Towed from my garage with 500 miles on it!!!!!!!! I was pissed!!!!!!!!! My neighbor in Florida sells Land Rovers in Sarasota and it sucked watching my Hummer leave the house on the back of a flat bed and his stupid junker sitting in his driveway!!!

 

Don't worry...There are a lot more Land Rovers being trucked back to the shop than there is HUMMERS[sm=trust_me.gif]

 

Ok, so I took mine to the dealer yesterday morning. They swapped my dead battery out for a new one. I assume that it is a NEW AC Delco, not sure yet. They did notice my system was hooked up and gave me some BS about how they normally don't honor the warranty if a system is hooked up. Anyway, I got my new replacement free of charge. Let's see how long this one lasts.

 

My 2006 HUMMER H3 battery didn't make it past 74 miles. Because I am in Germany, it was too diffuclt to get the acid-filled AC Delco. I replace mine with a gel-acid Optima Red Top. I strapped it down with the strap but didn't reinstall the battery box cover and vent tube. I could have, but it would have required some cutting. I think the battery box tops are like $10 in case you want a spare to cut on.

 

I'm curious, in what way was the box top too small? Was the batt too wide, long, tall? I'd just like a "heads up" since I always use Optimas for my vehicles (all 4wd's).

 

I ordered the Optima Red Top Series 25 (or S 3,7 as it is called here in Europe). The Series 25 sat very nicely in the base of the H3's 9-inch long battery box.

I grinded a channel in the retaining wedge (that sits a top of the battery retaining strap). The channel was about the depth and width of the nut that holds it down. This allowed me to tighten the strap down nice and securely. This channel could probably be done with a large drill bit. I needed to do this to take out the slack in the strap. Another option would be to sit the battery on a very thin sheet of plexiglass or something. At the base of the battery box are some little plastic fins. These sit around the original, so it is a perfect snug fit. With the sheet of plexiglass or taking a Dremel drill to them, you would gain a little more width and depth, and allow you to use a bigger battery than the Seried 25. I know some others used one of the bigger Optimas, but I could never get photos or a good model number. I choose this one based on all the stats in the spec sheet.

I tried to reuse the battery box lid, but the Series 25 sits just a hair lower, and the holes in the cover were not a perfect match for the posts.

Let us know how you make out.

 

So the batt posts wouldn't reach the top of the box, eh. Cool, thanks for the input. Right now my hope is that I get plenty of use from the stock batt, before I ever have to buy the optima. But I'll post if I have to make one fit.

 

Newb Question:

I've wondered this for a little while, but I've never popped the cover on that box closest to the headlamp, in front of the battery. Is that a box in which to place another battery should you install a winch or some other accessory?

 

FUSEBOX

 

I hope this doesnt sound too dumb but I am also having a battery issue(06 H3 9000 mi) 2 recent dead battery episodes. I have tried to open/remove tthe battery box but no luck, it looks like it should be simple but NG. Can someone offer advice,experiences orjust plain old step by step directions & feel free to add a 'DUH" because it was so simple.
happy motoring