Battery For S7

[Guest Hunty]

Just picked up my new car,

 

A 97 Robin Hood S7, bought from a member on here,

Its a 2 litre pinto on bike carbs.

 

The battery struggles to start when the car is cold, so im looking into a heavy duty battery,

Il also be looking into improving the starting/running of the engine generally,

 

Can anyone reccomend batteries ?

It has a 300a on there at the mo,

Dont really want to be going all out on an odyssey racing battery at £150,

What do you guys run ?

[Guest Chutney]

Odyssey pc545. They aren't 150- they are half that.

[Guest Hunty]

Great thanks !

 

Is the standard alternator ok with this battery ?

[knights_templar]

can't see any reason to go with anything bigger than a normal battery, there are less electrical consumers than a standard car, the biggest being the starter.

 

I would get the battery tested, it's the weakest link normally, and it is likely to have been stood, which they don't like, while the car was up for sale. however there are other things that can cause the same systems, such as poor earth's and connections, a common failing on kit cars.

 

You will have to find the output of the alternator you have fitted for advice, kit cars are rarely "standard" and anything could have been fitted.

 

regards

[megadodo]

Check your battery earths as well. One big fat lead from the battery to the engine block and another lead from the battery to the chassis. The engine earth from the battery and the starter positive should be the same diameter. I've lots of "slow" starters fixed by proper earthing. A new battery may only mask the problem.

[Guest Hunty]

Good point,

 

I plan to redo the wiring connections as they are a bit dodgy and old,

 

The car starts perfect when warm, and even from cold after work etc,

 

The main problem is first thing in the morning, when its cold,

 

The car is running bike carbs on a 2 litre pinto,

The battery seems to struggle to throw it over fast enough,

If it doesnt start after one or two goes, the battery does sound like its flat and just about turns over,

 

I have a volt gauge that reads around 14v when running so i guess alternator is ok,

I will do a proper voltage check, improve the connections on the battery, check/ improve earths, then see what happens,

 

Even using the car daily i have to disconnect the battery every night, which is far from ideal,

 

Thanks for the advice folks

[Grim]

check your ignition timing too, if it's too far advanced it'll make starting difficult.

[Snapperpaul]

Difficult starting can sometimes be exacerbated by over advanced ignition timing

[Grim]

snap!

[XSU976]

James,

The poor start will be the battery, as I said to you they don't like living outside without being used, as it gets colder (and it is) the available power will get less & less.

The battery is around 2 years old, the last one didn't last a year and was replaced under warranty after failing in a very similar way, I used to isolate the battery on the remote control but found that the device still has a small current drain which car batteries don't like, this is why I fitted the quick release terminals, if the car was being used regularly (ie during the holidays) I had no problems leaving the battery connected but any extended layup ( and it had a few) always resulted in a flat battery, too many of these and the battery fails anyway.

 

If you give it a boost with a second battery on a cold morning you will see what I mean, it will fire first turn, If as you say you will be using it most days a new battery should last much better but I don't believe you need to invest in anything special.

As you have already noted the alternator is fine putting out 14v when running and as you have a spare you should have no risks anyway.

The timing was confirmed as being spot on when on the RR, I have checked it since and it was still fine as per the Bestek instructions.

 

Cheers Tom Hayden (looking out the window at a lovely day and feeling depressed)

[Guest Hunty]

Hey Tom,

 

Yeah i think the battery is a bit dodgy, seems fine on a day to day basis, but not great first thing in the morning,

Not a prob,il get a new battery soon, also get the sidescreens done and a waterproof cover.

 

Absolutely love the car, its awseome !