I have seen several posts complaining that a replacement for the under-seat battery apparently is very hard to find. However, AutoZone sez that they sell the DuraLast Gold 78DG for $69 that will fit.

Has anyone tried this battery? Will it work?

Thanx/

After hearing the same information, I decided to go have a look for myself...

My battery is an AC Delco 2250 Battery with 800CCA

The battery is a 12" long by 6.25" wide side mounted cables. The length should not matter, but I suspect the problem with replacements comes in when the width needs to be 6.25 when the most common replacement battery'* are 6.5" wide or larger. The battery also must have the vent ports on the sides to connect to the vent tubes under the seat. If incorrectly hooked up, the gases given off by the battery could compromise the strength of the seat belts.

Of the two other vehicles that I have, my '97 RAM was an 11" long by 6.75" wide battery and my wife'* '00 Alero was 10.5" long by 6.5" wide.

I came up short in all of my normal searches for auto parts. No one seems to have them. This seems very funny to me because given the average life of a battery, the '00 cars should start to have some troubles if they haven't already. Even given the protected location of the battery, they still are usually only good for 3-4 years of use.

Back to your question, I would recommend that you measure the battery that they are trying to sell you and make sure that it will fit. Autozone'* website says that there isn't a battery available yet. Also make sure that the battery is atleast up to snuff CCA wise with the original battery. 2000+ L36'* came original with a 690CCA battery and the L67'* cam with 770CCA (as far as my '01 B'ville Service manual states on pg 6-292). My SSEi however has an 800CCA which I guess is close enough to the 770CCA stated in the manual.

Here'* the link to the AutoZone 2000+ Bonneville battery page.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...P%7C%7EBATTERY

I haven't seen or measured the battery, but I read this as saying the 78DG will fit. The battery supposedly has 800 CCA & an 8-year warranty..

Maybe I'll run up to the store with a tape measure and take a look.

Ah... I had to change the 'Current Vehicle' to a 2000 for that link to work. They only state that they have batteries for the 2000'* and not for the 2001'*... That'* odd...

So I must have been doing something wrong on NapaOnline.com because now I show 2 different batteries that "may require modifications" to work in 2000+ Bonnevilles...

Looking at the part numbers, it seems that we are looking for a 78 frame battery (the form-factor if you will)... I guess the only way to tell if these are going to work would be to measure them or sit them side by side with the original battery.

I checked the AutoZone battery, and contrary to what they say, it won't work in a 2000+ Bonneville. It'* about the right size, but it lacks the top vents that we need. Plus, we require a Group 79...it'* a Group 78. Close, but not quite.

The good news is that I did find the correct aftermarket battery from Sears. The DieHard International 3379 is an exact fit. It has the top vents, 800 CCA, and an 8 year warranty with 3 year free replacement. Cost is $99.99.

I bought one, and it works fine.

Jim