NJ-GT

Attached are pictures of my Optima Red Top with the euro adapaters. There are two adapters mounted, only one shown on the picture, but they are identical.

The optima batteries come off the shelf with a variety of adapters, with the exception of these ones. These euro adapters need to be ordered via Phone to Optima Customer Service, they will ship them to you via USPS for free.

The 11.5 lbs Braille and Odyssey PC680 are good for 6-7 days without a battery tender, after that they will not start the car. My Braille lost the charge after one week, so I bought a battery tender, but after 1 year, my Braille went dead. I bought a Deka battery which is the same battery Braille sells for $120 more. I use this lightweight battery once in a while.

The Red Top on my car weighs 33 lbs, 2 lbs lighter than the stock Moll. The damage shown on my battery tray was from a venting tube on the Duralast 50 lbs battery I installed 2 years ago. I went to an autocross, and when I got home, the venting tube was wet. This didn't happen with the stock battery, even though it uses a venting tube as well.

The battery used on all the 986/996 cars weighs 50 lbs. The only exceptions are the GT3, GT3 RS and GT3 Cup, all these cars use the 35 lbs version of the Moll. This Moll is a good battery, but it is extremely expensive.

For convenience, it is better to install the Braille Billet mount bolted to the stock battery tray.

Right underneath the battery tray is the plastic fuel tank. Leaking acids from a battery can penetrate that plastic, this fear is what forced to buy a sealed battery.

Holger B

NJ-GT thanks much for the pics!

I should be good to go once I get those adapters. I'll be calling Optima tomorrow morning.

CT03911

After pages on this thread it is obvious to all there are many options. I wasn't going to pay $200 for a Moll replacement. I do not think they are worth it. Optima clearly sells a better battery for the same money, or less. Problem is they do not secure in our battery tray very well. The european adapters that you need are flimsy and you have to make sure you get the right ones anyways. I decided on a yellow D35 deep cycle for reasons stated in a prior post and chose it out of the three Optima sells (Red 35; Red 34R; Yellow D35) that are configured the SAME as a Moll.
I then discovered how crappy the european adapters were after ordering them twice to get the "correct" ones.
This led me to going down the road to a better mount. The GMG mount looked simple and strong. Two issues here guys:
1) It costs $300 shipped.
2) It DOES NOT FIT AN OPTIMA BATTERY THAT IS CONFIGURED EXACTLY AS A STOCK MOLL (so it won't fit a stock Moll either).

The battery GMC used to pattern their tray after has the positive and negative terminal located differently from stock (why they did this I do not know). If you buy a battery just like theirs or get a bracket and battery both from them you are ok. Now here is the key point:
If you do what I did- research optima here http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/ and end up replacing the battery with an EXACT post setup (or just want to secure your OEM moll better) and you order GMG's mount you will have to do what I did below.
Pic 1 shows the stock tray and the gmc tray orientated as they go in the car. You will mount the gmg tray on the stock tray. They fit together but because you MUST reverse the gmg mount for a "correct" battery you will have to drill through the stock tray and secure them together. Note I have drilled the hole through the stock tray.
Pic 2 shows stock tray back in, it only fits one way, with hole drilled to attach to gmg tray
Pic 3 and 4 when you mate the gmg and oem tray you will see there is now no way to bolt it all back in the car. You have to use a hole saw to cut out for the four nuts. Pilot holes drilled in 3 and in 4 cutouts drilled and both are assembled and bolted in. Now you can install the original Moll or an exact replacement.
Pic 5/6 Optima Yellow (deep cycle) D35 installed. Note orientation on the opposite side of the battery box due to having to reverse gmg's tray
Pic 7 shows the GROUND is now too short due to this orientation neccessary to make a gmg mount fit a stock configuration battery.
Pic 8/9 show the finished install with a #2 battery ground replacement
Pic 10 shows the cover fits
Pic 11 the famous "euro" adapters

I hope I save someone work. Holger, NJ-GT and others showed there are options. Replacing a battery with a better one has way more issues than I ever thought. Recap: Optima's are clearly better than stock and even a deep cycle Yellow (like mine) is "only" $200.00, which is what a dealer wants for a Moll. They do not mount well using the euopean adapters IMHO. If using a nice bracket (like GMG's) you better make sure the new battery fits it or you can have the fun I had and then make it fit. This little project would allow you to secure a stock battery to the GMG bracket too though. In reality, I had to drill one hole to bolt the gmg to the oem tray and four more to make access to bolt the two combined trays into the car plus pick up a new ground wire.
I spent $500.00 total, I have a better battery and hold down but sure had some surprises along the way.

