Price of OEM Battery For D3

[TerryO]

The battery died in the D3 today and its the third different brand battery to die in just over 4 years.
So I decided instead of just going down the road and buying another no name battery I would call a Land Rover dealer and see if they had a OEM battery in stock for sale, why? Because I remembered reading in here a couple of years back that standard fitment LR Disco battery's were not only very good quality but also very reasonably priced.

Well they might be very good quality but when the guy in spares told me they were $720 I decided that maybe a no name battery was the go.

So a question please, has anyone got any recommendations for a good quality brand of battery that doesn't cost a fortune and will last hopefully more than a year?

[disco4now]

Hi Terry,

I just installed one of these Supercharge MF88H last week in the D4. $229 plus delivery of $10 in metro.

https://www.onlinebatteries.com.au/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=MF88H&x=7&y=10

Don't know if it lasts as yet.

Oops, just search AULRO and see you have had one before (for six months anyway). Hope mine lasts better.

I was thinking Varta AGM (G14) for $410 up until the last minute but went for the Supercharge in the end as only got two years out of the last genuine Land Rover one anyway. ( I think the Optima D34 via Traxide in shared mode carried it for the last 4 months of that anyway).

Regards,
Gerry

[rrturboD]

Looks like the last Varta Ultra AGM G14 I supplied was $401.00. So hope this helps you choose.

[Beerdead]

Put an Acdelco in a couple of months ago. Too early to assess it's reliability, but around the $240 mark, from Newcastle Batteries.

According to the salesman it's made in the same factory as OEM, but no LR label. We'll see.

They sell online.

[Piddler]

Try your local Caterpillar dealer. I know when I wanted one for my D2 they had many options and was a very good price. You can find there battery PDF brochure on line by searching.
Being off road equipment they are very well made.

Cheers

[xoph44]

Let me google that for you..

VARTA G14 AGM DEEP CYCLE START STOP BATTERY 12V 95AH 850CCA 2YR WARRANTY

$385 Free Delivery on Flea Bay

Cheers
Chris

[jonesy63]

Hi Terry,
When the battery in my D4 died earlier this year, the Allianz roadside assistance guy that LRCC send out offered me a Supercharge MF88H - as he had them in the back of his ute. I knew that LR had recently replaced the Varta wet cell battery for an Exide AGM, I politely declined and said I'd go to the closest dealer to have one fitted. At that time, they were something like $624, IIRC. I'm glad they're covered under warranty! :eek:

[p38arover]

Is it just the load cars now put on batteries that kills them? In the 12 years I've had my P38A I must have been through 6 batteries.

[discotwinturbo]

Is it just the load cars now put on batteries that kills them? In the 12 years I've had my P38A I must have been through 6 batteries.

It certainly would not help.

I think also due to alternators not looking after batteries.

Quality multistage battery charger will help and often.

Both my cars still going strong. Vw Touareg at 6 years still original and they go through the same issues. D4 almost 3 years and still going strong. Previous car 7 years and not replaced. Works for me.

Brett....

[drivesafe]

I think also due to alternators not looking after batteries.

For the life of me, I don’t know where people come up with this sort of misinformation.

Modern vehicle alternator operation, particularly those in D3s and D4s, are better suited at charging batteries than previous vehicles.

The primary factor that governs cranking battery life span is owner use and/or abuse.

If you do lots of short trips, the your battery is going to suffer from what I call Shopping Trolley Syndrome, you will harm the cranking battery, because the battery is never given the chance to be fully charged and this is not an inability of the alternator to do what it’s designed and capable of doing, this the alternator not being given enough time to do what it’s there for.

Even if you do the occasional long trip, continual short trips still have a detrimental effect on any cranking battery.

As you suggested, the way to try to improve cranking battery life span is by the periodic use of a multi stage battery charger, and if you use a battery charger, irrespective of the size of the battery charger or the battery, leave the charger on the battery for 8 to 10 hours after the charger goes into FLOAT mode.

A battery charger, by the time it goes into FLOAT mode, has only charge the amount of battery capacity that can be charged, but by leaving the battery on the charger in FLOAT mode, the battery’s condition is improved/maintained.

