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2011-2013 Hybrid 12V Battery Replacement

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98K views 27 replies 19 participants last post by  Claire33  
#1 · (Edited)
Alright guys, after owning my 2012 Hybrid for 4yrs my 12v car battery just died on me, since i dont want to spend $300+ on a same battery from the dealership i went to Walmart and searched for the closest to the original size of the battery with the same side of the positive and negative post.

The battery is a bit smaller so i put a rubber by the battery hold down.
Aside from that everything looks fine.
Hope this helps!!!

Price:
$105 = Walmart
$295 = Dealership

Warranty:
5yrs Warranty = Walmart (3yrs free replacement and 2yrs prorate)
2yrs Warranty = Dealership (1yr free replacement and 1yr prorate)

CCA:
660cca = Walmart
600cca = Dealership





Also when my battery died i cant open the trunk! tried to pull the string cable just beside the headrest on the back seat but didnt work so i grab a long stick and reached that green tab inside the trunk... what a pain in the Butt..

 
#2 ·
**** TripleK, 4 yrs for your stock battery are very good in my book lol. I thought I was one of the lucky one because my battery lasted 3 yrs, for the price you can't go wrong especially the cranking amp are more and more importantly almost half price off with better warranty. I guess it pays off to search for the right battery so job well done brother :)


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#4 ·
**** TripleK, 4 yrs for your stock battery are very good in my book lol. I thought I was one of the lucky one because my battery lasted 3 yrs, for the price you can't go wrong especially the cranking amp are more and more importantly almost half price off with better warranty. I guess it pays off to search for the right battery so job well done brother :)
Thanks man! I wasnt waiting for it but i somehow knew that soon its going to be dead. haha! yeah little higher CCA and wayyyy cheaper from the dealership, need to save money coz air bag struggle is real! Lol :lol:

You should have checked out Costco if they have one out where you live.
I got my battery replacement from there and they also give you a killer warranty on it too.
Yeah we have one but im not a member :lol: Wife does coupon thing and its a lot cheaper so yeah sir david :D
 
#5 ·
Also when my battery died i cant open the trunk! tried to pull the string cable just beside the headrest on the back seat but didnt work so i grab a long stick and reached that green tab inside the trunk... what a pain in the Butt..
I never thought about this since I've never had a car with the battery in the trunk. I'll have to keep this in mind.

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#6 ·
I never thought about this since I've never had a car with the battery in the trunk. I'll have to keep this in mind.
Yeah me too! i was close in calling the dealership of having the car towed coz i tried so many time and took me about 30mins to open the trunk using that green tab thingy..
 
#10 ·
2013 Optima Hybrid 44,219 miles - get the "Check Charging System" Warning icon in the middle display with a red battery indicator below. First time either came up. I was actually heading out of town for my daughters wedding and thought, well I will just take to dealer and have them look at it while I'm gone and drive my other car (2015 Hyundai Sonata - Gas) to Austin.

I got about 4 miles down then road and noticed when I tried to slow down, the brakes were causing the car to jerk front to back and when I accelerated after that, it did it even more. I got about 1/2 mile further and got in left turn lane, but had to Stop. That's when it DIED. Could not restart. Display indicators and radio/nav flashed on/off.

Well, I couldn't push it out of the way as the wheel wouldn't turn in neutral. So I had to call a tow truck to get it to the dealer.

These are the things they DON"T tell you when you buy a hybrid. I was in no mood (it was over 90 degrees outside) and didn't want to try to jump the 12v battery on a hybrid (unsure of it vs. traditional set up).

Tow cost me $223 as the Drive Sure Benefit tow company never showed (waited over 90 minutes).

Then the real shock came when the dealer told me the battery was about $385! I looked on line at many sources and they didn't even show a battery for the hybrid. Checked other Kia parts stores and found the same price.

Check - Mate.... All is well now but I spent about $650 total to replace what would normally be a $100 battery.

Bye bye gas savings (yea + gas is now $1.75/gal here)....lesson learned....still love the ride & drive but this was a COLD SHOWER!
 
#11 ·
These are the things they DON"T tell you when you buy a hybrid. I was in no mood (it was over 90 degrees outside) and didn't want to try to jump the 12v battery on a hybrid (unsure of it vs. traditional set up).

Tow cost me $223 as the Drive Sure Benefit tow company never showed (waited over 90 minutes).

Then the real shock came when the dealer told me the battery was about $385! I looked on line at many sources and they didn't even show a battery for the hybrid. Checked other Kia parts stores and found the same price.

Check - Mate.... All is well now but I spent about $650 total to replace what would normally be a $100 battery.
Ouch, sorry to hear that brother... about our hybrid 12v battery, i think when the battery died you cannot jump it with out taking all the wires off, i think they need to unplug everything then hook another battery if we want to jump it off, they said hybrid 12v battery cannot be jump as it is coz it might damage the system for the hybrid or electric power.. well i got that info while working at autozone and having 2 hybrid cars before..

**** that battery is way higher than the kia dealership over here, the factory battery they quoted me was like $310 tax included but still i dont have that money so i went to walmart and measured all batteries :lol:
 
#13 ·
Im not 100% sure but i think the factory Optima Hybrid Battery is a gel type like the Optima Red Top and Yellow Top Batteries, and those type of batteries needed to be in slow charge. Also when my battery died i tried to jump it and dash flickered a lot and played a weird sound so i didnt do it again and bought a new battery.
 
