Omega Owners Forum
Omega Help Area => Omega Electrical and Audio Help => Topic started by: Ian_D on 08 April 2008, 13:31:25
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I’m thinking about changing the battery in my Omega, and wondered what the biggest size battery could be fitted.
To cut a long story short, I left the radio on the other day for maybe 2 hrs while I cleaned the car. And when I went to start the car, the engine didn’t crank over very fast (it still started though :))
I would have thought that the battery should have lasted over 2 hrs without any noticeable effects, or would you say that slow cranking is to be expected?
Normally I wouldn't worry too much about the battery going flat as all the cars I’ve had up to now have been manuals. So worst case, I can bump start it. The Omega is an Auto, so that’s not an option. To make matters worse, I often spend a couple of hours sat in the car in high lay-bys / top of hills etc down very quiet roads for radio work. So if my battery dies on me I’m buggered! :-[
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It's a case of measuring up and seeing what'll fit I guess. I think of the Omegas the batteries for the 3.2/2.6 have the highest Ah rating and I would imagine, though don't know for sure, that they would fit into any Omega.
VX dealer on trade club is a pretty competitive price. :y
But before you do that, measure the charging voltage under no load and with some loads on, just to make sure it's charging that battery properly, and also make sure that tha battery terminals don't get hot when there are a few electrical loads on and the engine is running. The cable crimp on the positive battery terminal has a habit of loosening and it then goes high resistance and makes a big difference to the charging voltage.
Kevin
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It's a case of measuring up and seeing what'll fit I guess. I think of the Omegas the batteries for the 3.2/2.6 have the highest Ah rating and I would imagine, though don't know for sure, that they would fit into any Omega.
VX dealer on trade club is a pretty competitive price. :y
But before you do that, measure the charging voltage under no load and with some loads on, just to make sure it's charging that battery properly, and also make sure that tha battery terminals don't get hot when there are a few electrical loads on and the engine is running. The cable crimp on the positive battery terminal has a habit of loosening and it then goes high resistance and makes a big difference to the charging voltage.
Kevin
Cheers for that info, I will test the voltage once i get home tonight. Will also check the crimped cable.
Its a 3.0 Elite, so I assume it will have the same size battery as the 2.6/3.2's? unless there bigger. I wonder what batterys were fitted to the 2.5TD models.
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The info is on here somewhere as it's been discussed before. I think the battery capacity was upped with the 2.6 / 3.2 so it's a bigger one than the 3.0, but only by a couple of Ah IIRC.
A search might bring it up. Not sure about the TD. May well be bigger still.
Kevin
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It probably won't hurt to put a decent sized battery on and as you say, any battery should still start well after a couple of hours with radio on.
Try and get a VX battery though, they seem to last better, and good value. See what size some of the vans take? Should have no problem with a 80AH like the police use and maybe push it to 100AH, physical dimensions permitting?
The DTi size quoted wasn't right in the book when we last looked and we have 72AH on our diesels.
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Might be worth a little diagnosis before you change the battery. Check it's charging OK as mentioned. Also try fully charging it and then turn the headlights on for 5 or 10 minutes and see if the voltage drops or the lights get dim. It should maintain 12-12.5 volts.
Kevin
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Mine's a 72A on my 3.0 Elite, just bought it a couple of weeks back.
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Got a ridiculously large 85Ah one from Vauxhall today, £71.26 inc VAT on TC.
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Got a ridiculously large 85Ah one from Vauxhall today, £71.26 inc VAT on TC.
Yours must be as big as pauljudibru's, the biggest one I've ever seen! :-? ::) ::) :y :y
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Thats the same as the one that has died on mine today.
85A whith the vauxhall logo on it/
Car is only a 2.5 Petrol GLS, wouldnt have thought it needed to be that big.
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I got a great big battery from an old ford transit thats bigger than the usual Omega one but still fits nicely into the engine bay, will have a look at what it is and amps etc tomorrow in the light :)