Flat battery

[marsaday]

Info on car batteries appreciated.

My battery went flat 4 weeks ago and i had it chargded up by an onsite repair guy. All was ok and the alternator was good.

Today the battery is flat again and i have now taken it out and am charging it up in the kitchen.

couple of questions.

1) on the -ve terminal i have a lot of corrosion dust. Does this indicate the battery is finished?

2) The charger i am using has all the red lights lit up and so i think this is showing the battery is charged. This cant be right. has anyone used one of these before?

3) Where is a good place to get a battery from ? My car is a 2L diesel and so it need to be quite big. I was looking at a bosch one online for £75 delivered.Hi

Does anyone know if the battery should be finished after 60k miles and 6 yrs use ?

The battery was flat 4 weeks ago and i had it charged up by a repair guy who came out on site. All was fine and it was holding its charge.

This morning the battery is flat again, so i think it is time to get a new one.

The car is a zt 2l diesel and has been remapped from 130 to 150bhp.

The car works a treat and i have never had any problems with it.

Can anyone also tell me which battery i need to be buying. i have a link which shows a few. should i go for a bosch ? What do you think to this link
http://www.alpha-batteries.co.uk/buy-online/075/cat_18.html

 

[Belle427]

its probably knackered, 6 years is about the norm for a battery.
Have a look on this site, varta silver are very good batteries. You can put your car details in and it should suggest a suitable battery for you

http://www.tayna.co.uk/Varta-Car-Batteries-S218-1.html

 

[Mursal]

Best to go to a local motor factor and they will give you the correct battery for the car, with at least a 2 year warranty. Will check the old one for you.

6 years is quite good to get from a battery. But if you are unsure, charge it fully and start the car, then leave it disconnected in the car over night. Connect up and go for a start, if it does not start it's probably the battery.
Any corrosion on the terminals will stop it from starting properly, usually the + one corrodes more.

Be careful charging in the kitchen as the battery will give off harmful/flammable fumes.

 

[TicklyT]

At six years, the battery is probably at or near the end of it's useful life, but corrosion on the battery terminals can both stop a battery charging, and a fully charged battery from delivering enough current to start an engine.

The oxide layers on the terminals can act like a series resistor, or occasionally even like a diode, leading to inconsistent voltage drops.

A good clean up of the terminal posts and cable clamps / lugs might help, but with a 6 year old battery, any reprise may be short lived.

For the same reasons, it's also worth checking / cleaning the connections between the earth straps and the car bodywork.

 

[marsaday]

Ok, so 6 yrs is a good life. I will just get a new one tomorrow.

 

[Peter.N.]

You could also check that its charging OK, you should have 14+ volts across it with the engine running. I would think though that the battery is due for replacement. Load testing a battery isn't always conclusive as although the capacity is no doubt low the construction of modern batteries will still allow them to produce a fairly high current for a little while and if the tester is not left connected for long enough will indicate a good battery.

Peter

Peter