Nothing tops the Coppertop
Strangeness hit the revlimiter garage (also known as Wolf Motorsports Development) recently. Every Roadster I own decided they needed new batteries. Now, that is only two Roadsters, but still… really odd. Especially since Miata batteries usually last 10+ years.
Okay, so it wasn’t a surprise that Bucky, my 2001, needed a battery. That one has been weak all winter. I’ve been keeping it going with a trickle charger if I wasn’t going to drive that car for a few days. One weekend, I forgot the charger. The battery wouldn’t charge past 11 volts ever again after that. Still. That battery is 11 years old. Not bad. Definitely time for it to be retired.
But Sharka’s battery was a shock (ba-doom boom. tip your waitress). That battery has been nice and strong since I got the 95 chassis a few years ago. I went to start him up and was rewarded with a voltmeter pointing to the 10 mark. The battery was strong enough to provide a single chug to the starter motor, which was enough to start the engine. I threw Bucky’s dead battery in the trunk and went out in search of some juice.
Part number: MIATA
I just wanted a stock replacement battery. I’ve had Optima batteries before. They’re awesome. But they’re also heavy and over-sized and expensive. And I’m not really interested in saving weight on the back passenger corner. If anything, that’s the one place you really want to ADD weight. So, an exotic, lightweight battery wasn’t appealing to me either. I just wanted a stock replacement.
Thanks to a little internet research, I learned that O’Reilly’s Auto Parts stocks a gel cell replacement battery for Miatas. The part number is MIATA.
THAT, my friends, is awesome. How could I not buy that?
Mazda vs O'Reilly
As you can see from the first pic, I got home with two of these little batteries. I ripped the dead one out of Sharka for some comparison pix. They look to be the same size. The tops look a bit different. And then it hit me.
The Mazda battery was a classic flooded-cell type of battery. A wet cell. Lead acid. Not sealed. And it was crusty, shitty, and leaking.
WTF?!?!
Iron Man is not pleased.
A classic wet-cell battery. With the Mazda name. Ugh!
Back to the internet for more research. I discovered that Mazda is supplying wet cell batteries as OEM replacements now days. I was stunned. Gone are the famous Panasonic AGM batteries. Now they have these acid-leaking things.
I was less happy than Iron Man about this turn of events. I had no idea this thing was sitting in my trunk. And I really pride myself on my knowledge of Miata trivia. This is one bit that somehow escaped me for a number of years. It seems Mazda started supplying these wet cells back in 2007ish and have done so ever since.
AGM batteries FTW!
Here, I thought I was just swapping out one AGM battery for another. Nope. It was an upgrade. Put back to how things were originally intended.
Yeah, I might be making a big deal out of this. But I’m passionate about these little cars! They deserve to not have acid leaking all over their trunks.
If none of this makes any sense to you and you have no idea the differences between flooded and dry cell batteries, go hit Wikipedia. Cliff notes: you want a maintenance-free, non-exploding battery in your trunk.
Installed. After an hour of cleaning acid off every bracket.
Perfect fit!
Fits an NB perfectly too.
The icing on the cake are the little slots built into the top of the battery. They’re just perfect for the stock battery tie-down. Not even the OEM battery that came out of Bucky (which I neglected to photograph) had this. The tie-down just rested on the tops of the cells.
I’m pretty impressed with O’Reilly’s Miata battery. It may look rather humble at first glance (Super Start doesn’t exactly sound like a luxury brand) but it’s really worth the $100 bucks.
Here’s hoping it’s another 10 years before I blog about Miata batteries again.
Thanks for posting this up. I know what batteries I’ll be going with in the future.
A little more research reveals this is the same as a Westco, which miata.net loves. But $40ish cheaper. 🙂
Interesting stuff I guess some of the quick auto parts stores do stock some pretty decent stuff.
Also Rev I was wondering if you got my email about the types of paper you are using for custom gauges? I know you are a buys man I just wanted to make sure you got it.
Not seen any emails on that topic. But I’ll tell ya right here: I don’t discuss it. I’m always trying different types of papers. What I use one month isn’t likely to be what I use the next month.
Thanks I think I will follow your creating custom gauge faces post and then try out some different papers to fit my needs.
This is not for a Miata I am going to try your method on my Chevy Colorado.
Iron Man does not approve of crappy, acidy batteries.
Hey RevLimiter! How have these batteries been holding up? I followed your walk-through on this and picked up a Super Start to replace a Duralast one that I was running. Any signs of corrosion? Also, you say these are a Westco Battery? Can you provide a link to where you found that claim?
Thanks!
The batteries have been great so far! No problems. Still starting strong. No corrosion.
I’m not sure what the claim that these are Westco came from. I believe I found it on the miata.net forum. I could have found it really quickly 2 years ago when I posted this. 🙂
That is a very good tip particularly to those fresh to the
blogosphere. Simple but very accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one.
A must read post!
Hey Revlimiter, was just wondering how well these superstarts are holding up. Looking to buy one for my NB today
They’ve worked well! I’ve not had any problems with them. I think both batteries are now out of their 3 year warranty as well…
Wet Cell (flooded battery): Wet cell batteries are lead acid batteries designed for automotive use. There are two popular versions of wet cell batteries available as a SLI (starting lights ignition) starting battery and a deep cycle (marine) battery. Wet cell car batteries are serviceable and should be checked routinely, but in some cases there are maintenance free wet cell batteries as well.
SLI Battery: SLI batteries are designed to start your car with fast short bursts of energy to start your engine. There is a greater lead plate count, but thinner to cover more surface area and have a custom material. Most automobiles come with a generic SLI battery from the factory.
Deep Cycle Battery: Marine deep cycle batteries will last longer and are designed for long-term energy delivery. The bursts of energy are not as strong as a SLI battery due to the fact that the lead plates are thicker and can endure many deep cycle charge and discharges.
VRLA Batteries (valve-regulated lead-acid battery): A sealed battery with no venting of gases. These batteries are great for use in small spaces with no ventilation and are great when in storage because they are sealed. VRLA batteries don’t leak or release hydrogen gas and are considered the safest Wet cell lead acid battery. The only downside is the VRLA batteries are sealed, leaving them unserviceable. There are two types of VRLA batteries, the gel cell battery and the AGM battery.
Gel Cell: A gel cell is considered a VRLA battery and is designed with a gelified electrolyte. Gel batteries are extremely resistant to hot temperatures, spillage, physical shock, and electrolyte evaporation. Gel batteries function just like a wet cell battery, except they are sealed and dry.
Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM): An AGM battery is also considered a VRLA battery and is designed with the electrolyte held in glass mats. These glass mats are very thin fibers in the battery and are meshed together to form the electrolyte absorbed glass mat. AGM batteries also work just like a wet battery, without the spilling of battery acid and are sealed.