Battery

[Alpine]

Need a new battery for my S2, can anyone advise on what size I need?

The one I have at the moment is Bosch (Silver) 66Ah 510A, over 5 years old but wont hold a charge.

Euro Car Parts have advised a Bosch S5 with a 61Ah 600A rating.

Cost-Co advise a Bosch S5 with a 74Ah 750A.

Can anyone tell me which I should go for?

 

[Hairyarse]

As it happens Phil, took a picture of mine on Saturday (don't ask me why!!)

Not sure it's the ideal type/rating but it works[] Cheers Andy

 

[spyro_x]

I just installed a brand new battery in my S2 and what a change (well starts now for one thing), seems somewhere in the car's history they installed an underpowered battery and in the immense history I have there is no mention of a replacement so about time. I bought an HCB096 from Halfords (I know I could have got it cheaper elsewhere but they were round the corner and it was on the shelf so what was I to do? ) Anyway its 680 Amps and 74AH Previously it would really labour to crank over and while it drove ok I knew it wasn't right but now you can feel the difference!

 

[zcacogp]

Batteries are categorised by type, each with an individual code. Find out the right code (or codes, I think there were two) for the S2 and buy one of that type. This will ensure that the battery you buy is both the right power (AmpHours) and the right size, with the right type of terminals. If you can, find someone who can buy on the Vauxhall Trade Club scheme - I bought one on that for about £40 about 18 months ago, which was less than half the retail price of such a thing anywhere. If you don't know someone who has access to this scheme then buy from a good local motor factor and haggle - the profit margins on batteries are huge. Oli.

 

[944turboS]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp If you can, find someone who can buy on the Vauxhall Trade Club scheme - I bought one on that for about £40 about 18 months ago, which was less than half the retail price of such a thing anywhere. If you don't know someone who has access to this scheme then buy from a good local motor factor and haggle - the profit margins on batteries are huge. Oli.

A Vauxhall Trade Club Card comes free when you join Autobahn Stormers Club for an annual fee of just £20.00 Good value me thinks. []

 

[zcacogp]

Interesting, thanks. I've never heard of the Autobahn Stormers Club, but you'd save that £20 pretty quickly over the year. They are available for free if you have a company and VAT number. In fact, if you PM me then I could give you my Trade Club membership number which would probably get you the discount. Oli.

 

[Suffolk944]

Autobahnstormers is for the Big Engined Opels and Vauxhalls. Started mainly with Monzas and Senators/Royales and then Carlton GSi's. Think they admit Monaros these days which seems a bit of a stretch but needs must I guess as many of the original cars will have rusted away by now. Had a couple of Monzas in my time and loved them.

 

[JamesBall]

Should these batteries not be vented?

 

[DavidL]

Oli, Where do you get one of these cards from? I can manage a VAT no unfortunately!

 

[zcacogp]

David, You fill in a form at your local Saab or Vauxhall dealer (it's a GM scheme, so any GM garage will do.) I found that my local Vauxhall place was quite sticky about it (I don't look like a garage owner) and didn't process the form, so I contacted the person who runs the scheme centrally and applied (again) via him. Since being a member it's very easy to get the discount - you just quote the number when you collect parts from the parts counter. (Although beware - not all Vauxhall and Saab garages are in the scheme - some are outside.) It's very useful for generic parts (wiper blades, oil, coolant, spark plugs, batteries etc) as the discounts are immense. If you have a vauxhall then some parts are good value, some are a bit less great. For instance I replaced the wing mirror on a friends' Zafira a few months ago, and it was cheaper to buy the replacement mirror from an on-line source than from GM, even with the trade club scheme. Oli. ETA: The website is here: http://www.tradeclub.co.uk/ ... and I'd have thought you could become a member without a VAT number - I'm not sure all small garages are VAT registered and hence doubt they would exclude you for this. Make sure you give them a motor-esque business name tho'; "XYZ repairs" or "ABC engineering" for instance.

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: James Ball Should these batteries not be vented?

if they are of the type that can be filled and are in the boot like Andy's picture then yes they must be vented. make sure that they have a vent spigot to which you can attach the vent tube that you should have in your battery-well.

 

[MGBV8]

Well you're going to enjoy getting that out... I had to remove the rear seatbelt reel to change the battery on our '85. Why are these cars full of stupid torx fittings and allen head bolts? There's some real numpty design efforts on these cars. They clearly arent designed to be DIY friendly.

 

[lookingfora944]

I bought the top of the range Bosch Silver thing from Halfords as I wanted guaranteed starting every day in all that horrible snow. Expensive yes, but I cannot recommend it enough, the engine catches in almost instantly now as oppose to it being a bit of a lottery as to whether it would or not

 

[ukmastiff]

You might want to keep in mind I picked a Bosch Silver in Halfords which ended up costing me 78 pounds delivered from an online discount retailer. It was 120 in Halfrauds. Best of luck Mas