[Colin Pedersen]

HI Terry,

Had the pleasure of needing a new battery last week for a D4 - 4 years old and as mentioned...do a lot of short trips, so yep, shortens battery life. Searched the web, looked at forum feedback etc. Workshop manual & local LR dealer indicated it needs a 850CCA battery and quoted over $700.

A couple of internet battery guys struggled to recognise Land Rover as a brand let alone recommend the right battery....frustrating!!

Then I did what I thought would be a silly thing and went to Battery World (Phillip CBR) and asked if they could test the battery ( and yep...definitely needed replacing) and see if they could supply a new one.

The computer indicated a 725CCA was the go....I questioned this and said I believe the 3Ltr needed at least 850CCA. So....out with the battery, out the back of the shop and sure enough there was a Marshall battery on the shelf that looked as though it was made in the same factory as the OEM LR battery we had to compare....and 900CCA....I'll have one of those say me!!

How much?....$325..fitted; should have gone there first!!

[~Rich~]

Hi Guys,
Speaking my mechanic who I bought a standard battery 2 yrs ago for about $300 he mentioned that LandRover have a habit of jacking up prices unexpectabely overnight.
So much so that the standard battery is now over $600!

Same thing happened with the Lower front suspension arms, where about $300 then they figured out every one was buying the complete arm rather than replacing the bushes - price doubled to $600 per arm!
Anyway seems they have a large stock of front arms again because no one was buying them, guess what they dropped the price back to $300 again. ;)

They now have to get quotes from L/R every time they are doing a quote just in case!

[TerryO]

Is it just the load cars now put on batteries that kills them? In the 12 years I've had my P38A I must have been through 6 batteries.

Also Ron living in an area where it is often -6 or lower first thing in the morning I reckon doesn't really do much for the life of the average battery.

[p38arover]

A very good point, Terry and the D3/4 would have more electrickery than my P38.

[lpj]

If you do lots of short trips, the your battery is going to suffer from what I call Shopping Trolley Syndrome, you will harm the cranking battery, because the battery is never given the chance to be fully charged and this is not an inability of the alternator to do what it’s designed and capable of doing, this the alternator not being given enough time to do what it’s there for.

Even if you do the occasional long trip, continual short trips still have a detrimental effect on any cranking battery.

.

Another question on this please Drivesafe.
My D4 is a daily driver and I do 35 k's each way to and from work, with very occasional trips during the day. I have a traxide kit installed with the recommended 2nd battery. Would periodic top-up charging be required for me? I dont keep the fridge in the car permanently and have no other accessories apart from the normal SE stuff.

[discotwinturbo]

For the life of me, I don’t know where people come up with this sort of misinformation.

Based on experience, and auto sparky clients and a battery developer ! Alternators are not designed to look after batteries like a quality battery charger will....but then again both of my auto sparky clients and battery developer may be wrong.

Just like you say DC to DC chargers have false information publicised. Based on my experience and my second battery requirements, they work, and since using them have had no failed second batteries. I was advised more than 8 years ago by a Battery Technologist Developer to go this way and this cured my battery failures.

Both of my cars do in excess of 500kms per week...and still the Discovery cranker takes on the other side of 6 hours to get up to full charge every fortnight....fact! If the alternator was looking after the battery than this would not be the case.

My VW charges better, but never gets it back to full, otherwise I would not need the battery charger on for 3 or so hours to get it back to float. Even on several hours of running in the Disco, over a couple of days touring, still does not get the battery as high as my multi stage battery charger.

Batteries lasting 6 years plus for cranking confirms my technique works for me....not relying on the vehicle alternator to maintain the battery in a reliable way.

Brett....

[Dirty3]

My last service LR dealer told me my battery would need replacing. Not bad after 6 years and 145,000kms. Yep they told me in the vicinity of $600.


I have the Traxside Dual battery set up with the Yellow Top D3 battery for the second.
What is the correct type of battery for the main cranking battery and are there alternatives? What is the min required?
I have to have car serviced next month but I know LR will tell me to replace the original, but $600 is a bit rich.


Neil

[rrturboD]

Earlier I quoted price for the Varta G14. Just got another one @$396 delivered, so the price has come down!
PM works well.

[drivesafe]

Another question on this please Drivesafe.
My D4 is a daily driver and I do 35 k's each way to and from work, with very occasional trips during the day. I have a traxide kit installed with the recommended 2nd battery. Would periodic top-up charging be required for me? I dont keep the fridge in the car permanently and have no other accessories apart from the normal SE stuff.

