Battery Replacement

[formulared]

I need to get a new battery for my Griff 500, however I have been asked what the cold charge draw capacity is. Does any body have this info please?

[mongoose]

Ideally you need a minimum of 600CCA i believe.I've never been sure if this is in din or sae or whatever

[nicbowman]

Get the biggest they have, 600 amps plus.


Nic

[formulared]

Thanks chaps I will take this info down to the battery sales bloke and hopefully get the beast back on the road

[v8griff]

Are you planning to change the battery yourself?

If you are, beware, its a pig of a job. It took me 6 hours (lying on my stomach in the pasenger footwell) to remove and replace the battery.

The year of you car will determine the battery arrangment(mine's a April 94).

Good luck!

[spend]

Its well worth the hassle converting to the later battery box just for the convenience of getting at the battery & fuse box. Into the bargain you can chop out that silly step that fouls the wheelarch (hence the odd early tyre spec)

Dave

[richb]

v8griff said:

Are you planning to change the battery yourself? If you are, beware, its a pig of a job. It took me 6 hours

Not being funny but it certainly shouldn't take more than an hour max. Surely it's just a case of removing the two securing bolts that screw up into the battery box from under the floor, removing the two power leads and sliding the battery box out of the car. Replacement is the reverse procedure as they say.

[spend]

richb said:

v8griff said:

Are you planning to change the battery yourself? If you are, beware, its a pig of a job. It took me 6 hours

Not being funny but it certainly shouldn't take more than an hour max. Surely it's just a case of removing the two securing bolts that screw up into the battery box from under the floor, removing the two power leads and sliding the battery box out of the car. Replacement is the reverse procedure as they say.

I think it would take you an eternity to find the 2 bolts under the floor on an early car :-)

Dave

[victormeldrew]

richb said:

v8griff said:

Are you planning to change the battery yourself? If you are, beware, its a pig of a job. It took me 6 hours

Not being funny but it certainly shouldn't take more than an hour max. Surely it's just a case of removing the two securing bolts that screw up into the battery box from under the floor, removing the two power leads and sliding the battery box out of the car. Replacement is the reverse procedure as they say.

Just a case of ... ah, then one of the bolts will spin as the captive nut tears out of the fibreglass. You'll resort to an angle grinder, then when you eventually get the remains of the bolt out and free the battery box you'll find a dirty great hole ripped in the bottom of it. Off to Halfords for a glassfibre repair kit, and reacquaint yourself with the smell of resin as you rebuild the box floor and glass in a new captive nut. Forget how much heat curing resin gives off and burn your fingers on the leftovers. Wait hours for the resin to cure - you can spend the time picking the resin off your fingers. Discover that the new battery is subtly different from the old one and spend a little time trimming plastic off its case so it will fit. If you have an sense at this point you will trim down the front of the battery box to allow battery removal with the box in situ in future. Finally the box goes back in, along with the new battery, and you can hook it up.

Yeah, an hour should do it.

[antonyj]

Never understood this, first time I took my battery out,I was expecting hassle.
But its so bloody easy its untrue.
And as you can see my griff is quite an early one.

Edited by antonyj on Tuesday 5th December 18:47

[Griffter]

antonyj said:

Never understood this, first time I took my battery out,I was expecting hassle.
But its so bloody easy its untrue.
And as you can see my griff is quite an early one.

Edited by antonyj on Tuesday 5th December 18:47

Mine too - it's 5mins each way max!

Mine's a Feb '92 car but no 'wheel arch step' or hidden battery box bolts.

[MF68]

Griffter said:

antonyj said:

Never understood this, first time I took my battery out,I was expecting hassle.
But its so bloody easy its untrue.
And as you can see my griff is quite an early one.

Edited by antonyj on Tuesday 5th December 18:47

Mine too - it's 5mins each way max!

Mine's a Feb '92 car but no 'wheel arch step' or hidden battery box bolts.

same here 93 griff about 5 mins, done it so many times now it could almost do it blindfolded
martin
edited to say if there is not a marker pen line on the floor where the box should be ....draw one along the edge of the box before you take it out .........
will make it so much easier to put back in

Edited by MF68 on Wednesday 6th December 08:46

[richb]

spend said:

richb said:

v8griff said:

Are you planning to change the battery yourself? If you are, beware, its a pig of a job. It took me 6 hours

Not being funny but it certainly shouldn't take more than an hour max. Surely it's just a case of removing the two securing bolts that screw up into the battery box from under the floor, removing the two power leads and sliding the battery box out of the car. Replacement is the reverse procedure as they say.

I think it would take you an eternity to find the 2 bolts under the floor on an early car :-)

Dave

Formulared's car appears to be a Griff 500 which is what I based my comment on.

[tvrgaas]

MF68 said:

edited to say if there is not a marker pen line on the floor where the box should be ....draw one along the edge of the box before you take it out .........

And if you forget , use the [B]empty[/B] battery box and dowel/pencil to realign box, rebolt down, and then draw a line.

Oh and if it's the first time, one needs to drill out the rivets holding on the lid (500SE) and reapply sealant on bolts underneath afterwards. Basically follow the details in SHpub's Bible.