#14 ·
I believe it's also a deep cycle battery, one more immune to the effects of deep discharge because of the way the hybrid treats the battery...

I am kind of surprised that it's not our Canadian friends, or **** even me here in -30/90 °F MN, that are having more problems with the AUX 12V battery.
 
#15 ·
hello can you advise if the battery you purchase from Walmart was the wet battery and did you have any issues after using it for a few months? I got one from Walmart same as in your picture but its a wet battery and I'm afraid to use it because someone is saying its not safe that its a wet battery and should be dry or gel type battery?
 
#17 ·
Battery just died on my wife's 2013. Chatted with local Kia parts department. Was told this battery is out of production! Parts guy didn't know if they were having issues, or if they plan a replacement. 3 hours later, I found one at Advance Auto. Proper size, it even had the hole for the overflow tube $160, and they installed it (it was 20 below wind chills). Driving the car from WI to FL in two days, didn't have time to mess around. I was about to ask dealer what car they were going to give me if no replacement battery is available!
 
#21 ·
I realize this is an old post, but I just went through the same issue today. I also used a costco battery. I think the previous poster had a good idea, however, these batteries sit in the same air space as the vehicle occupants. My first thought was to get whatever battery would fit. So I started with a normal top post battery.

When I took it out to the car and slid in next to the factory battery I noticed that my factory battery had a tube (which appeared to be a vent) going down the left side of the battery, through a special rubber grommet in the trunk floor and venting the hydrogen gas to the outside of the car.

I don't know how much gas a standard battery off-gasses, but I doubt you want it in the passenger area. My solution was to find a battery that looked like the factory battery, which costco sells. They have a little hole on both the left and right side so you can plug in the old vent hose to the new battery.

the only problem is that the + and - are swapped. I solved this by putting the battery in backward. I had to modify the sheet metal behind the + side. I folded it back so the + cable didn't interfere with the sharp metal edge. I also had to buy a longer negative battery cable. $8 black (- neg battery cable). I replaced the braided factory cable with one about 6 inches longer to get the neg cable to reroute to the same connection point it had before on the trunk floor.

Bottom line, it worked great, i kept the hydrogen venting, and the replacement negative cable was cheap. $8 at napa. Now the car takes an off the shelf battery and maintains the safety feature of the gas vent. It took me about three hours but it saved close to $200!

I know this would be better with pics. I'll try to add some so the next person who finds this may be helped by the thread like I was.

-OA
 
#22 ·
I realize this is an old post, but I just went through the same issue today. I also used a costco battery. I think the previous poster had a good idea, however, these batteries sit in the same air space as the vehicle occupants. My first thought was to get whatever battery would fit. So I started with a normal top post battery.

When I took it out to the car and slid in next to the factory battery I noticed that my factory battery had a tube (which appeared to be a vent) going down the left side of the battery, through a special rubber grommet in the trunk floor and venting the hydrogen gas to the outside of the car.

I don't know how much gas a standard battery off-gasses, but I doubt you want it in the passenger area. My solution was to find a battery that looked like the factory battery, which costco sells. They have a little hole on both the left and right side so you can plug in the old vent hose to the new battery.

the only problem is that the + and - are swapped. I solved this by putting the battery in backward. I had to modify the sheet metal behind the + side. I folded it back so the + cable didn't interfere with the sharp metal edge. I also had to buy a longer negative battery cable. $8 black (- neg battery cable). I replaced the braided factory cable with one about 6 inches longer to get the neg cable to reroute to the same connection point it had before on the trunk floor.

Bottom line, it worked great, i kept the hydrogen venting, and the replacement negative cable was cheap. $8 at napa. Now the car takes an off the shelf battery and maintains the safety feature of the gas vent. It took me about three hours but it saved close to $200!

I know this would be better with pics. I'll try to add some so the next person who finds this may be helped by the thread like I was.

-Oa
 
#24 ·
Just came across this post because my 2013 ex hybrid's 12v battery just died (RIP after 7 years, not bad!). After a lot of research, from internet searches on forums like this, calling around to various dealers and parts stores, and even talking to some custom battery shops that know a TON about batteries, I'm here to share what I have learned:
  • everyone you talk to will tell you that your hybrid needs a AGM battery. THIS IS WRONG. The OEM battery that my car came with which says Rocket on the outside is a normal wet cell vented battery. You can tell this by tilting the battery slightly and hearing the slosh. If it were AGM it would be a dry cell and you'd hear no sloshing.
  • if you're still convinced you need an AGM battery, good luck! Several experts I talked to said that size and reverse poles needed is very very rare, and one guy I talked to said that's the first one he's ever seen after 20 years of recycling batteries.
  • I would stay away from the walmart or costco one that just "fits" because it is not vented. Because your hybrid will tend to over-charge, and that releases a tiny bit of gas, you definitely want a battery that vents the gas to the outside of the car.
  • And now the good news, here is the battery I found which is an EXACT FIT to the OEM battery, and looks almost identical (see picture of my old and new side by side). It even has the same venting outlet that fits the hose nozzle the old battery used. I installed it yesterday and everything is working great. It's the Die Hard Gold H6R, 600 CCA. I got mine at Advance Auto parts for $140 after core exchange and 20% off coupon from the website. https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/diehard-gold-battery-group-size-h6r-600-cca-h6r/11764085-P
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