Hi lpj and probably not as the combination of the Yellowtop and the Traxide isolator would mean that after constant 35 km drives ( guessing at least 20 minutes ) your cranking battery will not be fully charged but will be very close to it.

The same goes for your Yellowtop.

But here’s where you setup will keep your cranking battery genuinely fully charged without the need to periodically use a battery charger.

All vehicles need to be driven for at least 15 minutes to replace the energy used while starting the motor.

But if a battery is not in a fully charged state, while the energy is replaced, this short drive time does not allow the battery to be fully charged, so it just stays in a low state of charge if you do continual short runs.

All lead acid batteries can be fast charged to about 80% SoC ( State of Charge ) but, no matter what type of battery it is, the battery itself controls the final 20% of it’s charge and the high the SoC of the battery, the slower the charging becomes.

This last 20% of the charging can take 2 or more hours to achieve, no matter what type of charging method you use.

So even when a battery is near fully charged when you start the motor, the fully charged battery will actually need a much longer drive time for the battery to get it back up to a genuinely fully charged state.

Now this is where the Traxide isolators, combined with a Yellowtop, come into their own.

Most lead acid batteries, whether they be cranking batteries or deep cycle batteries, Wet Cell, Gel or AGMs, have a fully charged voltage of 12.7v to 12.75v.

All Optima Yellowtop and most Optima Bluetop batteries have a fully charged voltage of 13.1v.

So when the motor is turned off, because the Traxide isolators remain on, the Optima Yellowtop, because it is always in a higher state of charge then the cranking battery, will discharged backwards into the cranking battery, acting like a trickle charger.

Over a very short period of time, the cranking battery is progressively charged to a genuine full state.

So lpj, as long as you are averaging at least 15 minutes driving each time you start your motor, between the way the D3 and D4 do a boost charge just after starting the motor and the way the Traxide isolator allows the auxiliary battery to continually trickle charge the cranking battery while the motor is off, you should not need to use a battery charger at any time.

If the average drive time is 10 minutes or less, even a Traxide setup can not keep your cranking battery fully charged.

[drivesafe]

I think the Optima D34 via Traxide in shared mode carried it for the last 4 months of that anyway

Hi Garry and yep, this is a common occurrence.

I’m not sure if it’s detrimental in any way but it does mean you don’t have to buy a new battery as soon as you would have too normally.

[drivesafe]

I have the Traxside Dual battery set up with the Yellow Top D3 battery for the second.
What is the correct type of battery for the main cranking battery and are there alternatives? What is the min required?

Hi Neil, and as you have the Traxide setup, based on what I posted earlier, you should be able to fit any type of cranking battery that will fit your D3, and it will do what you want.

[NomadicD3]

Hi Terry,
How's things mate?
Try one of these mate.
Projecta Intellicharge 15Amp Battery Charger (http://www.homeof12volt.com.au/shop/index.php/page/shop/flypage/product_id/298/category_id/c697bb8729221be66f435df502c1740f/offset/0)
Project 15 amp intelli-charge.
I've had one since the alternator failed a few years ago. Not sure how they work but I do know they are bloody brilliant. I had a motorbike battery that was stuffed and had sat flat for nearly a year and just after I bought this I decided to give it a go, years that battery is still going today, needs to be put on again every few months but still works LOL.. I have 3 batteries in the D3 and they've all survived 3 years of abuse although they do get a few long runs but the fridge is left on them for days on end without help. I realise that's not the way to treat a battery but with one of these it doesn't seem to matter. The best part of this unit is all you do is hook it up and forget it. Do that once every few months and you should avoid to many more battery failures;).
Happy trails Terry, I may drop in latter this year when I'm back that way.
regards Brian

[drivesafe]

Hi Brian and any multi stage charger will work, but Terry, if you want to improve your battery’s state of charge and prolong it’s life span, and this may sound strange, but go for a small ( low current ) battery charger.

Charging batteries is exactly the same as discharging them.

The higher the discharge current, the harder it is on the battery and this is the same with charging a battery.

Low current charging is much gently on the battery and batteries tend to “absorb” the charge better when it’s a low current charge.

When we are driving, because of time restraints, we have to charge with high currents, but this is a trade off.

