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What are the minimum battery requirements for a TR4? I have a Numax 42AH type 015 in the car @ the moment that has been in the car for at least 4 years but it struggled to start this morning despite being always trickle charged with a CTEK charger, so I think it may be on the way out! It is quite small which is an advantage but should I increase the size to say 45AH? Battery Megastore offer several options @ a good price for Varta or Bosch.

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I think you’ll find it isnt the AH but the CCA that is critical for our cars.

the AH rating is the overall capacity, the CCA is Cold Cranking Amps and a measure of how much power the battery can deliver when you need it most.

i dont know what the battery tray is like on a 4, on a 6 Halfords sell a solid range of batteries, ive had a Calcium HD battery in my car since dec 2012 and its never failed to start the car

 

steve

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Make sure that the position of the terminals suits your car, as there can be differences for dynamo (positive earth) and alternator (negative earth).  I have negative earth and have a MB096 from Halfords, rated as 640CCA, 70 Ah, and with 3-year guarantee.

When I had a problem with the battery on the Citroen, Halfords tested it, then replaced it without any demur.

Ian Cornish

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Thanks for your comments chaps. Looks like a 70ah & 630cca is the one to go for. Better value seems to be @ Battery Megastore rather than Halfords though, plus a delivery service for £7.50. Our nearest Halfords has no parking! 

 

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Out of interest what did your Ctek charger indicate? Did it show that it had reached a ‘floating’ charge which is L.E.D 8 I believe or was it well short of that? 

On my 4a I had TRouble starting. I removed and cleaned/service the starter motor and drastically reduced the CCA required from the battery and it cranked at twice the speed as before. Just a thought..

 

Kevin

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1 hour ago, boxofbits said:

Out of interest what did your Ctek charger indicate? Did it show that it had reached a ‘floating’ charge which is L.E.D 8 I believe or was it well short of that? 

On my 4a I had TRouble starting. I removed and cleaned/service the starter motor and drastically reduced the CCA required from the battery and it cranked at twice the speed as before. Just a thought..

 

Kevin

Hi Kevin, I took the car for a 30 mile run, connected back the CTEK & it only showed 4 LED's so I assumed the battery was on the way out. This morning after leaving the CTEK charging all night it was showing all the yellow LED's & 1 green, so not so bad. Today I have put a battery charger on to see what happens but my guess is a duff cell & new battery. Cheers.

 

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Hi Monty

symptoms could also be caused by under-charging from the alternator

i had similar on my 6, new alternator made a real difference

suggest you ‘drop test’ the battery is you ave a tester, and check the charge voltage accurately

steve

 

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Ps, which Ctec charger do you have?

they are good but the small ones are very low amperage and this may be why ot took all night to get up to a green light?

steve

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2 hours ago, Steves_TR6 said:

Ps, which Ctec charger do you have?

they are good but the small ones are very low amperage and this may be why ot took all night to get up to a green light?

steve

 

2 hours ago, Steves_TR6 said:

Ps, which Ctec charger do you have?

they are good but the small ones are very low amperage and this may be why ot took all night to get up to a green light?

steve

I have a MXS 3.8 which has been fine for the last couple of years but have just swopped it for the one I have on the other car to see if there is a difference. Had a conventional charger on for about 7 hours today & only got 5 orange LED's showing after that so not sure.

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Looking at the manual for your charger, bordom and the internet!, it seems that not progressing beyond lamp 5 indicates that the battery isnt holding charge :

i’d connect the charger to another car battery and see if the lights progress beyond 5, or just buy a new battery !

steve

CBF5CDCC-20FB-45B5-AFCD-7BD055EDD21F.png

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Just bought a new Varta Blue Dynamic G8 battery from Battery Megastore, just over £100 including VAT. This is the biggest battery that will fit in the available space. This replaces the same battery I’ve had for the last 8 years. I hadn’t used the car for 2 months and forgot to connect the ctec charger. Tried a normal charger but couldn’t revive it.

Nigel

 

Edited by Nigel A
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On 1/1/2019 at 11:55 PM, monty said:

it struggled to start this morning despite being always trickle charged with a CTEK charger

Crank it for a while and then carefully feel the battery cable connections at both ends plus the earth strap...if anything is warm or even hot (that's why I say "carefully") then that's a high resistance that's costing a few of your volts...and without volts on the starter no amount of CCA will help.

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+1 for the Varta Blue Dynamic G8. This is rated at 95 Ah, a consideration when still running a dynamo since it provides good reserve capacity. CCA is 830 and with a high torque starter and good connections this battery really whizzes the engine over. The G8 suits the TR4A. A TR4, if still positive earth, would need a different model with the terminals reversed.

Tim

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The Varta Blue Dynamic G7 would suit a +ve earth TR4. Other than the terminal arrangement this is identical to the G8 so ratings are the same.

Tim

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