[fliptopbin]

Just went to get a new battery for my T16S. Manual says "62 Ah".

Went to Halfords - obviously Ah isn't a good enough measurement for them, they have devised a totally new one whereby it tells you how many minutes you can draw 25A from the battery for :roll:.

On their little list there was no indication of what battery a T8/T16 uses - their advice? Go to a main dealer or Kwik Fit :lol: if I had money to burn IO can think of better things to spend it on.

Found a small motor factor round the corner - the guy tells me the turbo takes a special shape battery that he's out of at the moment, something to do with it being flatter and there's no lip at the bottom .

Is this true? Makes sense from what I saw in Halfords, but he wants 80 quid for the bloody thing :evil:

Given that my battery seems fine today I am tempted to think sod it...

 

[craigdeluxe]

Go to your nearest ECP or GSF, They will do you a bosch battery that will be a good fit. Roughly £50. If its a tight fit, you might want to take a mm or two from one of the studs on the elbow(cant remember wich one) for a perfect fit.

 

[Jezzadee]

It's true, originally the turbo cars had a taller and narrower battery because there was less space down there. Doesn't make much difference though - whatever fits.

 

[MSOEMiller]

Your store clerks aren't rocket scientists. All they have to do is look the car up in a manual or on the computer.

The turbo has a smaller battery due to the exhaust downpipe extending over farther than a non-turbo. Some battery brands only make the turbo size because it will work in either car.

 

[ejenner]

I seem to remember the one I bought did have a lip on the bottom. I didn't pay 80 squids for mine though. you were right to ignore that crap advice. which shop was it?

 

[trackside]

I just got a 70Ah to replace my 55Ah - it has a lip at the bottom and is a much tighter fit but there is still enough space for the heatshield. You could easily cut away the lip. Partco did it for £49 inc VAT.

 

[ejenner]

did you have any major run-down incidents or did you just find that the 55AH didn't seem to hold a charge? The vert had a 52AH in it and that just kept running out of juice. Replaced with a 65 which always worked well.

 

[trackside]

I ran it flat after leaving the interior lights on all night;oops: and it would not hold charge after that. It was at least 5 years old though so I think it was at the end of it's life. I never had any problems before that and all through several winters it would start first time after being left for over a week.

 

[fliptopbin]

I seem to remember the one I bought did have a lip on the bottom. I didn't pay 80 squids for mine though. you were right to ignore that crap advice. which shop was it?

Shirley Motor Supplies or whatever it's called, opposite the end of Monks Orchard Road. TBH I think he was probably right, judging by what other people have said to me, it is a different battery.

I spoke to Eric van Spelde about this yesterday and he reckons a standard battery forces the heat shield to rub on the downpipe and causes all sorts of problems... TBH, GSF are selling Bosch batteres at 60 quid which I assume are "wrong" so I will probably go with the 80 quid one, at least I know it's right.

Funny though, the car has been perfect since. Can that chat we had with the ignition on (20 mins?) have been enough to totally kill the battery?

I will give John from WMSS a call for a definitive answer on battery type I think! :lol:

 

[ejenner]

your reverse lights were on the whole time! :roll:

All you have to make sure of is that the battery meets or exceeds spec. it is a tight fit down there though so it can be tricky to find one that fits nicely.

SMS is probably one of the worst suppliers. I reckon a good bet would be Euro Car Parts.