Whereas in most cases, when charging with a battery charger, we usually have plenty of time to charge a battery and so, a 5 amp charger would be better then a 15 amp charger and much MUCH better than say a 40 amp charger.

BUT, there is an exception. If you are likely to be charging your batteries off a generator while away from mains, then, like when driving, time is a deciding factor.

If you look like needing to charge off a generator, there is one hand y option, there are now many brands of battery chargers that have user controlled charging current levels. So you can use a low current charge while on mains, or set the charger to maximum charge current while using a generator. This way you can have a charger to suit all situations.

[ade]

I installed a amaron 850 coca battery today
In my D3. 289$ with free delivery from QLD to very
Remote WA

[SBD4]

Hi Brian and any multi stage charger will work, but Terry, if you want to improve your battery’s state of charge and prolong it’s life span, and this may sound strange, but go for a small ( low current ) battery charger.

Charging batteries is exactly the same as discharging them.

The higher the discharge current, the harder it is on the battery and this is the same with charging a battery.

Low current charging is much gently on the battery and batteries tend to “absorb” the charge better when it’s a low current charge.

When we are driving, because of time restraints, we have to charge with high currents, but this is a trade off.

Whereas in most cases, when charging with a battery charger, we usually have plenty of time to charge a battery and so, a 5 amp charger would be better then a 15 amp charger and much MUCH better than say a 40 amp charger.

BUT, there is an exception. If you are likely to be charging your batteries off a generator while away from mains, then, like when driving, time is a deciding factor.

If you look like needing to charge off a generator, there is one hand y option, there are now many brands of battery chargers that have user controlled charging current levels. So you can use a low current charge while on mains, or set the charger to maximum charge current while using a generator. This way you can have a charger to suit all situations.

Hey Tim, what chargers do you like? I'm not asking you to for recommendation, just interested in what you would use.

[TerryO]

So Tim my poor old Yellow top along with one of your Traxide system has been keeping my various rubbish cranking battery's alive for even longer than they should have. ...bugger me!
Anyway I have ordered a new Varta battery from Michael (rrturboD) and it should be there when we get back home in a couple of days.

And Brian there is always a bed in our house that your welcome to next time your passing through, I warn you though if you don't like meat and vino you maybe in trouble as chance are it will include a prime 1kg T-bone and a good bootle of red or two. ...;)

[disco gazza]

I had to buy a new battery for my L322. After much searching I found www.nqwholesalers.com.au had the best deal on a Varta suitable for my beast.
Delivery was free.:D
Try them.

cheers

[SBD4]

So Tim my poor old Yellow top along with one of your Traxide system has been keeping my various rubbish cranking battery's alive for even longer than they should have. ...bugger me!
Anyway I have ordered a new Varta battery from Michael (rrturboD) and it should be there when we get back home in a couple of days.

And Brian there is always a bed in our house that your welcome to next time your passing through, I warn you though if you don't like meat and vino you maybe in trouble as chance are it will include a prime 1kg T-bone and a good bootle of red or two. ...;)

Can I come too?

[drivesafe]

Hey Tim, what chargers do you like? I'm not asking you to for recommendation, just interested in what you would use.

Hi Sean and I sell battery chargers. I carry the Promariner ProNautic range of marine grade battery chargers.

Here’s the link to my AULRO Verandah thread.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/verandah/153768-worlds-best-battery-chargers.html

These are high end chargers designed for situations a charger is used regularly and is needed to be reliable, and the ProNautic chargers are one of only two brangs of chargers on the market designed with user selectable Lithium Battery specific charging algorithms.

It is for this area, Lithium battery charging, where I sell most of these chargers.

For what is being discussed in this thread, where the use is not going to be all that often, any standard multi stage battery charge will do the job very well.

[drivesafe]

I have ordered a new Varta battery from Michael (rrturboD)

Hi Terry and I also refer my customers to Michael and I get my own batteries through him.

Good thing about dealing with Michael, because he is a Landy owner, he knows the correct battery for the LR yo have.

[PeterOZ]

I just got a Bosch 750cca for $280

[bremund]

From a dealer

LR033179 Battery-Diesel $511.99

[winaje]

From my research the dimensions are 353x175x175mm, with recessed terminals and negative on the left when the terminals are nearer. Unfortunately it seems that Cat don't make a battery like this.