What's killing my batteries?

[Lazza]

Looks like my car isn't suffering from a battery drain after all - it's a knackered battery. Had it tested at a local place and it came up as a very dead battery.

The thing is, it's the 3rd battery I've had on that car and I'm going to have to get a 4th now. Why are they all dying? This latest battery is probably 4 years old.

[Mazda Mender]

Average life on a Battery is 3 years? are you useing the westco Battery? as i am finding them not that great to be honest, they seem to drain very quickly, more so when they are not being run but just started and left to tick over. As my daily is begining to be a bit slow on start up, and i know it is the Battery(westco) now i know with the gel battery that you need to give them a boost once a year to bring them back to 100% health again? but they are all useing them and the drain is not good, and if left in a discharged state for to long can kill them big time.
But it is funny that this as popped it's head up ,because i have just had a phone call today over a car battery,
It was on a owners Mk 1 roadster that came here,(he is member on here) and was a small bike battery which to be honest i was impressed with, so much so that i am going to get one to try out.
I'll let you know if you want.
M-m

[Lazza]

Mine was measured at 230amps so pretty much a dying battery.

I've seen bike batteries in cars before and they do seem to have the cranking power. What they don't have is power reserve so if the car is a bit reluctant to start it will drain the battery very quickly.

I guess I'll just have to get yet another Westco :(

[Mazda Mender]

You can get 10 years plus from the OE panasonic battery but you will pay for one, thats if you can still get them?
M-m

[Lazza]

Will this fit?
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Mazda_MX-5_1.8_2001/p/car-parts/car-electrics-and-car-lighting/electrical/car-battery/?444770638&1&b3fe4ace199d2e29b2b132e213755c0d489ead2e&000020

It says Hold Down Type B13 but I have no idea what that is. I think it'll physically fit but will I be able to hold it down ok?

[Mazda Mender]

No idea either?. i will do some asking, but it sounds like a plan to me the bull sh^t sounds good , i'll try one of those also, plus one of the bike Batteries.
M-m

[Lazza]

Just ordered one. I guess I'll be designing a new hold-down clamp next weekend.

[Mazda Mender]

Just ordered one. I guess I'll be designing a new hold-down clamp next weekend.

So you will be mazda mending then

M-m

[Tangoman]

You can get 10 years plus from the OE panasonic battery but you will pay for one, thats if you can still get them?
M-m

That's what I have in my Roadster, I have no idea how old it is as it was in the car when I got it nearly three and half years ago, and apart from the odd occasional recharge needed (car left sat sitting around for weeks on end un-started) its been fine!

[al_p]

finally found the pic hidden in the depths of my facebook here it is :)

[Lazza]

Interesting stuff mate. What battery is that and do you have any problems with it at all?
Do you think it would be up to running a Mk2.5 with a standalone ecu running piggy-bank, 300W amp, AC, etc. that doesn't get used enough, lives in a garage and occasionally needs a bit of cranking to get it started?

[Lazza]

Fitted the new battery today. Fitted quite easily! It's bigger than the Westco & Panasonic so doesn't fit the tray so I'll have to find a tray to fit. For now it's sitting on an old sponge. The standard Mk2 hold-down fitted with only a minor alteration as it just needed a small piece taken out to fit over the handle on the top of the battery.



Apart from the obvious improvement in starting with a new battery, the car definitely runs better now and feels smoother and more responsive. Might even go some way to explaining why the MoT guy had a bit more trouble getting it through the emissions test a month ago.

Interestingly, although one of the main reasons everyone always advises the Westco & Panasonic batteries is due to the lack of acid fumes so they shouldn't cause corrosion, the base of the well under the battery was full of white powder and the paint has been removed in places. This is despite always having had gel batteries up to now and with the breather tubes fitted. I'll have to get that seen to asap.

[al_p]

the one i had i would probably not reccomend running a sound system on it as its generally used to start the car and thats it , if your running amps etc... you will need a heavier duty battery sorry for the late reply :)

[MisterG]

Fitted the new battery today. Fitted quite easily! It's bigger than the Westco & Panasonic so doesn't fit the tray so I'll have to find a tray to fit. For now it's sitting on an old sponge. The standard Mk2 hold-down fitted with only a minor alteration as it just needed a small piece taken out to fit over the handle on the top of the battery.


Apart from the obvious improvement in starting with a new battery, the car definitely runs better now and feels smoother and more responsive. Might even go some way to explaining why the MoT guy had a bit more trouble getting it through the emissions test a month ago.

Interestingly, although one of the main reasons everyone always advises the Westco & Panasonic batteries is due to the lack of acid fumes so they shouldn't cause corrosion, the base of the well under the battery was full of white powder and the paint has been removed in places. This is despite always having had gel batteries up to now and with the breather tubes fitted. I'll have to get that seen to asap.

Hi Lazza - MM has pointed me to this thread as i have a "misbehaving" Westco battery

Just out of interest, dont suppose you noticed what your before/after voltage your Adaptronic was showing, with the engine running or just on ignition - and also what voltage drops to when cranking?

Ive got a Westco of unknown age on my car - although doesnt look that old - and after a couple of days its just a bit slow to turn over, however this morning in the frost i couldnt get it to start before the battery went too flat. - putting jump leads on the car and it started within 3 seconds so i doubt its the cranking fuel at fault.

Another possible side-effect is after first starting, the car really struggles to run, idles really low and badly until the voltage stabilizes. looking at WARI the voltage is around 10volts then rising gently to 13.9v over 5-10seconds which i assume is the OE ECU controlling the alternator.

[Lazza]

I have no idea. When the old battery (Westco) was tested it was obviously knackered so I didn't bother to test for any battery drains. With the new battery I can now leave it for a week and it seems to have no affect on the battery whereas just a couple of days would have meant a flat battery before so I don't think I do have any battery drains, I just had a very tired battery.