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MG MGF Technical - VVC Battery capacity & life

Having purchased my lovely 1.8 VVC last friday I after using it for the weekend tried to start it this morning and it turned over a couple of time then just a whirry clicking.
Me thinks the battery is on the flat side so I have removed it & pu it on charge.
I was wandering what size battery I should have? as there appears to be 2 positions to clamp the battery down under the bonnet.
Also what capacity ? the one fitted has 063 marked on it and is 40 Ah (coming from a diesel company car beckground this seems a bit weedy)

any help & advice greatly recieved

robert

R Allan

I also meant to add that the battery is only 20 months old and the car has been locked with alarm on and in a garage since Sunday.

robert
R Allan

The two size tray is a throw back to the early days of the MGF when you could buy the car without EPAS and ABS and so a small battery was OK - however as most MGFs do now have EPAS and ABS and I think the VVC always has then you should fit the largest you can.

I have found that the alarm will drain the battery but it takes longer than a couple of days, also check that the boot and bonnet lights ar going off when the lids are closed.

Having said that if a modern battery is allowed to drain then it never seems to be able to hold a charge again - here I speak from bitter experience.
Ted Newman

As it happens, I can add something here for general information (nice to be able to contribute after so many years of picking other people's brains).

First as Ted says, a drained battery may never hold charge again. That has just happened to me after leaving the car undriven for a couple of months. I noticed today that B&G sell a super-dooper charger (waterproof, multi-fuction, automated etc) that will trickle charge your battery if you leave the car unused for period of time (£47). Uselessly, I can't remember the name but there are likely to be others of the same sort.

Second, the standard battery supplied by Rover is the larger length version now and getting the clamp on and into the second hole is a bit of a chore. I suggest that you clamp it before attaching the positive lead, so you have more wiggle room.

Last and most importantly, the 8th edition Workshop manual lists two batteries, YGD 10003: a 405 amp (cold crank) for the manual steering cars and YGD 10012: a 480A for the PAS (no difference between VVC and 1.8i, though I assume that all VVCs came with PAS from the start). The "Reserve capacity" is expressed to be 70 amps and 90 amps respectively.

My local MGR dealership (fairly reliable) say that MGR have recently down-rated the spec to 390 amps and 63 amps for the two values for the manual steering version (larger length in any event, as noted above). They say that this "update" is on the electronic database only - no paper supplement and unknown to B&G. I bought this battery 2 weeks ago and it occasionally has trouble kicking my F into life so I've ordered the PAS version to replace it.

No doubt an independent manufacturer would have something suitable, so I hope the specs assist.

Regards

Chaz
C Golvala

Why buy a battery from MGR?

My advice is to buy the best you can afford and get it from a motor factors or accessory shop. The price seems to be set by the warranty period which must be related to the quality.

Brian

Thanks for the help.

I git a new Bosch battery (075 coded) for £35 with a 3 year warranty. (£20 cheaper than halfords)
R Allan

The Coulombi Multi XS3600 Switch mode battery charger sold by B&G is excellent. My car is laid up each winter. The charger connector is plumbed into the underbonnet fuse box however you need a bright red "Remove Before Flight" label on the Ignition Key otherwise you can burn it out if you start the car with it connected.
With many years buying batteries around Europe, I can only suggest that you consider a Varta Battery on http://www.varta.co.uk.
Geoff F.
G. Farthing

Brian, agreed - the Varta C10 is 50 quid and carries a lifetime guarantee.
David S

Why MGR? because curiously enough they are the closest supplier that had an appropriate battery. Cost was £26 for the revised-spec YGD 10003. They've now given me the YGD 10012 which is still 480A, for no additional cost.

That said, I agree that cost is not the determining issue and there is no info on this new battery about who made it (OEM, I'd guess) or the guaranteed life. However, since my Unipart Samson was guaranteed for life and died through 3 months non-use, I wonder about the value added by these promises. (The guarantee language is good enough that Unipart don#t have to pay me anything!)

Regards

Chaz
Chaz

This thread was discussed between 18/03/2005 and 22/03/2005

MG MGF Technical index

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