Technical Punto battery

[crash25]

Hi there!
I just got a new battery, Exide, 44 Ah, 400 A startup current.
The problem is, that when I start up the car after a few hours of no run, the radio resets, aswell as the dash clock and trip computer, the lcd display and the dials dim quite bad when I light up the headlights, or lock the doors from the inside, or start to use the steering. After a few miles of driving, everything is okay.

I didn't had any of these problems with my other battery, which had 45 Ah.

I suspect the battery is too weak... Or might be something else?

 

[fingers99]

I'd suspect that either the battery terminals are loose and/or dirty or that you've an earth fault.

 

[crash25]

I will try and clean the battery terminals today, since they are painted red and black, and the guy who installed the battery didn't bother to thouroughly scrape the paint from the inside part...

 

[jon1612]

Hi there!
I just got a new battery, Exide, 44 Ah, 400 A startup current.
The problem is, that when I start up the car after a few hours of no run, the radio resets, aswell as the dash clock and trip computer, the lcd display and the dials dim quite bad when I light up the headlights, or lock the doors from the inside, or start to use the steering. After a few miles of driving, everything is okay.

I didn't had any of these problems with my other battery, which had 45 Ah.

I suspect the battery is too weak... Or might be something else?

ok first of all people on here will say im wrong but the truth is that the battery capacity is not as important as you may think, the difference between a 40AH and a 45AH will not be noticed the 400A starting currect ( CCA = cold cranking current ) is relevent when starting.
ok before you all jump on me...
a 3year old battery that is rated at 440 CCA is only good for 340-380
after that it goes down hill 5 year old 300 - 350
10 year old 200 - 250
anyway you get my drift. a NEW 400CCA battery will seem fantastic compaired to a 5 year old 440 one so will be fine on a 1.2 petrol. However on a diesel you should always fit as near to spec as possible as the cold cranking current is a lot higher
i think its more about how long you are keeping the car, if you only keep a couple of years get the cheaper one

 

[PuntoHowTo]

44AH means that with a current draw of 1amp you would expect the battery to last 44 hours or at 44amps current draw then only last 1 hour so even if you had previously had a 45Ah battery the difference isn't in the power it produces its in the length of time it would last at any given current drain.

as jon1612 said above the CCA is more relevant but only so when turning over the engine on the starter motor

you say you didn't have problems with the old battery but there were obviously reasons you changed it so it could be something in the cars electrical system changed which killed your old weak battery and is now draining the new one.

seems you have either a dodgy earth somewhere or something electronic has failed and is draining the battery, could be as simple as a stuck relay but very difficult to diagnose over the internet

 

[jon1612]

I'd suspect that either the battery terminals are loose and/or dirty or that you've an earth fault.

if you have fit a new battery did you rub up the posts and connectors with some emery paper first, new batteries have oxidation on the posts, makes them look grey, clean it off till it looks more silver like this will give a good connection

 

[crash25]

Thanks for replying.

I changed it because I forgot the inside lamp on overnight... but without knowing. The second day, when I wanted to go somewhere, I saw that the cluster won't light up with all the icons, only the airbag ones. So I got my multimeter and measured the battery, which had 9.7 V.
I had it tested before this winter, and it was only 15% through its life.

Of course, the inside lamp was off since the battery was too low to run it, so I didn't see it. Considering that I didn't know the age of that battery, and the fact that it discharged overnight, I went out and got another one... My stupid mistake, I know... but only after I bought the new one and replaced, I saw the inside light come on... because it was left ON all the time...


Yes, the terminals were rubbed with some sand paper on the inside, to make contact and the guy who installed it used some copper spray over the terminals.

Anyhow, today it worked perfectly, no more issues with the battery. Maybe it had to charge up... I don't know, I didn't do anything.

 

[xpl51]

Batteries normally come charged already. I'd be a bit concerned about having stuff sprayed over terminals as shouldn't need anything. I would still check the terminal tightness as loose connection shut my car down even though terminal was still on the post.

 

[kandilx]

Hi there!
I just got a new battery, Exide, 44 Ah, 400 A startup current.
The problem is, that when I start up the car after a few hours of no run, the radio resets, aswell as the dash clock and trip computer, the lcd display and the dials dim quite bad when I light up the headlights, or lock the doors from the inside, or start to use the steering. After a few miles of driving, everything is okay.

I didn't had any of these problems with my other battery, which had 45 Ah.

I suspect the battery is too weak... Or might be something else?

For a while sometimes I was having these symptoms when the battery is old and the engine still hot ,it turns to be caused by the starter motor the pinion and the graphite bushes that hold the rotor was worn and I changed them and problem solved, but next time I would prefer buying a new starter .

 

[crash25]

The problems sorted by themselves... I don't know how, why and when... maybe the battery wasn't fully charged... I don't know.