10 replies to this topic

[charlie]

I have just taken a battery out of a 1.8 TD Escort. Battery is only 6 months old. Can I put this battery in my mini?

My mini is hard to start on cold mornings. I know I should get a longer cranking time with this battery.

Will the extra amps in the escort battery help starting or will they be wasted?
Will the escort battery need more charge time from the engine once running?
And finally will using this bigger battery do any damage to my car?

Thanks for any help.

[Bungle]

if it will fit in the box then use it

i have a pug 306 diesel battery in my mini

[charlie]

do you see any benefits from the diesel battery

[Bungle]

i don't use my mini every day and with a mini battery i used to find the clock flattened the battery

with the 306 battery there is more power stored in it and even after quite some time the battery still has power to start the car

[bert998]

It'll have a lot more cranking power and will hold more charge, which is of great help in the winter. The best thing any mini owner can do is get rid of the crappy sized battery

[biggav]

more miles to the gallon???????

I think diesel battery's usually have lots more poke... i went to my local caravan/ motor parts specialist, and he gave me a super dooper battery which can jump start my chrysler!!!

[charlie]

how many more miles to the gallon can I expect

thanks for the comments, swop will be done tomoz.

[fikus01]

ford batteries have square bolt on posts!! can be adapted to a mini but not ideal!!

diesel batteries are usually rated a a much higher amp/hour than a petrol engined battery, dont forget they are turning an enging thats got a compression ration of above 16:1!! will give you no gains in mpg!! possibly a loss in mpg if u have to charge it tho!! will take a lot of miles to get it up to full whack!!

[charlie]

my ford battery has round posts on it. the mpg was a joke someone started cheers for your input tho

[fikus01]

never seen a ford with round posts!! go fotr it if it fits!! i know the mgp was a joke but it did have a possible side so just thought id point it out!!

[mk=john]

Hi
Adding a larger battery would not damage the electrics! Basically, the amount of Ahr stated on the battery is the length of time the battery can sustain supplying a current of 1 Amp.

In other words, think of it as the amount of energy stored.

The systems on your car, mainly the most demanding would be your starter, and the amount of current this draws can vary a bit. It will only draw what it need to operate at a given rpm, and the fuse system in the electrical system would blow before the starter can draw more amps than the rating of the fuse.

I have a big Halford battery in my Mk1 Mini, and has enough energy for loads of failed starting attempts on a cold morning.

Your genarator will always attempt to supply the battery so it is almost fully charged at all times.

So, the larger the battery, the more energy it will hold, and the `reserve amount' you have when driving will generally be higher than on a smaller batter.

The control box regulates the charging on a dynamo mini, so it will not over or undercharge if everything is working OK and all the earthing is good.