General Battery size confusion

[Dippyllama]

Hi all, first time poster here,

I have a 1.2l sport fiat 500 which I bought privately from a seller. I think the battery is coming to the end of its life so I'm looking into replacement. Bit confused by what I need for this car, needs to be slightly better than stock because it has a new aftermarket head unit installed but need to know what battery I need first.

According to my licence plate AG08 WXV the compatible battery is a stop/start 242/175/190 027 EFB. I don't have a button on the dashboard for stop/start. Also, if you look at my attached image, it's not a stop/start that has been installed.

Measuring the tray with a tape measure, the width and the outer metal is 220mm wide. The inner plastic tray is about 205mm wide.

Calling Tayna Batteries, they just advised to go off the battery tray size as the stop start are much larger.

Also attached my VIN to help know exactly what to look for.

Please could somebody shed some light on this one.

Thank you

 

[John202020]

Our 09 1.2 pop(no ac ) I use a Varta B36 44aH battery had no issues for years, no stop Start
420 Cold cranking amps

B36 Varta Blue Dynamic Car Battery 12V 44Ah (544401042) (002L 202)

B36 VARTA Blue Dynamic Car Battery <i>Innovation with Purpose, Premium Experience, Powerful History</i> VARTA was founded in 1887 Germany, and was established fully in 1904 by delivering the first electric vehicle battery, famously driven by Thomas Edison. Soon after, VARTA delivers the first...

www.tayna.co.uk

 

[Jockstrap]

Current battery is not relevant - simply wrong.
The car is 15 years old and battery technology has moved on. Stop/start nonsense included.
Useful advice above. Unfortunately the battery in my 2008 is a mongrel on the way out. However the front securing clamp is an important measurement for replacement. Plastic tray copes with leakage and directs any spill through outlet tube below.
Max cranking power within dimensions from reliable make.

 

[MN500]

Why not just replace new for old, same size as you know it fits, and not a stop start (EFB/AGM) type if yours isn't a S/S car? That looks an old battery and I guess it's done the job perfectly well so far.

An aftermarket head unit uses a tiny amount of power, which the alternator will provide when driving.

 

[AnthonyH]

You can buy a flooded battery with 550AH capacity for not much more than the 340AH you currently have. It'll likely fit the tray, but check for sure.

 

[Dippyllama]

Current battery is not relevant - simply wrong.
The car is 15 years old and battery technology has moved on. Stop/start nonsense included.
Useful advice above. Unfortunately the battery in my 2008 is a mongrel on the way out. However the front securing clamp is an important measurement for replacement. Plastic tray copes with leakage and directs any spill through outlet tube below.
Max cranking power within dimensions from reliable make.

Ok thank you, so the length of the current battery should match the new battery atleast and I should get a battery that fits the inner plastic tray in terms of width ?

EDIT: The poster that suggested the B36 seems good but I can get a 012 for less and it has more c20 and slightly more cca, it’s 207mm instead but if that fits the tray is there any reason not to get that over the b36?

 

[jrkitching]

Why not just replace new for old, same size as you know it fits

This only works if you are certain that the battery that's currently fitted is the one it left the factory with.

Otherwise it's possible that the one that's in there now has been replaced by a previous owner and isn't the correct battery for the car.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Easy way is to visit halfords and look up your car in their parts catalogue. Halfords are good for batteries if nothing else. Compare with other suppliers like Shop4for parts and Tayna . Even eBAy. If they all quote the same battery you will have your answer.
Pandas and therefore I suggest 500s had two sizes of battery used. The later cars have a slightly larger and higher capacity battery. Both fit and both will work. There is little difference on cost.

I recently found the battery from our deceased Seat Leon also fits (just) its a 65Amp hour battery. It needed feet removing to fit the tray, but these just clip on so a tap removed them easily. The battery height was less but a twist added to the battery retaining strap did the trick. There is not a lot of point going oversized from the recommended battery unless you live in a cold place like Alaska as its just more money for the same job.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Easy way is to visit halfords and look up your car in their parts catalogue. Halfords are good for batteries if nothing else. Compare with other suppliers like Shop4for parts and Tayna . Even eBAy. If they all quote the same battery you will have your answer.
Pandas and therefore I suggest 500s had two sizes of battery used. The later cars have a slightly larger and higher capacity battery. Both fit and both will work. There is little difference on cost.

I recently found the battery from our deceased Seat Leon also fits (just) its a 65Amp hour battery. It needed feet removing to fit the tray, but these just clip on so a tap removed them easily. The battery height was less but a twist added to the battery retaining strap did the trick. There is not a lot of point going oversized from the recommended battery unless you live in a cold place like Alaska as its just more money for the same job.

You'll know I'm sure, that I'm a big of a fan of Halfords retail shops. I would qualify that by saying I have almost no experience of their repair workshops but, retail wise, they are particularly good for batteries. If you can get access to someone with one of their trade cards then the battery prices are almost unbeatable and they apply the discount to their Yuasa range which makes them very good value when you consider there's no shipping cost to consider. They also provide battery condition assessments using - at bothlocal branches I use - a dedicated Yuasa battery condition tester - looked like this one: https://www.ymfcarparts.co.uk/yuasa...JXnc0yr6EoJXRtd6DIwFDS4beQthRJ9RoCLd8QAvD_BwE Both our local branches do the test FOC and, in my experience, don't "lean" on you if the test declares the battery to be good.

Just one thing to always consider, being a bit of a VAG man, Check whether any vehicle you're dealing with requires a recoding operation to be carried out when renewing batteries. I don't think Fiats do, certainly not the older ones anyway. But, if you don't do it on VAG products the new battery won't be charged properly and it's life will be significantly shortened.

Also worth knowing their "Advance" range of tools carry a lifetime warranty and are actually pretty good. Not in the Snap On/Facom/older Britool/etc league, but more than suitable for some very serious amateur/semi professional use.

Being "old school" I've always been of the opinion that you can never have a big enough battery! So I tend to always buy the biggest battery that will fit the available space! Traditional "wet" lead acid are fine for non Stop Start and I think would be OK for Stop Start if you always, without exception, cancel stop start on start up. - its the repeated heavy current draw and "smart" alternator response to that which tends to kill an ordinary wet battery if used in stop start applications. So, I'd always go for an EFB on a stop start vehicle. AGM is just too expensive for a tight Scotsman like me, but, if the vehicle came new with one I'd probably replace it with one.

 

[ceecff]

Your original battery is 71751130 40AH 300A EN2 no start-stop 175x175x190mm