Tuscan Batteries
Discussion
Chaps, would welcome your thoughts.... Acquired my Mk1 Tuscan a couple of months ago, and the smile just gets bigger.....! Last weekend, after a couple of cold starts, and stupidly not connecting the trickle charger, and leaving an interior light on, the battery was flat the following day. Started it with jump leads, but two quick questions? First I have a 'battery box' charger from Halfords, that fully charged just didn't have enough power to turn the engine over. Are there any better, industrial type units that might be worth trying..... ? Second is it worth changing or getting a battery upgrade. The last owner put a 072 3YR unit, ex ATS on the car four years ago, since which the car has covered 1500 miles only with little use...Thanks, Ian
Car battery as a real hard life in the Tuscan, with it been next to the exhaust manifolds. So I think this reduces the life of the battery due to heat.
The battery I have fitted is a 086 / 096R. This as a larger cold cranking capacity than the 072. Dimensions are 278mm L, 175mm W, 190mm H.
It's probably worth getting the battery tested, but with it been 4 years old, it's probably getting a bit tired, letting the battery go flat doesn't help this can damage the battery.
The battery I have fitted is a 086 / 096R. This as a larger cold cranking capacity than the 072. Dimensions are 278mm L, 175mm W, 190mm H.
It's probably worth getting the battery tested, but with it been 4 years old, it's probably getting a bit tired, letting the battery go flat doesn't help this can damage the battery.
I fitted an 027 - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282331531735 This seller often discounts them - I paid £52.99 delivered in March this year (currently £69.04). If you search Pistonheads, you'll find many Tuscan Mk1 owners that have fitted many different batteries, all that fit the Tuscan. This was the best one for me as mentioned on MrChips' battery thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Worth a look at www.tanya.co.uk as their prices are usually pretty good.
After a battery died on me in the midst of a journey, the AA have been excellent in working with me to source the correct battery. Fair to say whats online is very confusing with apparently everything being used from 072, 086, 096R and some 100's. It was only after exactly measuring the dimensions that we got there.
After trying a number of 072 batteries (all seemingly too large), we have successfully fitted and tried (with some small elements of securing in the battery tray), the following battery; a top quality 069 sized Bosch unit which should hopefully last the test of time. Hope this helps if anyone else having the same issue.
BOSCH S4 BATTERY 069 70AH 630CCA L260 x W173 x H225 1/1 B1
After trying a number of 072 batteries (all seemingly too large), we have successfully fitted and tried (with some small elements of securing in the battery tray), the following battery; a top quality 069 sized Bosch unit which should hopefully last the test of time. Hope this helps if anyone else having the same issue.
BOSCH S4 BATTERY 069 70AH 630CCA L260 x W173 x H225 1/1 B1
Just resurrecting this post as I am looking for a battery for my 2003 mk 1 tuscan. Will either get the Bosch or an Optima Red Top. However I see that the Red Top only has a capacity of 50 amp hours - despite its Cold cranking of 800+. All the other batteries usually seem to have a capacity of 70 Ah or so. is this low AH in fact a disadvantage with the Red Top in use ??
Many thanks for any replies.
Many thanks for any replies.
Replaced the battery earlier in the year with an Optima Red. Got to say that so far, I've found it way better than the one it replaced. There's so much more power on turnover and there's no drain on the battery when things get hot, which they often do! Easy to fit. Switched my trickle charger off by mistake, for nearly a month, with the alarm on and its started up first time. Expensive, but well worth it.
The Busman said:
Chaps .Thank you so much for the feedback. I suspect the car was stored and had a number of jump starts weakening the battery. Will sort this weekend and advice re type and best prices really appreciated. Thanks Ian
Jump starting will kill a lead acid battery is short order!It's not the jump start itself that damages the battery, it's your alternator, what happens is immediately after the jump start the alternator will try to charge the fully discharged battery as quickly as it can, this is brutal and completely the reverse of how you should treat a fully discharged lead acid battery.
For this reason a jump start should only be considered an emergency solution to get you home, if you do resort to the jump start you need to accept it will likely be followed by the need to replace the battery within weeks or even days after you executed the jump start, you may get away with it once or twice but the truth is the writing is already on the wall for your battery even after just one jump start.
Unless you are genuinely in an emergency situation and need to get yourself home avoid the jump start solution at all costs, the way to recover a lead acid battery is to do it slowly, the key words being 'Slow & Gentle'. While it will perform the task, strictly speaking an alternator and the regulator that governs its output are not designed to charge a fully discharged battery, a vehicles on board charging system is there to maintain the fully charged condition of the battery only.
Back in the day before sophisticated battery chargers if we were trying to recover a heavily discharged lead acid battery we would put a load on the battery while charging it, a fog light bulb linked between the battery terminals was used and served to slow the charging process sufficiently to dramatically increase the probability of successfully recovering the battery. Crack the caps and fill if it's not a sealed battery, leave the caps cracked to vent the hydrogen produced during the charging process, fit the bulb rig to load the battery and run the charger on its lowest amp setting completing the process in 6 hour sessions (6hrs charge, 6hrs rest, 6hrs back on charge).
