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My battery is a little knackered and I should probably replace it soon.

I know I could just check the service manual,
but I probably don't want to keep my EA82
plus I have 100W spotties and an auxillary electric radiator fan; both make the battery work harder.

Do I need a different or bigger battery to run a EJ22 or EJ25?

I'd prefer a leak-proof design if possible.
What's available?

I don't want to go too big though; prefer to avoid unneccessary weight.

Thanks

Work the alternator harder not the battery , you want more that the lil ole 160 or 165a alternator can generate to keep up the power demands .

I put a Hitachi 80a alternator off a Z32 300ZX on mine . Grab an L auto twin pulley if you can find one cause that solves the major issue with non std alternators .
A .

Work the alternator harder not the battery , you want more than the lil ole 160 or 165a alternator can generate to keep up the power demands .

I put a Hitachi 80a alternator off a Z32 300ZX on mine . Grab an L auto twin pulley if you can find one cause that solves the major issue with non std alternators .

A .

My iPod has a larger battery than the stock L-Series battery.

Alternator ok? Suggest a larger one if you are serious...

Anyways...

Go to BatteryWorld (or similar).

Buy the largest battery that will fit. Will come with a 2 year nation wide warranty. All name batteries are pretty good these days, though the CAT Power battery I had was brilliant (and expensive). They will probably even fit it, clean up your terminals, and dispose of your old battery (all for free).

Do not worry about the weight - what is 800 grams over 250 more CA on a cold night stuck on beach somewhere? Is zip.

Yeah as disco and sven has said, it's the alternator that has to put up with the load, not the battery.

The only time the battery has a load on it is when you're starting, cold starting is what really tests your battery. If when you're cold cracking in the morning the battery is struggling to turn the engine over it's usually one of two things: a) you're battery isn't doing so well or b) your starter motor is the one not doing so well.

I've seen two large batteries shoved in the factory spot in the L series - I think they were hooked up in parallel rather than a dual battery system setup. They also didn't have AC.

What you want is the highest CCA rating you can get. This is Cold Cranking Amps - which is how much power the battery can give the starter motor at once for starting

Cheers

Bennie

El_Freddo wrote: What you want is the highest CCA rating you can get. This is Cold Cranking Amps - which is how much power the battery can give the starter motor at once for starting

Cheers

Bennie

I read in a car magazine from the USA is high CCA's are enemies to long life in hot weather. Instead, look for... I forgot what to look for because I lived in a cold climate when I read it. In the USA CCA's mean how the battery performs at -18 C.

I'm in Townsville. I definitely need a battery rated for hot, not cold weather. I know what I'm after is amps, but I'm still confused about CCA's, since the article I read.

Anyone?

When you consider that the battery lives in a warm engine bay I doubt warm ambients do any harm .
Larger batteries do two things , firstly more juice for the starter and second last longer when there is no charging .
My L has had the largest Century that I could fit in it which is heaps and has always been reliable .

Basics , a "12v" battery has 6 2.2 volt cells so at best 13.2 volts . Ls and MYs normally don't have large current draws unless you fit after market things such as lights stereo fringe winch etc . Off the top of my head MYs had a 50 or 55a alternator and Ls a 160 . XT4s had a later style multi rib belt driven 165a one so none are very high by todays standards .
All you late model luxobarges have quite high output alternators because they can have high current draws with everything running .
The place where high output alts shine is the current they are capable of putting out at lowish engine revs . Cars like Lexobarges are supposed to breeze around sedately so their toffs can concentrate on looking down yards and yards of nose at the plebs , whilst all the electronic geewizzardry is demandind a lot of current .

As I said I fitted an 80a alternater in the place of a loaner MY wagon 50a one and everythings bright all the time . No difference voltage wise at the battery with headlights off or high beams on .
My Skyline has an 80a Mitsubishi std but I scored and freshened up a 110a Hitachi for it .

Everything works that bit better when the charge voltage is up around 13.7-14V , ignition injection etc .

A .

General rule: You can never have too much CCA.

More CCA will start the car a lot easier when the engine is cold. I have 750 CCA optima from a 400 CCA century battery and the difference was car changing.

Davidov wrote:General rule: You can never have too much CCA.

Could not agree more.

i just got a 270 cca battery from supershit for under $60 cranks the ea81 in the brumby over good

alang wrote:i just got a 270 cca battery from supershit for under $60 cranks the ea81 in the brumby over good

Maybe... But for how long?

