arghhh, bloody battery

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 3:50 pm

what a friggin day, wish I never got up this morning, first couldn't find my ISA book to get some money out, then I couldn't find my house keys. 2hours later find them.

...Go outside get into the car
put keys in ignition, turn over car. Well I tried, absolutly nothing, so I get the battery charger out for 25/30mins on quick charge, Car then starts (at this point after phoning my dad at work I leave the house phone in the garage)

Get to town transfer the money from one account to another, done. Then go into work, see some people (get reminded aobut Saturday night

), then go looking for the boss, couldn't find her for like half an hour

, so I eventually find her and she tells me I probably can't get any hours at work over christmas, even though they will probably need me next week but they do love seeing how far the staff will stretch (don't all employers?).

OK so no work for me anytime soon get back into the car, try to start it up wont do it again

., grandad ended up coming and giving me a push start down the road (some stranger saw him and gave him a hand), after that I took it for a good 15min drive hardly ever going under 3000rpm so it wouldn't stop and give the car a good charge.

So at then end of the day me and my car hate winter...

Anyone have any recommendations which battery would be the best to go in the car? I realy need to get a heavy dutie one but how big has everyone gone with their batteries?

Steve_O · Post by **Steve_O** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:40 pm

Bosch Silvers are good in my opinion. Last one I got was forty something amp hours and cost just under 30 quid. GSF do them I think, other than that, just check on Bosch website and find your nearest dealer.

The last bosch silver we had went for 6 or 7 years in the very demanding Mk2, which takes a lot of persuasion to start!!

SpikeyG40 · Post by **SpikeyG40** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:52 pm

make sure that the new battery doesn't have feet on the side! if you do, the arm for the bonnet will rub against the battery, not good!

Steve_O · Post by **Steve_O** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:23 pm

Yeah, it comes pretty close on the Mk3s. The one in mine at the moment has a big round corner so it's alright. When I ordered the Bosch Silver for the Mk2, the guy asked what car it was rather than what capacity I wanted.

That was my nearest Bosch approved dealer who did it for a rock bottom price!!

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:47 pm

errr unless you live next to a waterfall or somewhere far colder than the rest of us i'd say thats just a knackered battery rather than needing an expensive brand. that or you've got something draining it (e.g. stereo, left interior light or parking light (indicator) on, open circuit somewhere..)

mines occasionally gone flat several times over the past year - but its ALWAYS because something specific has drained it (even if i couldnt tell at the time, it became apparent after - once it was just a ciggy lighter air freshener left plugged in for a week!)... and the battery has always looked horrid and filthy as if it's been there since the mid 90s. it's just a cheap kwik fit budget type job. but even on a mental cold day, so long as it hasnt been shorted and drained, it does the business.

not like we're in the days of batteries that needed topping up with distilled water and had a tendancy to freeze any more!

(40Ah sounds small for a reluctant car (or maybe that's why it was reluctant?), or perhaps they put the emphasis on cranking capacity rather than reserve.... mine's 65Ah i think! --- possibly the root of it's resilience)

SpikeyG40 · Post by **SpikeyG40** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:57 pm

Tahrey1043 wrote:you've got something draining it (e.g. stereo, left interior light or parking light (indicator) on, open circuit somewhere..)

you can leave your side lights on for ages without the battery going flat! maybe worth a change just for that extra kick! o by the way, halfords will test your battery and be able to tell you if it just needs a charge or needs replacing! clever bit of kit!

Tahrey1043 wrote:mines occasionally gone flat several times over the past year

sorta a contradiction there! occasionally and serveral!

LogIK · Post by **LogIK** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:01 pm

Sounds like you had a bad day there, Dan

Mine seems to struggle a little bit, on these very cold mornings. But batteries work much less efficiently in the cold, so it's expected.

However, if yours went completely dead, it's possibly on its way out. Give it a good slow charge overnight, if you have a trickle charger, and see how it is then.

Also, check to see whether your alternator is charging your battery properly. The way to do this is to put a multimeter across the battery terminals and read the voltage when the engine is off. Then start her up, and the voltage should have gone up to about 13.5V

If that is fine and it still goes flat after a good long charge (and you aren't just leaving your radio on!), then it's definately new battery time.

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:02 pm

ah worth a look in Halfords then sometime

shame it has to come at this time of year when I am completly skint!

Gareth_GT_Hatch · Post by **Gareth_GT_Hatch** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:33 pm

40Ah is a fairly standard capacity for the mk2/3 size battery. Ive no idea what it is on either on my batteries Ive never checked

Only time ive ever had battery problems was when I got my first GT and I still had my polo CL. I didnt drive it for a week or two and it killed the battery (was early november at the time) and for some reason the battery couldnt recover. the battery died on me at uni a few days later and I had to get the bus home and come back with my dad and the battery out of the GT. Thing is I never swapped them back over and that battery is currently in steve-os car and is still going strong as far as I know.

So perhaps something is killing the battery? I think it was the alarm on my polo CL but I sold the car about a week later and never investigated.

Steve_O · Post by **Steve_O** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:38 pm

Just don't buy a battery from Halfords as they charge a fortune!!

@Tahrey, I think it was 39Ah, which was correct for the car, otherwise they wouldn't have made them!! Anyway, I think it was replaced with a 43Ah because Bosch thinned down the range a bit, although they still do a 36Ah.

The battery was happy turning the engine over all day, it's just that being built in the days of manual chokes and a mechanical fuel pumps, getting the old mk2 to start is a bit of an art, especially in the cold!!

Anyway, I hardly call Â£28 quid an expensive brand!!

Steve_O · Post by **Steve_O** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:42 pm

Gareth_GT_Hatch wrote:Thing is I never swapped them back over and that battery is currently in steve-os car and is still going strong as far as I know.

Yeah, still going strong!! I must say I do enjoy this 'just turning a key and it starting lark!!'

I was tempted to swap it for the Bosch out of the Mk2, as it has a bit more cranking power, but the Mk2 needs it much more, especially this time of year!!

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:17 pm

Yeah Tahery that was the first thing I went and did was looking all around the car for anything that was on, doesn't seem like it.

also got the comment "it might be cheeper to sell the car"

heartagram · Post by **heartagram** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:44 pm

I had to push start the Derby the other day cause it had been sat in the cold for like 10hrs at work. Frost all over her, good job works car park is at the top of the biggest hill you've ever seen. It was the easiest 'push' start ever, just a case of releasing the handbrake and rolling...

hardhitter · Post by **hardhitter** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 10:33 am

What you want is a 063 type batterry, I've found fiamm and exide are good brands to go with.

optima21 · Post by **optima21** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 10:43 am

if your talking of swapping batteries between mk2's and mk3's be careful, as batteries that fit in a mk3 wont necessarily fit into a MK2. Mk3 batteries can be taller than mk2 batteries, so if you fit a taller battery into a Mk2, the windcreen wiper mechanism may hit it the first time you switch the wipers on.