Battery problemsand advice

MLW · January 24, 2020

Left the car for over 4 weeks (yes I know, I did it last year too) over Christmas. Went out to check the Battery today and it was so flat even the central locking would not work. Got in on the key and nothing on the panel lights.

Hooked up my trickle charger and it would not charge. After a while it shows a bit of action. I'll leave it on for 24 hours (26 amps maybe) and see what happens. The Battery is a 072 type Numark with 70 ah and 600 SAE amps. It is nearly 4 years old and has been great.

Question is.... I usually give batteries one chance and then it it is iffy, replace them. If this one regenerates and I am in no hurry, so can charge for 3 days then I will give it a go. I thought of using an old fashioned 4 amp charger for an 2 hours to 'get it going'.

If I do replace it, what with. I have always liked Bosch batteries but the web has a multitude of sizes from 45 amps upwards! Halfords have a huge Yuasa HSB030 with 75 amps and 640 power amps for £89 and I have a 10% voucher from Shell petrol so at £88 with a 5 year guarantee it looks good. But I have heard so so things about these batteries. Any advice would be useful.

Malc · January 24, 2020

see what Toyota offer, always found their Battery prices competitive and good ............. and suit the car best too probably

Malc

BigBoomer · January 24, 2020

Yuasa are good so long as its not one of the batteries prone to cracked welds. They have a long history of that.
The Ah rating makes little difference, but the factory Battery is 70Ah so I wouldn't go below that.

You can get a Varta from here for £85 delivered.
https://advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk/product/varta-e23/

May also be worth investing in a solar cell trickle charger if you are prone to leaving the car standing for extended periods of time.
They are only £20 now and do the job nicely. A friend has even built his into the rear parcel shelf of his E-class.

Tinonline · January 24, 2020

I'm with Malc on this.

I shopped around comparing cold start power and having to ensure size and terminal position...ended up with one from local Lexus dealer at an ok price.

Worth checking with your dealer.

It's not worth getting a bargain brand: been there and done that...ended up with a refund and paying more for a top name. (On the late S Type Jag that I scapped at 73k miles,,.it stopped a slow drain that was plaguing me...).

MLW · January 24, 2020

Lexus say £91.14p for a 70 amp 3 year guarantee. Nobody at two Toyota dealers answered the phone.

MLW · January 24, 2020

I wondered how much maltreatment a Battery can take. I know a flat Battery is no good for the internals. But would two incidents in 4 years be so bad. Normally it is only Christmas that is a problem, as I do mostly 70 mile motorway runs. Solar charger might be good at an airport parking when 2-3 weeks stationary might occur. My brother swares by these new 'paperback' sized lithium jump starts.

I usually jump start with positive and negative on the Battery, and disconnect once it has started, but ECUs etc can be very sensitive to incorrect connections etc. I assumed that a 2002 car was old style technology and would be OK. Is that everyone's experience?

true blue · January 24, 2020

Hi personally I would just replace the battery; I find Varta a very good make used them for years .Just bought one from Tayna next day delivery great place .If you need a E23 look on E bay the have that ref on offer 4year warranty £67 inc delivery (offer until 31 Jan)

Cheers Dave

runsgrateasanut · January 24, 2020

Bought Car with a Yuasa which died after leaving at the Airport. It had been in the Car for seven years. Replaced with a Yuasa which was ran to virtually zero charge a year or so later - car stopped running cluster lights barely flickering, owing to Alternator death.

Massive boost by Tow people should have killed it. When got home put on the trickle charger and its still going great after must be 18 months. Yuasa gets my vote.

Bosch experience with Mercs, was OK.

ambermarine · January 24, 2020

Two Yuasa batteries in seven years and the second one as done four still going strong and fits exactly in the mark 4, best price at the time and guaranteed three years .I dont expect to get more than that from any Battery these days if I do its a bonus.It is on a maintanence intelligent charger when the car is idle which helps to prevent the plates sulphating, the main cause of Battery deaths.

Tinonline · January 24, 2020

My new Lexus sources went in April 2015.

