12v battery

[gouldalan]

Hi folks. What sort of cranking power for 12v battery is needed for a pinto 2l?
I have a Berlinetta with a 60ah, 540a cranking power battery that seems too slow at turnover.
Have checked engine and chassis earth straps and battery only about a year old and takes charge ok.
May be I just have a poor battery with a cell gone.
Battery mounted low on chassis so restricted for space. Can only fit a battery of 250mm long by 170mm wide.
Am trying to find a battery with higher cranking current but most seem too large to fit my pm Marlin.
Any suggestions gratefully received, cheers.

[greyV8pete]

Just replaced the 3 year guarantee Varta battery in my V8 Hunter after 7 years! Replaced with a Yuasa battery which the sales guy said was more “powerful”! It certainly kicks the V8 over better so would recommend one of those. Not sure where you are but would also recommend Tayna batteries in Rhyl N Wales as a supplier. Hope this helps. Peter.

[A_Hogg]

I seem to think another member [Geoff Grumble?] had issues with his Cabrio slow cranking. To cut a long story short he found that certain starter motors had different outputs i.e. the one in his car was something like 0.9 KW and another of different manufacture was 1.2 . Solved his issues!

[MOC Chair]

I fitted a Yuasa battery to my Berlinetta this year and it certainly turns the pinto engine over faster than the 4 year old Varta. If you have a mechanical fuel pump you will find that if the engine hasn't been started for a while the battery has to do a lot of work before there is fuel in the carburettor. The pinto does take a lot of effort to turn it over before it fires. A bigger battery would do a better job but there is not enough room.

[Ye Ol Ripper]

I recall that during the 80's when the Sierra was introduced , still using the Pinto . Ford changed the spec of the recommended oil from 20/50 to 15/40. They also changed from an inertia starter on its predecessor the mkv cortina to a pre engaged starter. Both of these changes were intended to improve cold starting, especially in the winter. I use a 70 AH battery in my Marina Based roadster, which has very high compression and also an electric fuel pump.
Even then it can struggle. As you are space limited have a look into a power pack to jump start it . The latest items are lightweight , use lithium iron battery & almost fit into one hand and are capable of starting diesel engines. With that in mind, it will spin your engine over very quickly.

[ggrum]

As mentioned by Alan Hogg I had a similar cranking problem until I realised that the starter motor fitted to the 2L DOHC engine in my Cabrio only had an output of 0.9kW. Fortunately I had a spare in the garage rated at 1.4kW. Since fitting this and replacing the battery with one with a higher cranking current (Yuasa) I have not had a problem (fingers and everything else crossed!) even if the car has not been used for a couple of weeks or more. I don't use a trickle charger and the voltage has never dropped lower than 12.6V.

[TVRFan]

For reference. The battery's AH rating is its CAPACITY which is how much energy it can store (AH = ampere hours). For turning an engine over, you need to look at the CCA rating (Cold Cranking Amps) which is how much it can deliver when you turn the key. Yes they are different, obviously that larger batteries tend to have both numbers increased.
Most 4 cyl engines below 2 litres need in the region of 300 CCA and the standard 'small' battery used to typically be 360 CCA. As the engines get larger you need more amps, so for example the 2.8 Ford Cologne recommended 450CCA (with OE starter motor), and the Rover v8 was 500. My current day Toyota (3.5V6) has a 650 CCA battery as standard. So a 2 litre DOHC would probably be around 400. Small battery at 360 might be ok, but probably a bit slow. This assumes starter, wiring, etc all OK and up to the job. A dodgy connector can easily cause problems.

Today there are all sorts of shapes and sizes, so default rule is to pick one which a) fits in the space you have. b) provides at least as many CCA as recommended (use OE battery as your minimum guideline). CCA is more important that AH.

In the 'old days' there used to be a standard shape 'smal'l battery but with higher CCA. I used one in my Marlin for my 2500 Triumph engine (I think it was 440CCA instead of 360). Also used one in my TVR 2.8. But when I moved to NZ, I could not find that battery and had to search for an alternate (found, apparently for some Japanese models). It was no wider, but about 50mm longer, which just squeezed in the space. When TVR brought out the v8 wedge, they widened the battery space so they could get a DIN55 battery in, which is 550 CCA (or more).

Also some of this is changed with the 'geared' starters, which can run with less amps, but you can't have 'too many' CCAs.....

[MOC Chair]

As a matter of interest the Varta battery that I replaced had a capacity of 44 AH and cca 440 Amps.
The Yuasa battery now fitted has a capacity of 52 AH and a cca 520 Amps. Quite an upgrade! It would be ideal if a larger size battery would fit in a Berlinetta to give more capacity for winding the engine over to fill the carburettor, but sadly there is no room.
However the new battery is a big improvement.

[greyV8pete]

As a matter of interest the Varta battery that I replaced had a capacity of 44 AH and cca 440 Amps.
The Yuasa battery now fitted has a capacity of 52 AH and a cca 520 Amps. Quite an upgrade! It would be ideal if a larger size battery would fit in a Berlinetta to give more capacity for winding the engine over to fill the carburettor, but sadly there is no room.
However the new battery is a big improvement.

Just fit an electronic fuel pump! Sorted!

[listerjp2]

As a matter of interest the Varta battery that I replaced had a capacity of 44 AH and cca 440 Amps.
The Yuasa battery now fitted has a capacity of 52 AH and a cca 520 Amps. Quite an upgrade! It would be ideal if a larger size battery would fit in a Berlinetta to give more capacity for winding the engine over to fill the carburettor, but sadly there is no room.
However the new battery is a big improvement.

I know I've posted this before but have any of you guys used Powervamp https://www.powervamp.com/ These batteries are small and powerful. The are used for Renault Sport and Super Seven racing where weight saving is key. In Super Seven racing they remove the alternator altogether and run the whole race off these batteries alone.

I've had mine installed for some 4 years and my old banger starts first time.

Another key feature of these batteries, they can be installed at any orientation as they were originally designed for bikes.

Regards

Adrian