Recommended Battery?

[73P5B]

Hi guys,

The 4 yr old Land Rover battery which I used for my P5B has died on me! I don't think it was up to the job...

Is there a recommended heavy duty battery to work for a P5B?

Can anyone post any links on where I can buy one?

Much appreciated,
73P5B

[Phil Nottingham]

???A Land Rover battery should be easily up to the job

Modern batteries are much smaller than the carrier now but I have used various types which are more than adequate eg 074 Std 089 HD , 067, 069, 065, 072. Durastart D56

The main pointers are the terminal arrangements, and the height.

If you want a classic battery type or a special then Lincoln Batteries will supply at a price

[73P5B]

Many thanks for that. I will see what I can find locally on that list and get her back on the road for the Summer.

[Neal London]

I am not sure what part of the country you are based - but if you are S. East or London area I can recommend Bush Batteries Ltd - they also offer a mail order service - but I am not sure of the price for this.

They sorted a battery for my P5b and it has been excellent and approx £60 the website is myweb.tiscali.co.uk/batterymain/
- good luck

[stantondavies]

I fitted (to 3litre) a Samson battery on 2 September 1999 and have had no trouble until last Autumn when it went flat. It recharged OK, the first time it had been on a charger. But yesterday I had trouble starting the car from hot, a problem I have linked to a weak battery in the past.
I will run a battery of tests on it (pun intended), but despite these batteries having a lifetime guarantee, they must give up at some stage. Has anyone had to claim under the guarantee and how did you get on?

[PatMcCoy]

I bought a new battery last year
I shop a few places and got a bosh
4 year guarantee from German and Swedish £70.00 ish
Its the biggest one they sell and has a little more cranking power
As its got a battery box no one will ever see it

[dorsetflyer]

Peter, I think you may have a problem with the so called life-time warranty.
This was covered a long time ago on the the old board.
Try by all means, but it appears that if the car is not listed on their charts for that battery then they will not honour the warranty.
Like the insurance companies if there is a way of getting out of compensation they will take that route.
Good luck anyway, and I hope you have success.

[Deleted]

I,ve had the same battery in the Rover for 4 years and had no problems as it was brand new when I bought the car.I,ve only covered about 3k in 4 years as the car is not out after Oct until Apr.
My question is this: Is it possible for my battery to pack up with having such small usage( I start it up a few times over the winter and let it run).The reason I ask Is that I much prefer to change things before they go!

Or could this battery go for years?

[Phil Nottingham]

Yes they will go - modern batteries I have found no longer fade away they just stop dead!

[johnwp5bcoupe]

The best thing for a lead acid battery is to use a smart Trickle Charger, flat then heavy charging is not the ideal life being stored flat in the cold weather "enhances" the "death" of the lead acid battery if it was a Nicad that would an ideal life the flat charge cycle no memory effect with a lead acid just dies

[Deleted]

I use a battery conditioner on my P5B and have just changed my battery - the last one was fiited by me and lasted 10 years.

Proof that the conditioner chargers do work and enhance the battery life.

Cheers

Freddy

[10mpg]

There seems to be a lot of rot talked about battery size, the only cars I have had (and i have had well over 50 odd cars) that NEED a huge battery are large diesel engines due to their high compression, my daily drive Passat TDi estate has a battery bigger than any i have seen in a familly car..

I have used a battery (when i have been in a pinch) from a 1.4 Citroen BX in a Jaguar XJ12 5.3 this i fitted in an emergency and it worked fine so it stayed and proved 100% reliable for over a year till I sold the car.

I have also in the last few months nicked a tiny battery out of a vintage Austin 7 and used it to power my 4.6 litre Range Rover HSE which it does fine and it has started without fail even in the coldest of weather and has powered the electric seats, aircon, heated front/rear screens and 300watt stereo, it still seems to be working fine even doing the very short journies into town (<5miles) which the Rangie gets used for..

The worst thing in my experience that any battery can do is sit idle for weeks on end with low charge in them, i find if you keep 'em used regulary and brim full of charge you rarely have a problem.

If your car is properly set up and in good condition it should start first turn of the key after a few revolutions anyway, if you are having to crank it over for hours to get it to go something is amiss anyway and should be fixed...

[Phil Nottingham]

V8's left for days that still have the old mechanical pump can require a lot of churning - small batteries can be overworked in these circumstances. Over the years talking to others I think instant starting with P5B's is not the usual - perhaps it is just down to lack of use?

[dorsetflyer]

I think it's a case of each to his own ref the battery life.
Yesterday afternoon I decided to pull my Marina van out of storage. It has sat there since last August filled with Rover P5 spares, and after an initial turn over to get the petrol up it fired first time and ran perfectly. I have no idea how old the battery is other than that it's 'Ducellier' , a make I have not come across before.

[basilbadger]

The general recommendation for choosing batteries is to get the heaviest battery that will fit.
The more lead there is in it, the better.

They do look at you strangely, when you ask the weight, tough

All the best,
Henrik

[10mpg]

I have experience of using sealed 'dry' batteries on race cars at work and for their size and weight they are immensly powerfull we have one that is 10"/4"/6" which easilly starts a vintage high compression 2 litre racing engine..

Also I have experienced the Optima red top www.optimabatteries.com/publish/optima/europe/en/config/product_info/automotive.html
and found them pretty amazing starting cars very quickly with full cranking speed even after sittting connected all winter, a situtaion where most standard lead-acid types would be left flailing..

In short i would buy the battery with the highest CCA (cold cranking amps) and AH's (amp hours) that you can fit in the available space then you should never be left without power when you need it most, also buy from a good brand I always buy Varta or Bosch if at all possible but on the rare occasion when i have been forced to buy a battery on a Sunday afternoon i have been quite impressed with the Halfords ones too.

Also when it is not in use use an Optimser ('intelligent' trickle charger) which should ensure you battery is brimmed and ready to go at all times..

www.optimate-sp.com/ Like this one the sell for about £30-50 it will pay for itself as your batteries will last many times longer and the good ones can even rescue failing batteries.

[RichardF]

I agree with 10mpg. From experience, I purchased the largest battery I could fit in and cost me about £80 if I remember correctly. It naturally made quite a difference to engine cranking, slowing indicators etc. I improved on this by cleaning all my earth points up and even added another one from the battery to a separate location in the boot. Added to this was a thicker +ve cable to the engine compartment to alleviate any voltage drop. The difference is quite dramatic.
Richard
Southampton