Saying nothing so as not to tempt fate. 🙂

MLW · January 24, 2020

I'll probably replace it. A 5 year guarantee from Halfords is so good compared to one on the web which involves problems of sending it back (our Halfords is .5 mile away). That way I have 'faith in it'. However, I'll see where I am after a days 'sort of charging'. At my age £88 and all problems go away is appealing.

The interesting thing is how much electricity these cars drain when sitting there. On a Hillman Imp it was virtually nothing!

Tulpen · January 24, 2020

29 minutes ago, MLW said:

I'll probably replace it. A 5 year guarantee from Halfords is so good compared to one on the web which involves problems of sending it back (our Halfords is .5 mile away). That way I have 'faith in it'. However, I'll see where I am after a days 'sort of charging'. At my age £88 and all problems go away is appealing.

The interesting thing is how much electricity these cars drain when sitting there. On a Hillman Imp it was virtually nothing!

That's the first time I've seen an LS430 and a Hillman Imp featured in the same post 😀

MLW · January 24, 2020

Both are unique!

Malc · January 25, 2020

I bought a brand new Hillman Imp in 1969 .. AYL273H ............. the very first of the hatchbacks ??

now about 20 years with Ls400s ....

Malc

ambermarine · January 25, 2020

They had an automatic choke and you could take out the aluminium engine in ten minutes and wheel it away in a shopping trolley.

runsgrateasanut · January 25, 2020

I went out in one with a Mate in my Teens and he'd put 7.5J's on it and had it highly tuned it. Flipped it onto my side going down a bendy Hill at Danbury. Wore away the door handle but fortunately not my Arm!

Easy to put it the right way up!

royoftherovers · January 25, 2020

16 hours ago, MLW said:

I'll probably replace it. A 5 year guarantee from Halfords is so good compared to one on the web which involves problems of sending it back (our Halfords is .5 mile away). That way I have 'faith in it'. However, I'll see where I am after a days 'sort of charging'. At my age £88 and all problems go away is appealing.

The interesting thing is how much electricity these cars drain when sitting there. On a Hillman Imp it was virtually nothing!

My Hillman Imp went through water pumps like a dose of salts ! (they all do that sir!)

Tulpen · January 25, 2020

37 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

My Hillman Imp went through water pumps like a dose of salts ! (they all do that sir!)

Back in the late '60s, I was serving with the military in Germany. We had access to duty free cars and the cheapest, brand new, on-the-road cars were the Simca 1000 and the Hillman Imp. Both cost just under £500. There was a big 'Buy British' push from the government at the time, and a lot of people went for the Imp. They soon regretted it...….as John says, a spare water pump was a must.

I bought neither; back then £500 was way out of my reach 🙂

Sorry for the thread drift.

royoftherovers · January 25, 2020

5 hours ago, Malc said:

I bought a brand new Hillman Imp in 1969 .. AYL273H ............. the very first of the hatchbacks ??

now about 20 years with Ls400s ....

Malc

And I bought a brand new Beetle on August 1st 1969...CFM 803H...in Chinchilla Grey against which I part ex`d my Imp..BMA 355B

royoftherovers · January 25, 2020

5 hours ago, ambermarine said:

They had an automatic choke and you could take out the aluminium engine in ten minutes and wheel it away in a shopping trolley.

And they had a pneumatic throttle/ accelerator !

MLW · January 25, 2020

Back to the Battery. Put my old 45 year old 4 amp Battery charger on, (terminals disconnected). After 3 hours reconnected the AA smart charger- 1 amp.

It worked and went to charging.

I have heard of this before. An old charger...... 'gets it fired up'... and the new one can operate. When it is fully charged (probably 3 days), I'll measure the voltage and if it is low, I'll replace it.

shanra · January 28, 2020

I have a modern Battery charger with a reconditioning mode which has revived a very flat Battery time and time again. Really worth investing in one of these as Battery chargers have moved on a lot.

MLW · January 31, 2020

UPDATE

Got it charged after about 2 days at 1 amp. It then read 12.8 volts and next morning 11.7 volts. It started on the button with plenty of wellie. Even after some cold nights it starts and runs 'normally'. Looks like I might have got away with it for maybe a year or so.