Ford KA Battery

swinnie · 8 Nov 2016 at 17:55

Hi Guys,

Got to change the battery on my sisters 62 plate Ford Ka. Has start/stop, and has murdered a battery in 4 years... pricey suckers too, thankfully ECP had a 30% code at the weekend, managed to get an Exide, the OEM brand for the car, for £125.

Anyway - will I need a radio code or anything when I change the battery? I didn't need to when I did the one on my GF's Aygo earlier on in the year but thought I'd check before I actually go ahead.

Thanks

Richie · 8 Nov 2016 at 20:13

4 Years sounds about right for a battery... I'm unsure why you think Start/Stop has "murdered" the battery when, if anything, the extra load would be on the starter motor

acemastr · 8 Nov 2016 at 20:14

Starting the car takes huge amperage from the battery, then couple with a short distance to the next time it shuts off = not much charge = drained battery.

125 seems a little pricey, especially with 30% off

swinnie · 8 Nov 2016 at 21:14

Richie said:
4 Years sounds about right for a battery... I'm unsure why you think Start/Stop has "murdered" the battery when, if anything, the extra load would be on the starter motor

My GF's Aygo did 7 years on the OEM battery so just seemed short in comparison.

acemastr said:
Starting the car takes huge amperage from the battery, then couple with a short distance to the next time it shuts off = not much charge = drained battery.

125 seems a little pricey, especially with 30% off

Start/Stop technology requires an EFB battery, full price it was £178, so glad she didn't have to pay that much.

Finglonga · 9 Nov 2016 at 00:06

acemastr said:
Starting the car takes huge amperage from the battery, then couple with a short distance to the next time it shuts off = not much charge = drained battery.

They don't work like that, if there isn't enough charge in the battery the stop/start will be disabled by the car until it reaches enough charge for it to work. You can't flatten the battery by using the stop/start system but it will shorten it's life due to the current draw.

paradigm · 9 Nov 2016 at 07:47

Finglonga said:
They don't work like that, if there isn't enough charge in the battery the stop/start will be disabled by the car until it reaches enough charge for it to work. You can't flatten the battery by using the stop/start system but it will shorten it's life due to the current draw.

That and charge cycles kill cells, stop/start systems = more charge cycles.