Martin Bishop

Just to put in my 2 cents. The BMW battery is a perfect fit, looks to be the same exact size and shape, of the Porsche battery but at only $125 he is a cut/paste from my other post

the 2001 BMW 750iL second battery BMW P/N 61 21 8 381 738 seems to be a perfect fit without adapters. 70Ah 570 A 120 RC 570 CCA. It locks in place on all three corners with the plastic molding of the battery

At $125 it seems to be a possible solution. I have yet to try the battery screw in lock as I do not have one. I was able to get an 88 928S4 battery hold down to fit ok, but we will know for sure when I can locate the proper locking screw thing.

Seems it is also the battery for some of the new BMW 3 Series
01 BATTERY FA. DOUGLAS (WARRANTY ONLY) 70AH 570A 1 61218381738 $137.27
01 BATTERY FROM EXIDE (WARRANTY ONLY) 70AH 570A 1 61216946332

Holger B

Thanks for the write-up & pics. It turned into quite the project...

Still waiting for my adapters from Optima. My brother's a machinist, maybe I'll have him fab me some clones out of aluminum.

I also got an apologetic call from PCNA and they made good on my warranty issue.

plima

FWIW, my '04 GT3 battery died last year (at about 28K miles) and I replaced it with a Costco size 47 for under $60. It was a perfect fit and matched the original GT3 battery in size. You have to look to find the vent tube (people seem to "take" these from some of the batteries on the shelf in Costco). More info at:
<http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4511&amp;amp;hl=battery++replacement>

jmla

I would like to thank everyone (especially NJ-GT) that contributed to this thread, the information was VERY helpful. I decided to go with the Optima Red 75/35. FYI the model number has no relavance because it's the individual distributor's stock number. You only need to be concerned with the part number: Red 75/35 or 75/25 (newer version). Also, don't forget to order the "black" Euro adapters (they will overnight them) directly from Optima before you pick-up the battery. This link was useful as well: http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/ (scroll down to Optima Starter Batteries)

Holger B

FYI, it took a week-and-a-half for my adapters to show up after I contacted them.

jmla

I talked to Erica@Optima (888.867.8462), the adapters arrived the next day as promised at no charge. *Update, Darrel is the new contact at Optima.

Holger B

You'll have to call for me the next time I need them.

CT03911

Mine took something like a week and they were not even the correct ones. Thew second shipment took as long but by then I had used the GMG battery bracket. The Optima Euro adapter/hold downs are very weak in my opinion.

RJFabCab

Just reviving this thread since my 996-3 Moll is on the fritz...

Braille 2015 (15 lb unit) was recommended by Suncoast Porsche. Apparently, the pre-fab Braille bracket won't fit any models larger than the 2015 (eg, it won't fit the Braille 3121 - 21 lb unit). I'm not sure what the Deka equivalent is for the Braille 2015.

Optima looks like a good choice if I can just fab a bracket! GMG is charging $275 for their battery bracket... YIKES.

LVDell

Randy, here you go: http://www.rennline.com/products.asp?dept=237

Go with the 680.

AudiOn19s

Gents: To add to the conversation. I installed a Deka ETX30L in my 996 in January and have never once had an issue with starting power. The car sometimes sits for a couple of weeks at a time and other times is driven every 2-3 days. This battery has never failed me or even hesitated to start even on the horribly cold days we had this spring.

The ETX30L is rated similarly in power to the Hawker /Odyssey 925 yet is lighter than the 925 model. The Deka is 21.5 lbs. While it's no 10-15 lb battery It doesn't require a battery tender like the REALLY lightweight batteries do.

Best part is I got it for like $80 shipped back in January.

I made my own box out of lightweight aluminum which turned out to be not quite sturdy enough by itself because the aluminum was too thin so I used a tiedown strap that routes through the battery try to make sure it's firmly in place.

I'll see if I can't post some pictures tomorrow.

Andy

enthusiast

By the parts list the correct battery for a 2004-2005 996 GT3 is the 60 Ah one.


Specs on Moll in my GT3, which I believe to be original:

Moll Kamina 560 015 048 12V 60 Ah 280A



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