DON’T DO THIS WITH YOUR F-BODY!
I haven’t driven my Z28 for about 8 months. The battery was disconnected, the magic eye still showed some green light.
FIRST MISTAKE: I recharged the battery with a common charger.
SECOND MISTAKE: I left the battery in the car.
RESULT: Acid came out of the battery, running through the engine bay, taking off the paint!
After cleaning with plenty of water and conserving with lots of grease, I realized the battery was still leaking. So I called my trusted mechanic Roland asking for a new battery.
He told me: Oh, OEM batteries are very expensive! Try batteries from BANNER with four top-mounted round poles. I will give you the pole adaptors.
Fine! I found BANNER batteries in a shop nearby (for 85EUR). First trial: The new battery was drained!
Three days later: The next battery was full, at least the gauge said so.
After installing the engine would not start. GREAT
! So I put in back the old one.
Next Monday the Z28 only reluctantly started. After arriving at the companies parking place the Z28 refused to start at all.
Calling ADAC, result: the old battery (5 years old) is dead. Well, I guess I killed it when recharging! Some short circuit.
ADAC gave jumpstart and I was heading for the next Opel dealer. AND: Thank God, they had a new battery with side poles for a not too pricey 105EUR.
The day was saved!!
What do we learn from that?
If you are overcautious, you do more harm than good!
Do not always look for the cheapest solution.