Pos's Battery Maintenance Guide

Hello,

Here is a quick, fool-proof guide for anyone who would like to replenish their battery performance, particularly enhancing weak cranking power. The battery used in this guide is a six cell lead acid type battery, which is NOT a maintenance free unit (by that I mean that there are screw caps that remove, allowing you to see into each of the six battery cells). Sealed or 'maintenance free' lead acid batteries can be similarly repaired or replenished should performance dwindle, but it involves some battery case modification, which I will not cover in this guide.

Items you will need:

- Poorly battery
- 1 x 13mm Spanner
- 2 x Litres of distilled water
- 1 x Clean rag
- 4 x Tea spoons bicarbonate of soda
- 1 x Old tooth brush

Step one:

Begin by lifting the passenger seat in your 90 and slide out the battery cover panel on the seat box. Take your 13mm spanner, slacken the negative lead (-) at the battery terminal and remove it from the battery terminal. Repeat the process to remove the positive lead from the positive terminal (+). Lift the battery up and out of the battery compartment and place it on a flat surface. Note that I have insulated the battery compartment with bubble wrap to prevent moisture and dirt that may find its way into the compartment from reaching the battery.



Step two:

Observe the top of your battery. You should be able to see either six 'caps' that can be unscrewed or popped out of the top of the battery, or two longer covers, each of which cover three battery cells. These caps, or covers, when removed, provide direct access to each of the six battery cells. Remove the caps and observe the inside of each cell. If you do not see six removable caps, or two longer removable covers, you may have a sealed battery. In this case, use google to find a suitable guide.



Step three:

You can see in the picture below, that each of my battery cells have a very low fluid level. The honey comb like pattern of material that you can see in the cell is a lead mesh that makes up part of the batteries chemical composure. The lead mesh should be submerged in fluid, not directly exposed to air. This is the primary cause of poor performance in the battery. Carefully fill each of the six cells with distilled water, so that the lead mesh is fully submerged. There is no need to fill the cell right to the very top. In total, I used one litre across all six cells.







Step four:

Once you have topped each of the six cells, re-fit each of the cell caps and ensure that they are tight to prevent fluid loss when the vehicle is in motion.
Take your bicarbonate of soda and sprinkle it over both the positive (+) and the negative (-) terminals, so that they are completely covered. Pour hot water over the two terminals, and allow the bar-carbonate of soda to fizzle. This will dissolve any build up on the battery terminals that can cause a poor electrical connection. Use your old tooth brush to scrub the terminals and the top surface of the battery. Once you have cleaned both terminals, dry the terminals and the surface of the battery thoroughly with a clean, oil free rag.



There you have it, a re-plenished battery which will perform much better, and crank a lot more effectively. All that's left to do now is re-fit the battery to your Land Rover, charge it over night (preferably with a trickle charger) and then re-connect the terminals, ensuring that you connect the leads the right way round.

Hope this helps someone
-Pos

Ere Pos - why dont yu put it in the Q & A's section?

Will do later

-Pos

So today you learnt to top up your battery and a rather long winded and messy way to clean the terminals. Checking your battery should be regular routine maintenance.

hughesy said:

So today you learnt to top up your battery and a rather long winded and messy way to clean the terminals. Checking your battery should be regular routine maintenance.

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Yup. I hadn't checked it in two years - hence some of the poor cranking problems. To be honest, I didn't know it was necessary - it's not very often that you're told to check the levels in your batteries these days. I'm sure it'll help someone. I did actually just scrub the terminals with a clean wire brush but I thought I'd try the soda route too just to see what it did to the terminals - nothing that a wire brush can't achieve it would appear

Can't blame me for having a go though
-Pos

And next week...checking the tyres for air

This may sound like teaching grandma to suck eggs, but there are people that don't have a clue about the basics of motoring like this. I know someone at work who will call the AA if they get a flat tyre. Why don't they teach you how to change tyres in driving lessons?? Safe use of a jack is essential. All these things may sound so basic, but I'm sure plenty of people have buggered their sills trying to do a tyre (not in a landy though of course hehe). Similarly with battery maintenance. They don't teach you how to be a motorist to pass a driving test?. I'm all for basic howtos like this for that reason

I did have to laugh at it though

but what the hell is bar-carbonate of soda??

I felt like a bit of a dipper typing it up t be honest, but Id taken the pictures so why not!? The spell checker downstairs wont accept bicarbonate of soda! I'll go over it and adjust it.

tombardier said:

but what the hell is bar-carbonate of soda??

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It's what ya granny used to put in the fridge to remove strong odours. like onion or fish etc.

or to wash her mouth out after sucking all those eggs

Next week - why your streering wheel is round. I thought Hoppecke had gone bust.

Advanced Maintenence Class. Saturday night with beer. "Your starter battery; 643 or 644 OR 663 or 664. To winch or not to winch."

sorry for nitpicking but you never mentioned removing or refitting battery clamp,as in holding battery securley to vehicle to stop it shorting when offroading.i dont thjnk bubble wrap fulfills this role

HOOK said:

sorry for nitpicking but you never mentioned removing or refitting battery clamp,as in holding battery securley to vehicle to stop it shorting when offroading.i dont thjnk bubble wrap fulfills this role

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For ****s sake - mine doesn't have a clamp

-Pos

Sorry but if acid level has got low enough to expose the plates chances are the battery is knackered anyway!

odenne said:

And next week...checking the tyres for air

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:hysterically_laughi:hysterically_laughi can't wait!!

No chance of doing this with my Batt as its a military gel batt - dont think Carplan do gel top ups lol .

so me topping up my battery with acid was wrong? what about using me works £400 battery recovery charger? (it does calcium ones too)

If your electrolyte levels are low then its either 1: old, 2: your alternators putting too much charge into it, or 3: its got a hole in it. Too much charge results in the electrolyte evaporating. One way of checking overcharge is to look at the plates. If they're black and your battery stinks of rotting eggs its down to sulphation of the plates and overcharge. Also take a look at the bottom of the caps on the battery. If they have a black slime on them, then it indicates overcharging. Do not top up batteries with acid. As the battery warms up during use is results in the acid becoming more concentrated and damages the plates. As the battery vents hydrogen gas during use it condenses on the bottom of the caps resulting in the black slime. Use deinonised water - not tap juice. If you have to top up your battery -99% are maintainence free nowadays-you have a problem with charging/faulty earth, or the battery aint up to scratch. The likes of Varta, Orbital, Optima or Odyssey batteries should never require a top up. In fact you can't as they're permanently sealed (with the exception of the old blue case Varta car range). Orbital, Optima & Odyssey are what they call "valve regulated" which means you shouldn't charge them using a standard charger for lead acid batteries. They should be charged at a slower rate as they can't vent gases at the same rate. You should use a 2,3, or 4 amp charger depending on the CCA (Cold Cranking). If not you risk boiling the insides of the battery. Best pieces of kit for testing are: voltmeter, in line amp meter, drop tester and hydrometer. Forget computer diagnostics. Hope this helps.

this threads becoming more interesting than I first thought it would be.

Something that I do is to give the terminals a good layer of copper grease to help stop corrosion.

In my opinion any landy that goes off roading must have the battery securely fastened in place, its no fun laying a truck on its side and hearing a nice fizzing noise coming from a direct short under the passenger seat.