Understanding battery healt check

Admittedly, I keep my car usage to a minimum but my battery had to be jumpstarted yesterday having done it before about 12-18 months ago.

I've took it for a free check and it says my battery needs to be replaced but my alternator is fine.

Help understanding the battery check slip would be appreciated as my quick Googling suggests my voltage, for example, is just okay? I could be wrong.

Also any good sites to look at for a new battery as I will probably not accept their £99.75 offer for battery and installation and get a garage to put it in.

Thank you

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Reply 1

TomServo

If you have any car stores near you, you can give them your battery for a discount on the new one. They will recycle your battery for free, whilst giving you a discount on the new one. That would be the best buy. Also, the brand of battery doesn't matter, just as long as it works. It is very easy to install, too. All you have to do is unconnect the red and black wire,(if your car has different colors) or negative and positive sign connectors. Then you have to unbolt the battery from its holding pan, and set the new battery in. Then reconnect the connectors, and voila! you got a new battery in your car. Be very careful not to touch the batteries 2 metal things with a piece of metal or wrench. It could electracute you. Hope this helped.

Reply 2

Nuffles

Holy crap ignore TomServo.

You need a new battery because while the voltage is ok at 12.28V resting, it's dropping to 10.5V under load and dipped as low as 7.2V which is absolutely no good. Your battery is rated at 540CCA (cold cranking amps) but only managed 343CCA on test.

Your battery is toast.

In terms of your replacement battery - brands do matter. They make the difference between the battery lasting a year or two, and lasting six or seven years. The only place I buy batteries from now is the Tayna website. Very cheap and your battery is delivered to your door in 1-2 working days. I have a diesel car so it needs a pretty phat battery. I ordered one of the best 096 sized Bosch batteries available on the Tayna website and it set me back less than 90 quid delivered.

Ease of fitting the battery depends on your car. If its easily accessible under the bonnet then you can do it in 10 minutes with usually a 10mm wrench and a 13mm wrench. First undo the bracket that holds the battery down. Loosen the negative terminal cable first and remove, tuck the cable out of the way so it can't touch the battery terminal. Then loosen and remove the positive. Remove the battery and fit the new one. Attach and tighten the positive terminal, then the negative. Job done.

Bear in mind that if your car has stop-start technology (the engine stops when you pull up to traffic lights, then starts up again once you put the clutch down) then the battery will cost two to three times as much, and the car will most likely need recoding with a scan tool to tell the car a new battery has been installed.

Reply 3

IWMTom

Original post by Nuffles

Bear in mind that if your car has stop-start technology (the engine stops when you pull up to traffic lights, then starts up again once you put the clutch down) then the battery will cost two to three times as much, and the car will most likely need recoding with a scan tool to tell the car a new battery has been installed.

This. Any recent VAG vehicle has a battery monitoring system that needs to be adapted. I believe most recent BMWs are the same.

Also +1 for Tayna. I got a top spec Bosch AGM for £140.

Understanding battery healt check

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