Car battery question

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Car battery question

Oriphix

523 posts

Ultimate Geek

#165905 24-Feb-2015 12:48

Hi Guys,

So my wife's car the battery seems to be going flat. Its a merc A160. I called Merc and they said its about $300 to get a new one.

Before I fork out for a new battery I want to know for sure the battery is on its way out.

Any ideas where I can get this checked or charged?

Thanks.

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3552 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1245484 24-Feb-2015 12:50

Any battery place can put a load tester on it and see if it's the battery. And I wouldn't necessarily go to Merc for a consumable like a battery.

Oriphix

523 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1245485 24-Feb-2015 12:53

lxsw20: Any battery place can put a load tester on it and see if it's the battery. And I wouldn't necessarily go to Merc for a consumable like a battery.

Any recommendation as to a battery place? I assume I can get the battery from Super Cheap or Repco?

Oriphix

523 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1245489 24-Feb-2015 12:56

Going to try and call these guys and see how much it is to charge it.

http://batteriesnorthshore.co.nz/

lxsw20

3552 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1245490 24-Feb-2015 12:57

Any auto electrician or Marshall Batteries.

nakedmolerat

4629 posts

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#1245502 24-Feb-2015 13:04

Is the car still under manufacturer warranty?

MikeAqua

7773 posts

Uber Geek

#1245510 24-Feb-2015 13:17

Any auto-electrician should be able to test/recondition it for you. Any car battery with the correct capacity (CCA), size and terminal configuration will do.

Batteries come in standard sizes, but quite possible Merc will use a non-standard size.

Mike

linw

2849 posts

Uber Geek

#1245513 24-Feb-2015 13:24

Like Mike says, check the terminal config. Right size? Pos and neg terminals in the same position as original?

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BlueShift

1692 posts

Uber Geek

#1245520 24-Feb-2015 13:34

Take a pic, and wander into Supercheap or Repco. Check the ones on he shelf. There will be a book with car models matched to batteries. Compare the one the book recommends to your pic to confirm terminal size and position.

Oriphix

523 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1245524 24-Feb-2015 13:40

nakedmolerat: Is the car still under manufacturer warranty?

No its not the car is second hand, year 2003.

Oriphix

523 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1245525 24-Feb-2015 13:41

MikeAqua: Any auto-electrician should be able to test/recondition it for you. Any car battery with the correct capacity (CCA), size and terminal configuration will do.

Batteries come in standard sizes, but quite possible Merc will use a non-standard size.

When I had a look it looked like a normal battery as in it wasn't branded as a Merc seems like a normal battery.

I guess it was replaced at some stage.

Oriphix

523 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1245527 24-Feb-2015 13:43

BlueShift: Take a pic, and wander into Supercheap or Repco. Check the ones on he shelf. There will be a book with car models matched to batteries. Compare the one the book recommends to your pic to confirm terminal size and position.

Thanks for that, I called Battery Marshall and they have advised that they can charge the batter over night for $20, will get them to check if there is anything wrong with it while I am there.

If however the battery is broken then I will defiantly do what you suggested, sounds like a good plan. Thanks

timmmay

20575 posts

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#1245563 24-Feb-2015 14:15

The radio (and probably other things now) can lose security codes if power's removed. Beaurepairs (I think) did a battery change for me, they supplied power to the car through the cigarette lighter so I didn't have to reset the radio. I got the reset methods from the dealer though, from memory pretty easy.

Mattmannz

471 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1245565 24-Feb-2015 14:19

Save the money on a test and charge and get the battery replaced. It will be the battery that is faulty. Alternators don't gradually wear out, they just stop charging.

Most german vehicles use DIN spec batteries which have different mounting facilities to the standard batteries most jappers use.

Matt.

heylinb4nz

656 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1245574 24-Feb-2015 14:38

If 2003 then its most likely ready for its 3rd battery change

5-6 years from a battery is normal, i've owned alot of cars and have never got more than 5 years from a battery. If the battery is less then 3 years old id be looking a problem, but again it may be something as simple as a loose earth connection or cleaning up the terminals.

Nate001

638 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1245632 24-Feb-2015 15:30

Just changed batt in my golf last week ~4yrs old. Went to HCB Technologies and they had the exact batt as the original, all up cost me $130. In the newer golfs the size is crucial due to the way its secured as mentioned above with european cars and DIN models.

The only thing after changing the batt was reset the clock and auto windows.

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