TVR Tamora Battery Replacement
Discussion
To help anyone wishing to change the battery on their Tamora.
After having charging problems on my car, I decided to remove the battery for further inspection.
I found the battery to be in a poor state and not holding charge any longer (not surprising since it was the original battery).
Found a heavy duty VARTA E24 (Type 069) battery to be the same size as the original (L=260, W=173, H=225) with 630CCA rating and 70Ah charging rate, retails approximately £65.
Also found the Anderson connector to be heavily corroded & cracked, so this was replaced (ebay item) and also the two drainage tubes had gone brittle and literally fell of, so bought some replacement 8mm tubing from B&Q (1m max to do both tubes).
When re-installing, ensure the drainage tubing is 'P' clipped back out of the way of the battery, otheriwse is likely to come off again during battery re-installation (see 2nd photo). Also good opportunity to install the wiring for a trickle charger at the same time (if required).
Also because the battery fixing lugs were slightly different, so I had to fabricate a bracket that clamped the battery in place - 2 lengths of 6mm threaded bar, a length of plating (all wrapped in insulation tape)and nuts and bolts did the job nicely.
Note: If you undo the negative terminals that fix to the bolt that through the footwell bulkhead (see top left of 2nd photo), you may loosen the connections on the other side of the bolt within the passenger footwell. These provide all the internal earthing connections to the the alarm, ecu and dasboard electrics. If you cause a floating earth you will get some very strange electrical issues (as I did), such as random/eratic dasboard readings, non-functioning alarm system...so beware. Always ensure that both sides of this bolt both within the car and within the battery compartment are fully tightened.
Or in my case provide a proper earthing bar for all the negative connections within the passenger footwell.
Hope this helps.....
After having charging problems on my car, I decided to remove the battery for further inspection.
I found the battery to be in a poor state and not holding charge any longer (not surprising since it was the original battery).
Found a heavy duty VARTA E24 (Type 069) battery to be the same size as the original (L=260, W=173, H=225) with 630CCA rating and 70Ah charging rate, retails approximately £65.
Also found the Anderson connector to be heavily corroded & cracked, so this was replaced (ebay item) and also the two drainage tubes had gone brittle and literally fell of, so bought some replacement 8mm tubing from B&Q (1m max to do both tubes).
When re-installing, ensure the drainage tubing is 'P' clipped back out of the way of the battery, otheriwse is likely to come off again during battery re-installation (see 2nd photo). Also good opportunity to install the wiring for a trickle charger at the same time (if required).
Also because the battery fixing lugs were slightly different, so I had to fabricate a bracket that clamped the battery in place - 2 lengths of 6mm threaded bar, a length of plating (all wrapped in insulation tape)and nuts and bolts did the job nicely.
Note: If you undo the negative terminals that fix to the bolt that through the footwell bulkhead (see top left of 2nd photo), you may loosen the connections on the other side of the bolt within the passenger footwell. These provide all the internal earthing connections to the the alarm, ecu and dasboard electrics. If you cause a floating earth you will get some very strange electrical issues (as I did), such as random/eratic dasboard readings, non-functioning alarm system...so beware. Always ensure that both sides of this bolt both within the car and within the battery compartment are fully tightened.
Or in my case provide a proper earthing bar for all the negative connections within the passenger footwell.
Hope this helps.....
jboot said:
When re-installing, ensure the drainage tubing is 'P' clipped back out of the way of the battery, otheriwse is likely to come off again during battery re-installation (see 2nd photo). ....
Can you shed any light on how you re-placed the brittle drainage tubing coming down into the battery tray from, what i am guessing is the heater matrix? Have you enlarged the hole it passes through into the battery tray? Did you refit the pipe from that hole OR did you have to remove the cover to the heater matrix etc and work from above (ie from the engine bay)?Gassing Station | Tamora, T350 & Sagaris | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff