my Q is... is it okay to fill the battery with tap water instead of DISTILLED water..?? or is it bad??

 

the chlorine and possibly flouride in tap water can significantly reduce the life of your battery.

 

are you filling from scratch or just topping up ?
everybody uses a little tap water sooner or later. let it sit open overnight to lose the chlorine. you will still have some minerals depending on your water source.
for a large amount it wouldn't hurt to buy some distilled.

 

little billy was a chemist, little billy is no more, for what he thought was H2O was H2SO4...

I believe they sell little bottles of "super battery booster" stuff that is supposed to work well.

 

yeah... my battery is dying or dead its been this way for the last 3 months then it would wake up then die again... i topped it off with tap water and sealed it right away... I did this about 9 months ago... and 9 months ago too i did this onto my mom's car a 2000 pathfinder and her battery died a month or 2 ago... so my dad bought the optima red for it... my uncle suggested it was okay and actually we did it together...

 

It really depends on your tap water. If you live in an area that has a lot of minerals in the water, I'd suggest using distilled water. But if you live in an area that has relatively soft water, tap water will probably suffice. What happens is that crud from the plates builds up in a little well in the bottom of the battery. When the well gets filled, the crud causes the plates to short. If that happens, you can smack the battery on a hard surface, dump out the electrolyte and sediments, and refill the battery with fresh electrolyte. I've gotten "dead" batteries to last a couple of extra years by doing this.
The difference between a 60 month battery and a 72 month battery is just the depth of those wells in the bottom of the case.