SLK230 "Flat" Battery

[mark999]

The inevitable happened, a few days of non use over in the recent cold weather and the SLK wouldn't turn over. After removing the battery I discovered that it is a 55ah Toyota one, and it wasn't particularly discharged.
The replacement batteries on ECP are at least 70ah.
May be worth checking if your having battery problems.

Mark

 

[television]

Yes the ECP batteries are very good prices, have not seen batteries that cheap for a long time

 

[mark999]

Just ordered the Bosch with 5 years warranty from carparts4less at £74. A touch cheaper than ECP. Their website is almost identical to ECP.

Mark.

 

[television]

It is the same company

 

[mark999]

Well what a load of hassle. Turned out that the Bosch battery with 5 years warranty is too tall for the clamp and would have the terminals too close to the bonnet. A closer look at the website gives the height as 190mm. Carparts4less have eventually agreed to take the battery back, so I'm looking for another battery. Any recommendations?
Cheers,
Mark

 

[television]

There are motor factors in every town that supply the trade, you can buy at trade prices from them,,, look in yellow pages

 

[cleverdicky]

Found mine exactly the same and after a few weeks little use.
Went to buy one last week but after a jump from the booster it was fine.
Until today.
So decided to unscrew the bottle tops and check the water.
A bit slap dash pourin it in, but given the conditions...
I still reckon a good pint and a bit went in

We'll see how it goes
But perhaps yours is the same ??

 

[mark999]

I'm pretty sure the battery is ok itself as it isn't particularly discharged when i put it on the charger. Its actually a Toyota 55ah battery that is fitted, the replacemeny ones I have looked up seem to have a min of 70ah.

Mark.

 

[television]

55 amp is just too small

 

[cleverdicky]

I'm pretty sure the battery is ok itself as it isn't particularly discharged when i put it on the charger. Its actually a Toyota 55ah battery that is fitted, the replacemeny ones I have looked up seem to have a min of 70ah.

Mark.

I nearly asked then if yours was a diesel

ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,

 

[jay63]

hi,just had same issue with my slk. battery flat as a you know what even though it was a brand new AA one only fit last october. when checked it had totally drained itself and this they stated was due to me not having run it for about 4 weeks.thankfully the weather is a bit better now so i can take it out a more,

 

[television]

Batteries are not what they used to be,,,you could leave the older ones for months and they would recharge and be perfectly OK,,, with many modern types if the are left flat for just one day that is the end of the battery.


All made worse by the cars modern circuitry where they need to go to sleep and pull quite high currents when doing so

 

[Still Learning]

Most car batteries are a lead-acid configuration and there are two important factors when choosing the right one.

1. Capacity (as already stated), measured in amp-hours. If a battery can supply 1-amp for 50-hours it is defined as a 50 amp-hour battery.

2. Internal resistance, also known as 'cold cranking current'. This is the ability of the battery to supply a burst of current without a significant drop in voltage. It is measured in amps, and the higher the better.

It is possible for a battery with a low capacity to exhibit a higher cold cranking current than a battery with a higher capacity. For this reason a battery should not be chosen on capacity alone.

Large diesel engines require a cold start current in the order of 200-300 amps and may require the battery to sustain this for 5-10 seconds over multiple attempts before the alternator begins to supply a recharge current.

The science does start to get complex when temperature and diminished AH capacity ratings due to higher discharge currents are taken into account.

If the weight isn't important to you, find the biggest AH capacity battery that will fit into the space, compare the cold cranking current with a few similar ones, and buy the one with the highest figure (and a good guarantee).

 

[brick10]

Hi, i charge mine about twice a week using a c-tek battery
charger as it does not get used that much.

 

[Still Learning]

The C-Tek charger type can be particularly beneficial since it provides current pulses which help to dislodge deposits on the lead plates within the battery.

If these deposits build up (they are promoted when a battery is left in a discharged state), they reduce the surface area of the lead, thus increasing the internal resistance. This directly affects the cranking capacity.

 

[moosehead]

I had to fit a new battery to the wife's SLK a few years ago. Looking at the invoice it was an 096 Varta (the original MB battery was also made by Varta). The 096 fitting should be common to all manufacturers. I wouldn't be surprised if Bosch, Varta, etc. are all made by the same company. I bought mine from a company called Tayna. Excellent service and prices (at the time).

 

[television]

I had to fit a new battery to the wife's SLK a few years ago. Looking at the invoice it was an 096 Varta (the original MB battery was also made by Varta). The 096 fitting should be common to all manufacturers. I wouldn't be surprised if Bosch, Varta, etc. are all made by the same company. I bought mine from a company called Tayna. Excellent service and prices (at the time).

Yes Badge engineering is more common than we think

 

[brandwooddixon]

Never discount asking at your local dealer.
The only time that I've replaced a battery (on my old E430) the MB dealership was the cheapest, by quite a margin.
They also disposed of my old one as well (I changed it on their forecourt!).