New Battery

[Psychobert]

Chaps, thought you would liek to know that if you need to replace your battery, no point in Halfords or KwickFit if you need the bigger ones, as they either don't fit, or havn't got the lip on the bottom that holds them in place. PartCo had them for about 2/3rds the price though...

[Pies]

Or you can do what i did,go to a specalist battery supplier and ask for "the biggest Fing battery that will fit in there "

[doddze]

or get a giant sized one and trim the lip off one side to make it fit! then strap it in.

[WildfireS3]

[redacted]

[clive f]

erm.............loads of Duracells held together with gaffa tape no good then?????????

[Psychobert]

doddze said:

then strap it in.

Aha.. I wonder if someone was being slightly less than honest with me? I was told that strapping it in would not be sufficient for the MOT, (battery has to be held firmly in place), so the 072 that didn't have flanges was no good, but a much more expensive one with flanges would be. I declined as I've got short leads and didn't want the faff of lengthening them. Saved about £30 by getting the right one from PartCo. Result..

[Pies]

Psychobert said:

doddze said: then strap it in. Aha.. I wonder if someone was being slightly less than honest with me? I was told that strapping it in would not be sufficient for the MOT, (battery has to be held firmly in place)

Strapping it down is fine, mines is strapped down using a luggage strap as was Podie's(IIRC) and IIRC there is a pic in the bible showing a strapped down battery

>> Edited by Pies on Thursday 27th January 20:26

[Pies]

Here ya go,one pic of Podie's battery

[Psychobert]

Well, by trying it on, they lost a sale. Thought I'd seen someone's careful use of strapping.. Might have known it would be Podie

[GreenV8S]

Psychobert said:

I was told that strapping it in would not be sufficient for the MOT, (battery has to be held firmly in place).

Let me guess, this was from somebody trying to sell you a battery that didn't need strapping down? Mine has been strapped down for years, and been through various MOT stations without any mention of the battery. I doubt that most testers would even be able to find it without help!

[Psychobert]

IIRC, the 072 that had flat sides was about £75, the other one with flanges a fair bit more.. Got it for about £55 I think..

[Roy C]

Forget the lip and get a strap with ratchet fron a DIY store. Much more secure than the dodgy foot-clamp.

Make sure replacement battery is not too tall. I've seen some a nasty cracked bonnet where this happened on an S.

[Podie]

Psychobert said:

Well, by trying it on, they lost a sale. Thought I'd seen someone's careful use of strapping.. Might have known it would be Podie

... and Pies, that's the old car BTW... ... still not heard about the old girl...

[tvrgit]

Mine is strapped in - exactly the same red / black strap as in the photo above.

Has now passed 2 MOTs like that.

[WildfireS3]

I used Zip Ties to hold mine down. Linked 2 together and made a longer one. 2 of these and it's been fine.

[Tripps]

WildfireS3 said:

I used Zip Ties to hold mine down. Linked 2 together and made a longer one. 2 of these and it's been fine.

Mine too was a strap on, managed to get the rear lip slightly underneath the bolt-down bar, but not enough to make me confident about it staying there under heavy braking. Used one of those velcro straps (2 inch wide) which worked a treat.

Had no queries during the two MOTs it passed with it in place.

[Notanutter]

Anyone know how to fit a battery hold-down strap in a V8S ? Can't seem to find any appropriate hooks/eyes anywhere in that bit of the boot.

[Pies]

You can actually thread a strap right under the base and up both sides

[Notanutter]

Excellent, I'll try that in the morning !

[hoover33]

Ohhh....I must get a strap then.

My new battery with no lip i fitted by reversing the angle bracket round and using it to wedge the battery in.

Tried the old fashioned metal fixing clamps that go over and under the battery and tighten by long bolts. Even cut down there is no clearance under the bonnet.