Battery Advice

[RichardSEL]

I went for a Bosch S5008 five years ago for my Passat. Still with some four fifths of its 80AHC capacity according to one of those load test meter things used for testing at Halfords (are they accurate?)

So got myself a similar Bosch S4008 to replace the four year old Halfords 110AHC-label-rated on the X308 3.2L. Might not have needed to as the dash board icon I was getting still didn't switch off (it was warning of Cat efficiency, cured by two courses of CataClean) Surrey Jags switched it off for £30 -- could've put that toward a decent OBDII scanner / reader as was already given the good advice in here to get one

[ptjs1]

Chris,

The option you've chosen seems very cost-effective. Did you buy that through Tayna? As Mike says, i have bought from them a number of times and find them good to deal with.

The Ctek MXS 5.0 is a good piece of kit, I have 3 of those. You'll be fine with that. However, big differences in price so shop around.

Paul

[csholmes]

Paul,
Yes, I bought it through Tanya, and it arrived this afternoon, with the breather pipe. I'll report again after I have fitted it in the morning. Now if only I can work out which hole in the boot the breather pipe is meant to go through, as it was never in place since I have owned the car.
Richard, sorry to hear the CAT trouble led to a premature battery change. That's why I am tempted by the Ctek MXS 5.0 'Test and Charge' model, as diagnostic tools are always welcome. It is a lot more expensive than the standard MXS 5.0 though.
Best wishes,
Chris

[csholmes]

The battery arrived well-packaged and with good instructions. It is fitted, including the breather pipe to the grommet hole in the boot floor. The other hole in the battery remains plugged, as advised by Tayna in response to a quick phone call. The car started first time. I had kept the charger supplied to the leads to avoid the system losing its memory. The battery has a quality look about it, and whole experience with them has been good.
Thank you all for such valuable guidance.
Best wishes,
Chris

[RichardSEL]

When in the Navy (left hand down a bit number one ) had to look after banks and banks of Pb-acid accumulators. Was taught that terminal volts don't tell a whole lot about battery condition. But specific gravity of the electrolyte, in the absence of a load test to determine AHC, does.
Should be between 1.170 discharged to 1.280 fully charged -- yet you can't even access the electrolyte in today's cells.
So just wondering what those Halfords battery tester thingies are. Sales assistant didn't seem to place the test leads on mine for very long -- but the contacts were chunky so assume it's some sort of current operated device.

[J44EAG]

A drop test unit is the way to go as here. Can`t comment on the "thingy" Halfords sell. The description is rather vague.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILVERLINE-CA ... 2405579518

Voltage gives an indication of PD state. (Potential Difference between _ve and +Ve terminals) On its own, it is only an indicator. Capacity is the crucial factor and does not help ascertain battery capacity. Batteries can die due to a combination of both faults which reduce voltage and capacity. Plate shorts or sulphatation reduce voltage and capacity. Only when you use as device as seen in the above link, can you see to what extent voltage plummets under high load and the speed at which voltage recovers. SG only serves to verify voltage at a particular temperature given that the correction adjustment is factored in.

Mike