David Jenkins
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| posted on 19/11/04 at 08:50 AM |
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Battery capacity
As I said in a recent topic, I had trouble starting my car last Saturday, when the engine was stone cold and the battery maybe wasn't 100%
charged.
I think that another aspect of this is the capacity of my battery, which may be too much of a wimp under these conditions. Trouble is, these
batteries have 2 rating values - normal Ampere-hour, and the current it can provide in 5 or 10 second bursts for starting. Now the Haynes Book of Lies
for the Escort only says 45A/h, which is what I've got, but says nothing about the second rating. Mine is 250A, but I have a suspicion that the
correct battery has a rating of around 350A.
So my question is aimed at anyone who either (a) knows the correct rating, or (b) has an original/correct Escort Mk2 1600 battery, and can tell me
what it should be.
Ta muchly,
David
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DaveFJ
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| posted on 19/11/04 at 09:13 AM |
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is the correct battery listed in those little refernce tables you find near the spares in Halfrauds ?
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 19/11/04 at 09:44 AM |
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I try not to get too close those dodgy places! 
Any road up, I don't want a standard Ford-fitting battery, as I prefer round pegs instead of bolt-on terminals.
DJ
[Edited on 19/11/04 by David Jenkins]
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stephen_gusterson
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| posted on 19/11/04 at 10:23 AM |
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i think that there are 'grades' of battery, even if they are same size. cheaper ones have a lower starting capacity.
Is there a chance that your engine is tight due to rebore, etc, thats making the situation worse?
atb
steve
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timf
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| posted on 19/11/04 at 10:28 AM |
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make the battery a jacket from loft insulation. no i'm not joking, you used to be able to buy them
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Peteff
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| posted on 19/11/04 at 11:04 AM |
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Yes...
And a little woolly hat and some bootees and take it a mug of coacoa at bedtime. You can tell the difference between the cheaper and dearer batteries
by picking them up, the weight is a giveaway. At the local parts shop a heavy duty Mini battery is actually smaller in dimension than the cheaper
version of the same but weighs a lot more.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 19/11/04 at 11:22 AM |
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I've finally found a manufacturer's technical info site (Exide) - buggerit.
Standard fitting is 45A/H, 370A starting (450 if you buy their high-efficiency version).
Maybe I need to go shopping...
David
Late update: the rating I was trying to describe is CCA - Cold Cranking Amps.
[Edited on 19/11/04 by David Jenkins]
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DaveFJ
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| posted on 19/11/04 at 08:57 PM |
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Had a look in halfrauds for you tonight.
they have a grading system with amps over amp hours or something like that.
anyway they recommend for an escort mk 1/2
a
500
80
or for heavy duty
650
110
HTH
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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indykid
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| posted on 20/11/04 at 08:31 PM |
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110 Ah??
how much? the biggest leisure battery we do is 110Ah, about 18" by 9"
david's ratings seem a lot more likely/plausible.
you havent been contact adhesiving have you proto?
tom
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 20/11/04 at 08:47 PM |
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I bit the bullet and bought the correct battery for a 1600 Escort - well, a heavy-duty version, anyway.
It's 75Ah / 400A CCA, which should be a bit more lively on the cold mornings!
rgds,
David
P.S. Dave - that 110A one wasn't for a diesel was it? They're a lot bigger.
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splitrivet
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| posted on 20/11/04 at 11:08 PM |
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I read your first post David but never saw your last I was going to say are you sure its not a leaky diode in your alternator thats killing your
battery.
But as youve already got one its a bit late, hope it cures your problem.
Cheers,
Bob
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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DaveFJ
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| posted on 20/11/04 at 11:33 PM |
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only repeating the info printed on the tops of the battery's that are listed in the halfrauds booklet.....
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 21/11/04 at 01:20 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
I read your first post David but never saw your last I was going to say are you sure its not a leaky diode in your alternator thats killing your
battery.
No worries Bob,
When the weather's warmer the battery's more than enough to spin it over - it just gave up when the engine was stone cold.
rgds,
David
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 21/11/04 at 08:44 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by timf
make the battery a jacket from loft insulation. no i'm not joking, you used to be able to buy them
Mondeo's & Omega's have them as standard, just visit your freindly breaker & they cost - not a lot.
Enjoy. 62 days & counting.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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kaymar
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| posted on 22/11/04 at 09:58 PM |
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battery jackets? not sure think these are only for gm/ford slow charge batteries which gas of much less than youre normal battery, best ones to go
for are japanese type last not years but decades regards martin
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britishtrident
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| posted on 2/12/04 at 04:23 PM |
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Cold starting on 60s and 70s Fords always was a problem, battery size wasn't the problem Hillmans Hunters and Marinas had bigger engines used
the same battery (but with post fiitings) and a similar starter motor without problem.
What oil are you using 20w/50 is as thick as treacle when cold if this is the case switch to a 10w/40 or better still 5w/40 or 0w/40 it makes a
big difference.
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DaveFJ
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| posted on 2/12/04 at 04:26 PM |
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I thought the 'thicker' oil was essential with crossflow's ?
and after all the hassle Dave has had with his oil pressure I doubt he would want to mess with it anyway!
Dave
"In Support of Help the Heroes" - Always
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 2/12/04 at 04:49 PM |
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NO NO NO NO!
As Dave rightly said, I've had oil problems and I'm not going there again!
20W50 is the right oil for this old engine, so I ain't changing. It's working OK, and I get heaps of oil pressure at whatever revs the
engine is doing.
No, my starting problem was almost certainly due to a battery that was too small. The cold engine (yes, and cold oil) gave enough opposition to stall
the starter, and the battery couldn't give the extra current. I'm sure that my problem with a loose alternator and thus a slack belt
didn't help, either!
Mind you, I have a small bottle of 600W oil in the garage - would that help?
rgds,
David
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britishtrident
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| posted on 2/12/04 at 06:16 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
NO NO NO NO!
As Dave rightly said, I've had oil problems and I'm not going there again!
20W50 is the right oil for this old engine, so I ain't changing. It's working OK, and I get heaps of oil pressure at whatever revs the
engine is doing.
No, my starting problem was almost certainly due to a battery that was too small. The cold engine (yes, and cold oil) gave enough opposition to stall
the starter, and the battery couldn't give the extra current. I'm sure that my problem with a loose alternator and thus a slack belt
didn't help, either!
Mind you, I have a small bottle of 600W oil in the garage - would that help?
rgds,
David
The battery fitted to 1600 Fords under the old number system was 933 not a large battery but sufficient for the size of the engine. Fitting
bigger batteries dosen't work it was tried --- the MK2 Cortina could easily be fitted with the much bigger battery intened for Mk4 Zodiac .
The problem lies else where.
Many years ago in freezing conditions to get a car started I once fitted an equivalent battery with posts (to be exact a budget range 931 Mini
battery) to Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. It cold started the 6.7 litre Rolls which had be lying up for a couple months without blinking and the car
continued to run quite happily with it for a couple years.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 2/12/04 at 07:18 PM |
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Don't forget that I haven't fitted a "too big" battery - just a "right size" or "as specified"
battery.
DJ
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 12/12/04 at 02:00 PM |
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Very late update
Started the car for the first time since putting a 'right-size' battery in - engine turned over without trouble, even though it was REALLY
cold yesterday. After a few cranks to get the petrol flowing the engine started without problem.
So, to summarise, having the correct size battery and keeping it properly charged with a trickle/maintenance charger, are the ways to ensure that the
car will start in the depths of winter (well, teperature at or around zero, anyway).
cheers,
David
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