nickliv Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I did this about 12 months ago, but have had 3 completely dead batteries in this time (one was brand new, the others were s/h and of a more unknown quantity) As it used to have a 2.5 petrol engine in it, with a piddly little alternator, and the new engine has the standard disco alternator on it, is it possible that I'm giving the battery 'too much' charge, thereby killing it? Cheers Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deface Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 This is possible yes, to check this you can put a multimeter on the battery, start it up and see what voltage the alternator is charging the battery at, it should be around 14 volts The lads at my work say they have seen batteries blow up because of this, but thats an extreme case. HTH Ethan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I did this about 12 months ago, but have had 3 completely dead batteries in this time (one was brand new, the others were s/h and of a more unknown quantity) As it used to have a 2.5 petrol engine in it, with a piddly little alternator, and the new engine has the standard disco alternator on it, is it possible that I'm giving the battery 'too much' charge, thereby killing it? Cheers Nick Why didnt you replace the first dead battery with the one meant for the new engine? Surely if you used a 200tdi disco spec battery this wouldnt be a problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyLee Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 it`s not that rare , we see it from time to time in the garage , basically the voltage regulator has failed and is allowing the voltage to go higher than the allowed maximum of 14.4V . Usual symptoms are failure of light bulbs regularly !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickliv Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 Cheers. First of all the batt that was in it with the petrol engine died, but it was definitely on its last legs, then the battery that was in the disco donor was used, this again was pretty ancient, and this one died. I bought a new Bosch Silver battery that was doing sterling service until this recent period of very cold weather, (Minus 20) and I'm hoping that it was the weather that's done it. Oh, the light bulbs are all A1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 How old is the Bosch now? It wouldn't have to be that old for all three failures to be perfectly reasonable. Have you had a voltmeter across the battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyLee Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 do you have a multimeter ? if you do then remove keys from ignition , turn everything electrical off , disconnect the battery live and place the one probe of the multimeter on the live terminal and the the other on the disconnected live terminal. With the meter on amps you are now completing the circuit and measuring any current that the landy is using while switched off. Usual readings are 0.03 to 0.04 A or 30 to 40 mA . this allows for radio memory and clock etc. if it`s alot higher say 100mA or more then you have a faulty alternator or something not switching off properly (usually radio or aftermarket alarm) Way to check alternator is to now disconnect wires going to it and see if abnormal load dissappears. As for temp of -20 !!! once a battery goes below freezing it only has half the normal charge available to crank the vehicle due to temp !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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