battery top up

[guest805]

My car went in for it's service and the garage advised that I need a new battery (£80)
It is a FB brand battery and it has an indicator window :.

When it is ok it shows a red centre with a blue surround .
When it needs topping up it shows a red centre with a white surround .
When it needs charging it shows a white centre with a red surround .

The battery  seems slightly hesitant when it fires up  and the window shows up red and blue(ok) but the colours seem fainter than previous .

Is it ok to peel back the sticker , so that I can unscrew the  6 cross headed covers  and add distilled water?

[culzean]

You don't say how old your car is.  FB brand (Furukawa battery) is a Japanese made battery and was probably original equipment, so if your car is 4 years or older then you may well need a new battery.

You can normally peel back the stickers and top up the battery with distilled water, normally to about 10mm above the plates - don't put too much water in because you will dilute the electrolyte too much.

Whatever you do don't use tap water because the calcium and chemicals will kill your battery anyway.

[guest805]

Thanks. It is a 2002 CVT so maybe I have to bite the bullet and get a new one.

[Geoffers]

I had a Cortina that lasted 11 years on the original battery!
My previous car, an A Class Mercedes, lasted 9 years on the original battery!
It may have lasted longer, but I part-exed it against a Jazz.

Look after your battery and it will pay you back in spades!

[culzean]

There is one other thing that will prevent your battery from giving full power for starting the car, it is caused by corrosion of the positive (+) post connection to the cable clamp.  It never happens to the negative terminal.  It shows as a white fungus or blackening on the post and clamp and if you start the car and immediately put you hand onto the positive battery connection it may feel warm or even hot. You will have to take the clamp off and clean the terminal and connector with either wire wool or that green nylon scourer stuff. Put vaseline on the connection and bolt it up firmly (the vaseline seals the connection to stop it corroding again -  ONLY USE VASELINE OR PROPER ELECTRICAL TERMINAL GREASE, DO NOT USE NORMAL CAR GREASE BECAUSE IT WILL INSULATE THE CONNECTION ). It is also wise to check the connections of all heavy cables to battery, bodywork and engine as these can also cause 'voltage drop' in the starter circuit if they are not clean and tight - vaseline on those will be a good idea as well.

A problem with a bad battery or connection can be highlighted if you switch on your headlights and get someone to watch them as you start the car, they should go dimmer, but not completely dim out (the system voltage drops to 7 to 8 volts on starting in colder weather). Also, with the engine running at about 2000rpm check the battery voltage with a meter, it should by around 13.8 to 14.5 volts, if it is below 13.5 it may be alternator problem and will not reliably charge your battery. After a run in the car, leave the battery to stand for about an hour and then check voltage on terminals - a healthy battery should settle to about 12.5 volts, if it is less than 12 it shows battery is on the way out.

An interesting fact for anyone who had a car before about 1980 is that before that date you used to get cars with either the negative or positive side of the battery earthed to the car body, and radios had a switch to select for + or - connection. Now cars are universally negative earth and the reason why they were changed was that positive earthed cars suffered from bodywork corrosion much more than negative earthed.  That may explain why a lot of British cars used to rust away before your eyes.

[how2]

matizman I have the same battery as you and my battery has started playing up due to the cold weather. Therwe seems to be 2 original versions and OEM by Yuasa and the 054 version by Yuasa:

FURUKAWA (38B19L-MF)  - Part No.31500SAAE01 (31500-SAA-E02)
YUASA 38B19L-MF) - Part No31500SAAE02 (31500-SAA-E03)
Yuasa 44b19l(s) OEM JIS SPEC Jazz Battery
Yuasa 054(40B19L)

http://www.lingshondaparts.com/honda_car_parts_selection.php?block_01=17TM8A01&block_02=B__0600&block_03=19753

Of the original versions I think the Furukawa is better than the Yuasa. The Yuasa 44b19l(s) is much better than the 054. I have no Idea of the spec of the Original batteries in term of Capacity and Cold cranking performance. Does anyone know? I need to buy a battery.

