Thread: This was scary. Battery I think ?

Originally Posted by garrycol

That battery seems to have a very low CCA compared to the vehicle requirements - it only has 650CCA where I thought 850-950CCA was needed.

Garry

That was my thought too Garry. I've just replaced a dead 780CCA Century battery with a 880CCA Supercharge, because I couldn't find any bigger for the price.

This one has 760cca stamped on it, if you get a replacement battery up here from the dealer this will be it (so I understand)

DD

Originally Posted by garrycol

That battery seems to have a very low CCA compared to the vehicle requirements - it only has 650CCA where I thought 850-950CCA was needed.

Garry

Update, Now in Sydney, it was an alternator, replaced with a new a/market job, $700 including fitting. Due to time constraints did not have much choice. Battery charged up and the supplier said tested fine ? It had a hammering so we will see.

Next question, what voltage should this run at, I bought one of the Jaycar cig lighter voltmeters, it runs up to 14.5 - 14.6 volts for a short while but settles down to a steady 13.5 volts after a while ( can be 10 mins can be up to half an hour to settle) holds 13.5 then consistently lights on or off.
Seems low to me. It seems to bleed off overnight as well, at present after a six hour drive it is sitting at 12.5 on past performances over the last few days in the morning it will be 12.2 to 12.3 volts. There is nothing on, at least nothing I can find !
12.2 to me is a fairly low battery,


DD

With the battery voltage having previously dropped to basically nothing, its posisble that the battery now has very little depth of charge so you may need to replace the battery too. I have a battery that I removed from my D2 in 2008 because of such a problem but it still happily starts a small pump regularly.

There have been a few reported alternator failures an all seem to not have a dash indication of the failure - the low power advice on the radio seems to be the main indicator of an issue with the battery level/charging system.

So why doesn't the charging light come on when the alternator plays up - or alternatively some other sort of indication. In the good ole days the charging light would come on.

Thanks

Garry

battery has high internal resistence hence why it is discharging overnight. Think of it like a reistor accross the terminals that allows a small current to flow and cause it to self discharge. Quite common.

If the battery is still under warranty then I would be seeking a refund / replacement however you need to get one with the correct rating for the vehicle.

Yeah in the book it says use a minimum 850cca so battery is a tad on the small side

I wouldn't get too hung up on the low charging voltage. Our Toymota was the same. Seems to be the norm with modern vehicles. One way to reduce the vehicles emissions and increase economy. I regularly use a cetek charger and a sometimes leave me solar panel on for a few days. Often reads low prior to charge.
Cheers
Steve