Hi folks,

Well I had the AA man out today to "Jump" me as I had a dead battery after standing for a week...Its a new battery I had fitted last month. It reads more or less along the top "12V 110Ah 800A". When I got the battery I asked for a 110A battery. The AA man told me this battery is only a 80 and not a 110. I cannot remember the size of the old battery I removed to see if infact the garage has installed a battery which is smaller than the original. Could some one help me out and tell me if my 12V 110Ah 800A battery is too small? as the two figures (110Ah and 800a) are confusing me. Also look like the alternator is not keeping up with the current drain., and thats why my battery keeps dying : (

Thanks for any help folks. MY2010 TDV8 Vogue Ipanema Sand
2002 V8 Vogue Oslo Blue - Gone.

110Ah is the drain rating - it can supply 110 Amps for an hour, or 55 Amps for 2 hours, etc.

The 800A rating is the "cold cranking Amps" - it can supply a maximum of 800 Amps for starting the engine.

ideally you should have purchased a bosch type 020 which has 110amh and 920cca... ... - .- -.




Y. O. L. O.
.

Thanks for the reply's gents. Looks like I should have done my research so I knew exactly what battery to ask for. Never mind, ill see how I get on wih or once my alternator is fettled . MY2010 TDV8 Vogue Ipanema Sand
2002 V8 Vogue Oslo Blue - Gone.

Given that you have a petrol engine the battery you have is fine.
Your problem seems to be current drain or inadequate charging from alternator.
Both of these could relate to an alternator problem.
Have you ever had the engine earth strap connections cleaned? They could be responsible for a low charge rate due to corrosion.

Nice day for it,

With a clamp metre, the alternator does not seem to be increasing its output inline with the current drain, when I put all the heaters, lights on etc, there for the battery is loosing charge. This is pointing to an issue with the alternator as you pointed out...

The earth straps have never been cleaned. Do you think this could be anything to do with the suspected faulty alternator ? MY2010 TDV8 Vogue Ipanema Sand
2002 V8 Vogue Oslo Blue - Gone.

I would concentrate on the alternator first, when the engine is running with a full load it should still have sufficient output to charge the battery.
There is also a very remote possibilty you have a faulty battery.
Does the charge warning light come on when the engine is running?
The engine earth strap connections are part of the charging circuit for the alternator and generally because of their position the connections tend to suffer corrosion over the years with a result that they perform badly as electrical connections. ie high resistance = lower charging current.
As you car is 10 years old I would expect them to be in need of attention.
I've also seen cars where the earth strap falls to pieces when you touch them due to corrosion.
The best way to overcome this problem is to fit a substantial additional earth strap between the engine block and the battery -ve terminal.
I tend to fit them to an alternator mounting bolt where possible.
Never have any problem with starting or charging then.
Don't ask me where the earth strap is on a V8, I don't know, but it will be there, usually somewhere near the bottom of the engine.

Makes good sense.

I'll check the resistance between block / alternator and if its not so good ill hunt for the strap and clean it or renew as appropriate in order to bring the resistance down.

Thanks for the advice ; ) MY2010 TDV8 Vogue Ipanema Sand
2002 V8 Vogue Oslo Blue - Gone.

Have a look online for the pdf version of the L322 Workshop Manual. It has a section on starting and charging. The negative cable goes straight onto the body next to the battery. The positive splits off in one cable to the starter motor and one to the battery by the looks of it. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

What the diagram doesn't show, and they never do, is the earth connection between the body of the engine and the body of the car, which in turn is connected to the -ve terminal of the battery.
Without this earth strap the starter, alternator, glowplugs, spark plugs etc would not function.
An often neglected but very important item.