P38A Battery Du Jour

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P38Seb

P38Seb

Well-Known Member
Posts
119
Hi all, when I replaced the ABS sensor the other week, a friend had his SnapOn diag tool hooked up checking for a few other issues (glow plugs being one), but it did show up saying the battery voltage was low at 10.7v.

The battery has been in there a 🤷‍♂️ amount of time, so probably worth replacing. What’s the current favoured batteries? A lot of threads I’ve found are a few years old with broken links.

When changing the battery is there anything I need to do/be aware of? I’ve seen threads about EKA lockouts etc. car details below.

Engine: 2.5d
Year: early 2001

Thanks all!
 
P38Seb said:
Hi all, when I replaced the ABS sensor the other week, a friend had his SnapOn diag tool hooked up checking for a few other issues (glow plugs being one), but it did show up saying the battery voltage was low at 10.7v.

The battery has been in there a 🤷‍♂️ amount of time, so probably worth replacing. What’s the current favoured batteries? A lot of threads I’ve found are a few years old with broken links.

When changing the battery is there anything I need to do/be aware of? I’ve seen threads about EKA lockouts etc. car details below.

Engine: 2.5d
Year: early 2001

Thanks all!
Click to expand...
Get a monster, biggest that’ll fit with highest CCA. IIRC just be mindful of the battery orientation +- as the leads might not reach. @Datatek is the guru.
 
Be ware for disconnecting battery. Loosen -ve terminal ignition on for 10 secs as soon as you turn off you have 17 secs to disconnect. To reconnect leave door open and keys in your pocket as door can lock itself. You will need to reset windows and sun roof. sometimes I've had to resync keys sometimes not.
And as said biggest battery you can fit
 
Rubberknees said:
Be ware for disconnecting battery. Loosen -ve terminal ignition on for 10 secs as soon as you turn off you have 17 secs to disconnect. To reconnect leave door open and keys in your pocket as door can lock itself. You will need to reset windows and sun roof. sometimes I've had to resync keys sometimes not.
And as said biggest battery you can fit
Click to expand...
Christ..

So loosen -ve, ignition on for 10s, turn off and remove key, then countdown of 17s to remove old battery and fit new? Or is it 17s to just disconnect -ve and then all the time in the world to fit new?

I’ve done the window resets a few times due to sticky windows so no drama there. Is the sun roof the same process?
 
P38Seb said:
Christ..

So loosen -ve, ignition on for 10s, turn off and remove key, then countdown of 17s to remove old battery and fit new? Or is it 17s to just disconnect -ve and then all the time in the world to fit new?

I’ve done the window resets a few times due to sticky windows so no drama there. Is the sun roof the same process?
Click to expand...
Loosen the terminals. Key to position before start, off, keys out, then you have approx 17 secs to simple lift off the terminals. The siren might blip, if you’re too late it might go off.
 
Why the 17 second stuff ?? BECM will still be awake, so you risk causing problems.

I simply switch the car off, and make sure doors are unlocked, with drivers door open. Then just disconnect the battery. I've had mine for weeks like this in the past, and simply lock the doors overnight manually when the battery is off.

The main thing is to leave the drivers door open & keys in pocket when re-connecting the battery. That way it will not lock itself !!
 
+1 MF31 1000.
It’s the biggest will fit in there not so important with petrol models but definitely worth it with the doozle. Sluggish starting will be a thing of the past and your ecus will be all the more happier. The original alternator regulator won’t give enough to keep it topped up though as MF31 is a lithium one - check by seeing how much voltage is going across your battery with engine running. If it’s 13.something Volts with a good belt etc you probably have the old regulator.
Top battery up from new before fitting and remember to remove the transport plugs.
 
TBH I have never followed that instruction either.
But agree with @pwood999 when it comes to reconnection. I have never had the BUB alarm thing go off, but then its probably US (internal batteries duff).

But I would also note that I don't have any issues with my locks/keys or re-sync when I do this. Both the 96 and the 2001 seem to respond to either the door lock sync or the key in ignition "2" sync for some reason🤔 But never had any issues.

So I suppose the key is. If the car "thinks " its being broken into does your key work correctly? does the manual locking unlocking with the key work correctly? and do you have the EKA code if it all goes pear shaped :oops:.


J
 
RangeRoller dt said:
+1 MF31 1000.
It’s the biggest will fit in there not so important with petrol models but definitely worth it with the doozle. Sluggish starting will be a thing of the past and your ecus will be all the more happier. The original alternator regulator won’t give enough to keep it topped up though as MF31 is a lithium one - check by seeing how much voltage is going across your battery with engine running. If it’s 13.something Volts with a good belt etc you probably have the old regulator.
Top battery up from new before fitting and remember to remove the transport plugs.
Click to expand...
The MF31-1000 is not Lithium, it's Lead Calcium, but you are correct, it needs a regulator with a set point of 14.5 volts or more to keep it in good order, the standard regulator is 13.8 volts. Mobiletron do the regulator for not a lot of money and it's easy to change.
 
Last edited:
Datatek said:
The MF31-1000 is not Lithium, it's Lead Calcium, but you are correct, it needs a regulator with a set point of 14.5 volts or more to keep it in good order, the standard regulator is 13.8 volts. Mobilytron do the regulator for not a lot of money and it's easy to change.
Click to expand...
Is that the Mobiletron VR-VW010 you’ve mentioned in another thread a few years back?
 
Thanks for the response all. I’m going to get it hooked on to a load tester, and see what’s going on. With the engine running we’re only seeing a battery voltage of 12.5/12.6v so something is amiss.
 
P38Seb said:
Thanks for the response all. I’m going to get it hooked on to a load tester, and see what’s going on. With the engine running we’re only seeing a battery voltage of 12.5/12.6v so something is amiss.
Click to expand...
With the engine running, use a multimeter to measure the volts between the +ve on the back of the alternator and the alternator body to rule out any bad connections or cables
 
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