Gents, my VE Calais Battery went flat after running the Stereo for 2 hours while working on my car. The stereo was not on loud, only volume 10 i think. Is this normal or would it be a sign my battery is on its way out. I think its the original battery in the car. So it would be about 4 years old. Cheers.

VE's can develop a charge issue which is fixed by a software upgrade. But 4 years may mean time soon for a battery. They use a specific one so my advice is to start to shop around now and keep details handy for when you need one

Quote: Originally Posted by aus880 [View Post] VE's can develop a charge issue which is fixed by a software upgrade. But 4 years may mean time soon for a battery. They use a specific one so my advice is to start to shop around now and keep details handy for when you need one The batteries from factory are poo! Go get yourself a decent one from battery world or similar (not supercheap)

Ok sweet. I was so surprised it went flat. I used to run my stereo in my vl all day and it was fine. I guess here was a lot less electrics in it though.

A friend of mines battery carked it in hes ve ss, so he went out and bought a battery for around the $300 mark thinking the more he spent the better it will be.. Happened to have all sorts of electrical dash problems, took it in to a auto elec to figure out what the problem was and it happened to be the bttery was too powerful! Lol. Just make sure you get the right battery.

That is weird. You would think the amount of power into the car would be regulated.

Quote: Is this normal or would it be a sign my battery is on its way out. I think its the original battery in the car. So it would be about 4 years old. 4 - 5 years is around the life expectancy from a car battery, one way to see whether your battery is o.k. and it's not a sealed unit is to test it with a hydrometer after a charge, check that the water levels are o.k. before charging. The cell gravity should be between 1.250 - 1.300 per cell for a fully charged battery, anything less than that then you would start to assume the plates are badly worn/sulfated, the variation shouldn't be any more than say 0.030 per cell difference. If the battery is a sealed unit, check the voltage across the terminals with a multimeter, if it is 12.5 volts or more then the battery is o.k.,if not , charge it up fully and let it sit overnight, if the battery doesn't maintain the mentioned voltage, replace it, a fully charged battery in good condition should still be able to crank the engine after the high beams have been left on for 10 minutes. I recently had to replace a battery in my VY SS Commodore, it dropped a cell near the positive terminal and wouldn't hold charge and it was only a year old (550 CCA , 55 Amp RC), I fitted one of those "Super charge" 480 CCA batteries with a reserve capacity of 80 amps , this turns over the LS1 really well, I'll have to get some heat wrap for it because I think too much heat caused that cell to fail on the last one and that one is getting hot on the new battery, Holden say the V8 LS1 Commodores should have a heat cover for the battery in the owners manual. I think the car was going through too many batteries, it already had an NRMA battery fitted to it at 6 years of age and didn't hold a deep charge, badly sulfated, I think. I did an alternator upgrade to 180 amps (Pontiac Firebird/ Chevy Camaro remanufactured unit) to replace the 140 amp Mitsubishi unit, I pulled that apart and the regulator had a buildup of carbon it it from the brushes - shorted slip rings & regulator too, I think !!! I have upgraded the wiring in the charging system from 25mm2 to 50mm2 cable (except the starter motor, it's still 25mm2) because it was cheaper than 35mm2 cable, but the current carrying capacity has increased with the starter motor by 1/3rd because 2/3rd's of it is 25mm2 (shorter distance), I fitted remote positive & negative posts to tidy things up a bit, all the earth cables for the engine/alternator & chassis and the positive between the alternator/fusebox/battery has all been upgraded. Hope that answers all your questions.

Quote: Originally Posted by RB30DEVL [View Post] one way to see whether your battery is o.k. and it's not a sealed unit is to test it with You didn't lick the terminals did you?

A easy basic test is make sure the battery has a desent charge on her,Put a volt meter on the battery and start,if it falls bellow 10 volts when starting throw it out.Above 11 and it will be ok.this is just a basic load test. Cheers Marty ps try and put the largest battery in you can if replacing