Three but sometimes four 6hr charge sessions for a total charge time of 24hrs are usually sufficient, but you must load the battery and observe the 6hr rest periods between charging sessions for the process to recovery the battery correctly. Using this method I've saved literally hundreds of batteries removed from scrap cars that haven't turned a wheel for many months and often years, sealed batteries are less successful but ancient and seemingly completely unrecoverable fillable batteries can be brought back to life to go on to give years of service if you follow the principle of 'Slow & Gentle'.
These days modern microprocessor controlled battery chargers run very sophisticated analytics on the battery before applying the appropriate charging algorithm which is essentially a more sophisticated and fully automatic version of what we were doing years ago.
if you do need a new battery I recommend buying one with the newer AGM technology (absorbed glass mat) as these are far more tolerant of the dreaded heavy discharge condition. A good quality AGM battery kept in a healthy state of charge should easily last you 12 years, I fitted an Odyssey 25-PC1500 to my Chimaera almost 8 years ago when my PH name was Chimpandtonic.... and I fully expect a further 7-8 years out of it so 16 years service in total and quite likely 20 years.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Buy a quality AGM battery, keep it on a 13.6 - 13.8v float charge using a decent modern microprocessor controlled AGM charger, never jump start the car and avoid all fully discharged situations, like this and assuming you don't have any serious parasitic drains (common on TVRs) you shouldn't need to buy another battery for a good 12 years.
Guys, a bit of advice needed
I received my new red top in the post today, I haven't had a chance to get to fitting it yet but I know it will be a little small. What is the best method for strapping it down? I can't visualise how to attach it and wondered if there were any off the shelf solutions?
Thanks
I received my new red top in the post today, I haven't had a chance to get to fitting it yet but I know it will be a little small. What is the best method for strapping it down? I can't visualise how to attach it and wondered if there were any off the shelf solutions?
Thanks
I don't know the exact battery arrangements on a Tuscan. However, you can buy generic battery holders from flea bay. Maybe buy one of these and use the parts to modify the existing arrangement? Even a webbing strap is sufficient if it is tight and well secured so that in the event of an accident the battery stays in the same place.
I echo the comments by Chimp on Gas about charging and battery care.
When buying a new battery I always measure to see what the largest battery dimensions I can get away with are and then compare the Cold Cranking Amps and capacity (Amp hours) for any battery that will fit. All but one of my cars is running an Odyssey or an Optima so those would be the two companies to go to initially. Not cheap, but they do last and they do have plenty of capacity. When the car has sat for ages, or a light has been left on, or it has done loads of cranking due to another unrelated non start issue, there is no substitute for a decent battery.
I echo the comments by Chimp on Gas about charging and battery care.
When buying a new battery I always measure to see what the largest battery dimensions I can get away with are and then compare the Cold Cranking Amps and capacity (Amp hours) for any battery that will fit. All but one of my cars is running an Odyssey or an Optima so those would be the two companies to go to initially. Not cheap, but they do last and they do have plenty of capacity. When the car has sat for ages, or a light has been left on, or it has done loads of cranking due to another unrelated non start issue, there is no substitute for a decent battery.
I haven't had a proper look yet but I assume the layout is a tray in the chassis, whether that tray is solid or loose I don't know. I assume solid? I was planning on a webbing strap wrapped around the battery and then under the tray and tightened down as tight as I can, I guess that would be ok?
sorry but just want to be clear as many people have said that but I'm not clear if the strap goes around the battery and the Ali plate and then the Ali plate is still bolted down, or if the battery sits on top of the Ali plate, and then the strap goes around the battery and underneath the outer tubing of the chassis, does that make sense?
Its a lot easier if you actually look at the install. Should be space to wrap the strap round the battery and the chassis tubes in both directions. If you get a nylon strap and buckle then there's no issue with shorting the battery. I'd fit two nylon ones in a cross shape. Test fit the cover panel before doing the wiring.
At the same time you might want to;
renew the cover fixings in stainless.
swap the 100amp strip fuse for a 100amp ceramic midi fuse or 100amp marine circuit breaker.
check the earth connection through the passenger footwell bulk head is tight on both ends and add nyloc locking nuts to both sides.
At the same time you might want to;
renew the cover fixings in stainless.
swap the 100amp strip fuse for a 100amp ceramic midi fuse or 100amp marine circuit breaker.
check the earth connection through the passenger footwell bulk head is tight on both ends and add nyloc locking nuts to both sides.
Ok thanks for all the advice, I wish I'd read this before starting the job. The battery went in ok, pretty easy actually, but the straps I've bought obviously are not right. I have 2 ratchet straps, I've put one front to back to start off with but the ratchet itself is too big to allow the cover to go on.
Can anyone link me to something that would be better?
Thanks
Can anyone link me to something that would be better?
Thanks
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