S Type Battery Failure.

[Old Peter]

Yesterday an hour after a full charge my s type refused to start while I was in Pensioners Hour at the local Sainsbury's  The AA were with me in 20 minutes and diagnosed that my three and a half year old battery was not holding a charge.  The car was jump started to get me home a short distance away, and the AA engineer recommended [and I agreed] that a new battery was needed.  Within a hour a new Bosch Battery was bought and fitted and all is now well.

I never thought that a battery would fail in such a short time, but I had been having a problem in the last month which I put down to the weather. The AA engineer said that the S Type Diesel engine had a very powerful alternator and needed a battery that would be strong enough.  Obviously the Platinum battery on my  S type was not up to it!

[colgates]

Hi Peter, I purchased a battery with a 5 year warranty from Halfords in 2014 and was replaced under warranty in 2017 for the same reason as yours. luckily I kept the receipt from when it was exchanged and had it replaced again last week  FOC. It appears that the batteries on the s-type only last about 3 years.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

Hi Peter

Diesels are known for eating batteries, especially if used on short runs

the glow plugs take so much out the battery and if only taken on a short run, whats was taken out on starting is not put back in, in charge and eventually the battery get lower and lower

worth mentioning just for a bit extra money, AGM batteries are far superior, with more cranking amps and recharge quicker

if your not going be doing many miles, may be worth buying a ctek charger and topping the battery up once a week

I use ctek chargers on two of my cars, my mitsubishi battery is over 13 years old now and the battery on my Jaguar looks to be original, but both run on the good stuff "petrol"

cheers

Joe

[Old Peter]

Hi Joe,

With the current limits from the Government I have not done any real longer runs and following advice from yourself some time ago I bought a Ctek charger and also went to the trouble of having an exterior socket fitted by a local electrician who is very well qualified.

I was charging the battery every time the charger gave the red signal but it soon appeared  too often and caught me out by refusing to start in a Sainsbury's car park.  The AA checked the battery and found it wasn't holding a charge.  A Bosch battery was fitted and seems to be doing the job. It will go on the charger once a week!

At a guess once starting the car it takes about 7 miles to give battery back the power used.  I am also told that to keep the electrics in good order there should be at least 40 minutes driving every week -- a bit of a problem now!

Regards,

Peter.

[Old Peter]

Hi Colin,

The battery in my S type when I bought it was almost new and had the date written on it.  It was 4 years and 11 months old when I changed it. The battery I got was a Platinum and only lasted 3 years and 4 months.  It only had a two year warranty,

The battery that the AA fitted is a Bosch and is the battery that was marked as the one specified for the S Type Diesel.  It also has a 5 year warranty, which gives me a bit of confidence.

Regards,

Peter.