Battery Life?

[martypalin]

are batteries notorious on galants? because mine was flat which caused me no end of bother because it was so obvious i didnt check it lol but is it worth me changing the battery or once restarted should it recharge fully for a year or so?

[richy rich]

i had a flat battery after i bought mine

i parked it for a week to go on holiday
got it started and not had a problem since
it gets use every day

[BraindG]

You got a wee battery or a bigun?

[martypalin]

erm a GLS sized one?

[BraindG]

hehe - roughly?

[Kieran]

hehe - roughly?

A GLS battery will be a big one.

Charge it, see how it goes but as batteries age their performace wanes.... And they don't like being discharged!

[Nick VR4]

A good point is does it fill the whole battery tray?

[vrfan]

I thought my battery was bloody small considering the engine it's trying to crank over. So the UK cars use something bigger, do they?

I had the car less than a week and was having to charge it or jump it a few times, but the thing looks original so 9 years use is pretty good I suppose. I've been using the RSM to keep it in check.

Just got new one yersterday, not fitted it yet. Too bloody cold out to fiddle with connectors and stuff!

[tig202]

I was thinking of putting together a guide on batterys but was just waiting for the weather to warm up to take some piccys, not that im nesh but lead acid tack and new carpets mean they stay outdoors!
On your battery question, I would say if the battery looks at all small in its mountings then it has been fitted with a jap spec battery with lesser din rating than one for the colder European market... or its had a cheap one fitted/Grrr
I would recc. going for largest availible size battery for you which would be for a diesel Galant (which has a thicker engine oil and is thus harder to start in the cold) The battery box will be the same throughout all market variants due to manufactoring costs:afro:

[Kieran]

That's what I did. My VR-4 had a big bettery anyway, as it's a 'Cold Area Specification' car, but I needed to replace it. I now have a 630Amp monster sat there. Needless to say, it kicks over very easily now!

The 'Warm Area Specification' Galants are fitted with an absurdly small battery. Wildcard's Legnum had one fitted, and it puts out a feeble 350ish Amps. To give you a comparrison, my 1974 Colt Galant (1.6 litre 4 cyl) has a 325Amp as standard!

[marsh]

Interesting. Mine Vr4 has been acting a tart since day one with starting and the battery in it is tiny. What should I get to replace it with? as it's now getting on my tits.

[vrfan]

Yep, I had every intent to get a uk spec one. The guy even had one in stock, so i took it home and of course the terminals are wrong aren't they! Different size, and the posts are swapped over so the leads wont reach (or front to back swapped if you like).

Bugger it I thought. Phoned 'em up and they said a jap spec one is actually cheaper, only a couple of quid mind you.

[WildCards]

I've got a wee battery, Kieran tasted my car and said it was the 'warm area' variety. But despite the itsy bitsy battery it starts first time every time, even in this cold.

I find it most odd that they made cars with different bits depending on their location, seems daft to me.

[Kieran]

....Kieran tasted my car ....

It was just like chicken.....

[calum]

So what battery should I get, and where's the best place to get it? Looked in halfords today and the only ones with small terminals were tiny. Not happy with another one of those, as the one that's just died has only lasted 4 years.

Thanks,

Calum

[Johnny1974]

Just bought a new tiny battery from Halfords and it's way enough to start any VR4 first time every time, just remember it's not the size of the engine that counts.
:afro:

[vrfan]

Calum, if you want to upgrade then this lot might be of use to you.


www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk (http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk)

My replacement battery is just as prone to flatting itself, so I'm suspecting something draining it. Less than an hour with the ignition on is enough to kill it.

eg.. I washed the car, admittedly had the stereo on at the time. Went to move the car after - no go, just relay clicks./Grrr

[bradc]

I'm going with a pair of rally spec batteries in my car. One will be what they use to start rally cars normally, which is about 40% of the size of a usual battery, but with all the capacity of a normal one.

The other battery will be used to power the mmcs, speakers, and computer when the car is off, so I can watch movies and stuff on it, and not worry about the main battery running flat.

[calum]

Thanks, guys. Didn't want to spend the £180 for a deep cycle or gel battery so went for a huge capacity 640A, (125Ah reserve) Exide X-Tra battery. Got the biggest that would fit in the tray (and it just fits), but unfortunately has the larger terminals.

The motor factor let me look round all his stock. Saw literally hundreds of batteries but only 2 with small terminals. Largest capacity was a 430A one, which appeared to have been specially designed with the jap import market in mind.

Managed to get the original earth clamp to fit by removing the 'serrated' insert, but couldn't get the positive to fit so out came the hacksaw and on went a new positive terminal.

Total cost (including two terminals) was £54.68. The guy did the battery at trade (42.86 + VAT) which I was quite pleased with.

Had to get a new wider battery clamp and a second shorter bolt to fit to the front of the tray, but our generous local scrap yard let me have them for free!!!

So happy and sorted now.

Cheers,

Calum

vrfan - remove fuses one by one with an ammeter across the battery terminals until you identify what item(s) is (are) causing the drain. Then fix it!

When I went camping last year an hour with teh stereo on drained the crappy little battery. No more of those problems now!