New battery, new car!

Had my 2.5DSE for over 8 years now, been a great, enjoyable experience.
Done most of the 'usual' RR jobs, airbags (4) compressor, discs/pads, blew a radiator, fitted a Kenlow 17" electric fan (fantastic now) & a new hi-lo ratio box ecu.
A year into ownership I fitted a new battery,seemed ok for a while, then I started getting the dreaded P38 'flat battery syndrome'!!
Did the usual, checked & cleaned up all the earthing points, alternator, made sure the BECM was going to sleep, & all electrics checked out ok via the Rovacom, even swapped the remote receiver for the latest one, but still after a few days, FLAT!!
Kept on taking the car to the local auto electrical/battery guy, & the battery passed all the various tests, so, in desperation, I ordered the biggest, highest amp battery I could find, 1000 Amps cold-cranking.
Its been on for 3 months now & I can tell you its a totally different car, whereas it used to crank over for 3-4 seconds before firing, it now started before I could let go of the key!!
The big test has been this last week or so of -4 to -11c & 0530 mornings, the bloody things running as soon as the glowplug light goes out!!
The REAL weird thing is that I'm sure its running so much better! can't put my finger on it, but its a whole different animal, amazing what a couple extra volts/amps can do!!
As for the previous battery check, I can only assume that once going, it charged up to spec for a few hours, & only drained whilst unused.
Another VERY strange thing & you diesel guys will know about this, I was beginning to suffer from the 'Hot-start' problem, caused by injection-pump wear, cranking over for maybe 7-10 seconds before firing, now that too, is completely gone, now starts instantly, hot or cold!!
Best thing I ever did!!

Just looking for a battery for mine. Did you fit a 664 or 334 type?

I'm also looking for a new battery and have been totally bewildered by all of the potential different options and the different suggestions from the high street stores and battery warehouses that simply won't fit due to the terminals being the wrong layout.

Could you tell me the exact battery, brand and Ah/CCA, you bought please and a guide as to how much you paid?

Mine's going into a 2001 4.6 Vogue to replace the Halfords (670CCA) standard wet battery that has of course died in the cold.

Any help greatly appreciated.

m_b_alpha said:

I'm also looking for a new battery and have been totally bewildered by all of the potential different options and the different suggestions from the high street stores and battery warehouses that simply won't fit due to the terminals being the wrong layout.

Could you tell me the exact battery, brand and Ah/CCA, you bought please and a guide as to how much you paid?

Mine's going into a 2001 4.6 Vogue to replace the Halfords (670CCA) standard wet battery that has of course died in the cold.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

Put the biggest battery in there you can possibly get in. Halfrauds batteries are overpriced and crap.

Are Varta any good then? Or Bosch?

I've rung a few places and the names that keep cropping up as being "any good" are bosch and varta. I've got a local company nearby that specialises in Yuasa batteries but they can only give me a 850CCA standard battery for £95. I was indeed looking for the biggest thing I can afford that will fit. I tried a Bosch S5 100Ah battery for a disco but alas the terminals are the wrong way around - shame as I could get a real good deal on that one (£91).

Halfords own brand are rebadged Varta. The also sell Bosch.

I got it from these guys,
Car Batteries, Cheap Car Batteries, Replacement Car Batteries, Next Day Delivery from Perfomancebatteries.co.uk
paid by card, ordered afternoon, it was delivered free the next morning, how good is that, simply type in your cars details & you will get a couple of choices, I obviously chose the best one!! The terminals are in a slightly different position, but a bit of 'tweaking' of the cables I managed to get them to fit!
I have nothing but praise for these people & this particular battery.

Can you tell me the number on the battery to see what type you fitted. The ones listed for a diesel are 664 up until 1999 then a 334 which is the same as a TD5. The 664 has a higher AH at 110 but the 334 is smaller in size but has a higher CCA. Just wondered what type you managed to fit. Halfords sell the HB334 type only.

I too had odd things happen electrically till I fitted a bigger better battery. My radio would ask for the code, I'd get EKA faults as well. In the end the car would not start one day with the usual gearbox fault message. That was the last straw for me so went out and bought an Optima Red top dry battery. Was expensive compared to normal battery, but no more EKA faults and the radio never asks for the code anymore.

Have used the car every day with the snow and it fires up the V8 like it's a spring afternoon. Also I'm not worried about using the heated screens and seats.

LW......

If you visited the site above, & typed in diesel range rover you will see its a C31-1000, I have no idea as to other manufactures/types etc. & its 135AH & 1000 CCA

Thanks modelman that's really useful. I assume the battery compartment on a 2001 petrol is the same as a 1995 DSE??? (Probably not - so I'll get my tape measure out).

modelman said:

If you visited the site above, & typed in diesel range rover you will see its a C31-1000, I have no idea as to other manufactures/types etc. & its 135AH & 1000 CCA

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I have visited the site! but wondered which one of the two listed you bought so as to gain from your experience.

m_b_alpha said:

Thanks modelman that's really useful. I assume the battery compartment on a 2001 petrol is the same as a 1995 DSE??? (Probably not - so I'll get my tape measure out).

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Two types of diesel battery are listed so worth checking your tray. My 1999 DSe has a 664 type fitted which is the larger of the two types. It is 110 ah and about 750 CCA. Have been looking at batteries for a while as my voltage is down to 12.4v so it is dying in the cold. looked at so many battery sites now so good to get first hand experience of a third choice.

The other thing I did was replace the cables from the alt to the starter and the starter to the bat made a big difference as they were corroded internally

Well I just went out battery shopping expecting to buy a Yuasa lorry battery from my local battery specialist shop who had told me on the phone this was the biggest they could fit in and had in stock. Got the guy to test my battery which he rated at 620CCA and then when he tested the lorry battery (which was a 96Ah EN) he only got 670CCA so I left empty handed as they had nothing else that would fit except a standard rated battery. Tried another place but no joy. No one seems to have positive on the left fitting batteries of a larger capacity than what I already have that is failing so looks like I'll have to order one. Spare battery and jump cables in the boot for now then!

What model number is your battery that you have fitted? ie 664 334 072

Bought a Varta HD 664 today for my 99DSE. Starts very well at -3!
110ah higher than the 334 type

One word >>>>>>


varta

Got my new battery today (Alphaline 130Ah 1000cca) and installed it using a spare battery and jumper cables to keep power to car and avoid lockouts/resets. All went well until I snagged the radiator bleed pipe which promptly snapped in two places :doh:

I was worried the battery was not going to fit due to being 242mm high but no problems - apart from the bleed pipe which I can't get hold of until Saturday.....