found....The dealer had replaced my turbo seals the last time I let them work on it. (A couple years ago). I had noticed a whistle when I really got on it lately too. I found out why today, the hose clamp going to the turbo was LOOSE. I'll never trust the delaer to do shit to it again. The only reason it went in then was a schedule conflict and I had to let someone do the work.

[prasamin]

my optima has served me well, but honestly, it's like any other good battery....you can get a die hard or whatever and it would give you good results for a long time.

[64pvolvo1800]

my optima has served me well, but honestly, it's like any other good battery....you can get a die hard or whatever and it would give you good results for a long time.

Well, I went ahead and bought a red top 75 Optima at COstco today. It fit right in and even let me reinstall the hold down from the OEM battery. Had to tug on the neg cable a little but but it fit like a charm. Engine spins like a top.

I ran it for a little whille with the heat on full. I had plenty of heat and the temp gauge was 3 O'Clock, but it only took about 1 1/2 gallons of coolant mix total to refill the system after the hose/heater change. Weird, I figured it would hold more. I'll continue to check it but it looks like it's finished drinking for now. No leaks.

Thanks to all of you who posted heater core swapout threads in the past. They were a great source of reference and it really was a piece of cake.