4100 - is battery serviceable? add water?

[coloradotrout]

My 2000 jd 4100's battery seems to be near death. I've charged it a couple times (10A charge and 2A charge), but it never holds for more than a few days. Can I pry off the caps and add distilled water? Or are these suppose to be maintenance free?

[garchib]

Careful of older JD batteries (they leak !!!). Most 4100 owners have replaced their batteries with Optima(s). There are boatloads of threads on this topic if you do a search.

[slowrev]

Battery sounds sulphated and shot to me. 5 years is pretty much the life of most batteries if you are lucky.
Or are you sure your charging system is working ok ? What is the voltage accross the battery with the engine running ?

Ben