[how2]

According to this website the Original Yuasa has a capacity of 48Ah

https://www.onlineveilingmeester.nl/nl/#!/veilingen/514/kavels/306

[chrisc]

You guys seem to get excellent service from your batteries, maybe it is the cooler weather.  The average life here seems to be 2-3 years, 4 if you are really fortunate.  Despite all the hype and advertising about technological improvement, batteries appear to last no longer than they did 20 years ago.

My good friend who runs an independant motor workshop has a simple reason for this - less lead.  He took a battery out a 1980 Land Rover that he is rebuilding for a customer.  This battery weighs 43 kg.  A new battery with the same spec for this car now weighs 31kg.  He then showed me the innards of a fairly new battery and there was very little difference between this and one 20 years old, except that the plates were thinner and there were sheets of plastic between the plates instead of paper.

But he also said it was possible to make a battery that will last 10 years.  He has some Delco batteries, made in the USA and said 10-12 years was quite possible.

[madasafish]

My Yaris D4D battery has just been replaced after 10 years

Son's 1.0Yaris is 11 years old and on its original battery.

Lead batteries today are OLD technology. Calcium or Calcium/silver or fibreglass plates are the way.. 

Almost all calcium batteries in UK come with 4 year warranties.

[culzean]

Lead batteries today are OLD technology. Calcium or Calcium/silver or fibreglass plates are the way.. 

Almost all calcium batteries in UK come with 4 year warranties.

I would love to see a lead acid battery or any battery with fibreglass plates, because last time I looked fibreglass was an insulator - some lead acid batteries (especially motorbike ones) use fibreglass matt to absorb the electrolyte (absorbed glass matt AGM technology) and stop it swilling around, some batteries (wheelchair and motorbike ones use gelled lead acid electrolyte so they don't leak if punctured)

Calcium, silver and whatever are just added in very small quantities to make different alloy mixes used in lead acid batteries (they are just developments to improve life and reduce water usage - that means less or no topping up) - the basic battery chemistry is the same as batteries made 100 years ago.

we are lucky that we don't get hot summers in this country, because hot weather kills batteries and then cold weather finds out they are indeed dead.   Lead acid, although not having the energy density of say lithium-ion or Ni-Cad batteries is a lot more reliable, with a well known and gradual self-discharge (about 2% a month) and very slow but sure failure mechanism. You can tell state of charge exactly by just testing specific gravity of the electrolyte with a hydrometer (some sealed ones have a sort of hydrometer built in  in the form of a little coloured ball that you can see through the round window in the top of the battery).

Don't knock the lead acid battery, it is rugged, reliable and relatively cheap and can be recycled very easily.

[chrisc]

You need a separator between the plates, whether it is some treated paper or fibreglass, or sheets of PVC does not make much difference, as long as it does not deteriorate.

Silver / Calcium are just additives which are added to the lead to make it more conductive, so thinner sheets can be used without compromising the current capabilities of the battery (you need upwards of 25 amps when starting a motor).   My motor mechanic friend showed me an advert from a 1929 motor magazine for Silverlight car batteries which said they contained silver.

I have used sealed lead-acid batteries in alarm systems for many years.  There are good makes (Yuasa) and rubbish makes (Topin).  My record for an alarm battery is 15 years, it was a US made PowerSonic which was fitted in 1995 and only needed replacement in 2010.  These have a jelly inside the the electrolyte which is recirculated by means of valves and are generally reliable.  You can discharge them down to 10.5 volts and they will recover.

There is a backyard recycler near me that accepts all types of lead-acid batteries, chops them up to recover the lead and melts down the PVC casings to make adhesive additive for road repairs.  Although it looks like a dodgy operation, it won a UNESCO good business award for efficient recycling a few years back

[olduser1]

Ebay item 281064525212 has Jazz Battery up now for just £43.00
worth a look ?

[madasafish]

Look on GSF  was 15% discount last I saw.

[chrisc]

I used to buy parts from GSF when I was in England.  Do they do batteries now?  Was free delivery, which often made it worthwhile.

£45 is not bad for a battery.  Are there delivery charges from the eBay supplier?

[olduser1]

The auction states Free P&P to UK