97 Riviera Battery ????

The battery in my 97 Rivera is the original. It’s nearly 10 years old. One day I’ll need a new one. The OEM battery is long and narrow and has 2 vents that allow hydrogen gas to vent outside the car (explosion prevention for rear seat passengers).

My guess is this battery must be expensive since I’ve never seen that shape before. I was thinking of going to a sealed Orbital type battery but I’m unsure of fit. Those don't need venting.


Anyway, what have some of you out there replaced the battery with?

I had the worst time trying to find an actual AC Delco replacement for this battery. I eventually found one at a local garage at a discount... $130 in the end. This battery is close to the original but does not carry as long of a 'life' as the original battery, and didn't come with a new vent tube, despite the fact that it is about an inch shorter than the discontinued original (mine is a 95, not sure if yours is different?). I have yet to find a vent tube so a sealed battery might not be a bad idea at all. As with any battery, make sure you try and get a replacement that has ratings close to the original... as I think these cars with all their whackitycrap gizmos would drain a smaller battery pretty fast.

I have an optima yellow top in mine.

So is the stock Riviera battery rechargeable?

Lukedogg,

Does the Yellow Top use the stock hold down clamp?
If not, how'd you secure it.

Rivrocket (84accord)

red or yellow tops work well as replacements but you can pick up the stock bat from some specialty battery stores for about $120-130 and they last 7-10 yrs

Lukedogg,

Does the Yellow Top use the stock hold down clamp?
If not, how'd you secure it.

Rivrocket (84accord)

My car was missing the hold downs when I bought it, so it just sits there. Never had any problems with it moving. And I love taking corners a little faster than I should.

I did have to buy a longer ground cable though. The stock one was too short. But thats easy to switch.

Lukedog,

Thanks for the info.
By the way, it looks like we have pretty much identical cars.
Chrome wheels, green/blue paint. Mine has about all options but no sunroof.

Rivrocket

Lukedog,

Thanks for the info.
By the way, it looks like we have pretty much identical cars.
Chrome wheels, green/blue paint. Mine has about all options but no sunroof.

Rivrocket

Mine has every option. Personnally, I would be fine with manual windows, manual seats, no heated seats, etc. It takes forever to adjust the seats, Plus it is just another thing to break.

Maybe heated seats are good up north but in florida, they are useless.


I recently had to replace the driver door handle on my rivi, and this paint has a ton of pearl. It has green and white pearl. I only mixed 2 oz. and there was over 2 grams of pearl in it. It also has gold aluminum (metalic) in it.

Whats up ppl.

Can sum1 approximate for me, percentwise how much shorter would life of say Yellowtop battery be in a riviera (1996) over the stock, oversized one they come with


B/c riv battery costs somewhere around 160 where im from , so yellowtop is 30 bucks cheaper but is it worth it?



Thanx,

the life of the bat is dependent on the climate, how much you drain and recharge, use with car off, amps of speakers and electronics. the stock riv bat. is suposed to last 7yrs IIRC and thats about how long mine lasted.(little less) and the yellow top is suposed to last 8-9 yrs. just make sure the cca are close. yellow is 750cca and i think stock riv is like 800???

the life of the bat is dependent on the climate, how much you drain and recharge, use with car off, amps of speakers and electronics. the stock riv bat. is suposed to last 7yrs IIRC and thats about how long mine lasted.(little less) and the yellow top is suposed to last 8-9 yrs. just make sure the cca are close. yellow is 750cca and i think stock riv is like 800???


they are pretty close for the price diff
ty

Mine has every option. Personnally, I would be fine with manual windows, manual seats, no heated seats, etc. It takes forever to adjust the seats, Plus it is just another thing to break.

Maybe heated seats are good up north but in florida, they are useless.


I recently had to replace the driver door handle on my rivi, and this paint has a ton of pearl. It has green and white pearl. I only mixed 2 oz. and there was over 2 grams of pearl in it. It also has gold aluminum (metalic) in it.



I know the paint would be hard to match. The GM touch up paint isn't even close.
The heated seats are a waste to me also even in the cold they get too hot.
My Riv takes more TLC than I'd expected for a premium car.

i got a delco in stock at a local parts house here in philly for 85.00 (list was 145.00 ) i think it was 860 or 890 cca cant remember exactly.. i personally wouldnt use anything else

I know the paint would be hard to match. The GM touch up paint isn't even close. my car is the light teal metallic (looks light blue) i took the paint code to the dealer and the touch up was an exact match (brush on type)

some of the paints are tri layer and they are hard to get matching with a single tube of touch up. the bright white diamond paint has a layer of base white pearl/metalic midcoat/clearcoat. when i got the same color from the delar it was no where close due to my car fadeing over 10 years and the tri coat layer process. btw paintscratch.com has the tri layer tubes for our cars.