Cheers

Bennie

Somewhere I read that amp output is different than CCA. Something like you can design a cell to have higher CCA or not. When you do you reduce the life of the battery in hot weather. Americans in cities like Phoenix should not buy these.

Why would any Australian care how much amps their battery can put out at -18 C?
I'd see -18 C and colder, pretty much every winter back in Toronto.
But I would expect hardly any Australians have seen temperatures below -10 C.
CCA's are supposed to be an "extreme-cold weather" test of the battery.

If I'm not going to get a straight answer on a battery,
(I'm glad you all are trying though )
I'm happy at least someone suggested a bigger alternator.
Which ones will fit on a EA82?
Can I swap it to an EJ motor if I do a conversion?

is there any difference between minus 10C and minus 18C ??

I've run Century Yuasa 57 or 58 , 450 cca ? batteries in all my Subes, an equivalent capacity is the special one for VT Commodes with holes in terminals allowing for greater hook up options. The extra weight is worth it , worth more when you cash in the old one for scrap @ 43 cents per kilo

2nd Hand Yank wrote:Somewhere I read that amp output is different than CCA. Something like you can design a cell to have higher CCA or not. When you do you reduce the life of the battery in hot weather. Americans in cities like Phoenix should not buy these.

Why would any Australian care how much amps their battery can put out at -18 C?
I'd see -18 C and colder, pretty much every winter back in Toronto.
But I would expect hardly any Australians have seen temperatures below -10 C.
CCA's are supposed to be an "extreme-cold weather" test of the battery.

Amp output doesnt matter at all unless you happen to want to run a huge stereo system with the car off, or any other very large load while the engine isnt running. The constand amp output gives no indication of how well it will crank the engine.

CCA is relative. The number may be for -18 C but then you know the battery with far higher CCA than another will still have far higher cranking amps at whatever temperature it is at.

2nd Hand Yank wrote:But I would expect hardly any Australians have seen temperatures below -10 C.

I have! I have!! So has Ruby Scoo

We may be known for our deserts and hot temperatures (which I'd like to see more of again!) but we do also get the low temps in the very small area that is referred to as the Australian Alps

I still stand by the more CCA the better! It hasn't let me down yet!

As for the bigger alternator with the EJ conversion, it'll all depend on the alternator's mounting brackets etc. Plus the EJ will come with a larger alternator

Cheers

Bennie

high CCA's will work in hot weather, just your battery life is reduced.

I'm not saying this is the same as having more amps is reducing life.
Just deliberately designing any battery cell to stand up to extreme cold is reducing its life,
instead of not designing a battery cell to handle extreme cold.

Interesting El Freddo.
Were you able to keep Ruby Scoo warm inside?

I doubt my L Series heater can heat my cabin more than 15 C above ambient.
I'd hate the thought of driving my car in -5 C in its current state.
You may think my concern sounds silly,
but when I lived in a climate where -25 C mornings can last for a week
very-hot cabin air makes a HUGE comfort difference;
poor cabin heating means your "cabin cruise temperature" is still below freezing!

2HY, just keep it simple... get the biggest battery you can fit/afford with the highest output. In Oz this is measured in CCA. Who cares what it stands for, lol, it doesnt matter if its designed for the cold or not, its the batteries ability to pump out massive amounts of DC electricity in a short time that turns your engine over. The battery with the highest CCA will do this.

nachaluva wrote:2HY, just keep it simple... get the biggest battery you can fit/afford with the highest output. In Oz this is measured in CCA. Who cares what it stands for, lol, it doesnt matter if its designed for the cold or not, its the batteries ability to pump out massive amounts of DC electricity in a short time that turns your engine over. The battery with the highest CCA will do this.

Another case of Aussie language confusion?

Matt from Townsville reckons the batteries are tested for how they perform at 25 C.

The whole CCA thing (I think?) started as a way to test a battery under unusal circumstances,
when it used to be common for cars to not start in very cold weather.
This doesn't happen anymore in at least my part of Canada, unless a car is badly neglected.
Maybe I need to do more research on the origins and meanings off CCA around the world.

2nd Hand Yank wrote: Maybe I need to do more research on the origins and meanings off CCA around the world.

What the..?

Honestly, just buy a new battery (a retailer will even fit it for you) - it is really that easy.

I had a 4 year old gell cell battery from a mobility scooter that started my gas L series ( needed at least 10-15 cranks every morning) for a year. Just chuck something around 350-400 CCA in and it'll be fine. You'll only run into trouble if you leave a fridge on overnight and dont drive to recharge the next day. Fact.