Replacement battery for a Mk2.5

[The Hypno-Toad]

Sorry I bet this has been done before but the search feature on PH has been down for most of the year, so I've had to start a new one.

Is there a make/code number for a replacement battery for a Mk2.5? Plain and simple, I can't afford the £100.00 for the gel type at the moment and was hoping to get a more standard replacement, maybe more around the £60.00 budget?

I've already been to my local battery guy and after three different ones that we thought would fit, no joy. I've even looked on the orange devils site but the three batterys they suggest look massive in the pictures and similar to ones I tried that won't go in.

Thanks in advance.

Toad

[devnull]

http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f...

[HereBeMonsters]

Get the proper one. Buy cheap, buy twice. And all the hassle that involves.

[MX-5 Lazza]

HereBeMonsters said:

Get the proper one. Buy cheap, buy twice. And all the hassle that involves.

Or get a cheaper one (as in the linked thread), save the cash and get a battery with a longer warranty.

[98elise]

MX-5 Lazza said:

HereBeMonsters said:

Get the proper one. Buy cheap, buy twice. And all the hassle that involves.

Or get a cheaper one (as in the linked thread), save the cash and get a battery with a longer warranty.

Yup. It was my original thread. Paid much more for the MX5 battery than I did for the Bosch in my elise, and mondeo. Bosch comes with a 5 year warranty and has never let me down. The expensive MX5 one lasted 3 days, and can't be recharged with a normal charger. i've now had to buy an optimate to charge it.you recharge it. The supplier will only recharge it rather than replace it.

Cost so far is £160 and the car has been off the road for a few weeks!

[The Hypno-Toad]

98elise said:

Yup. It was my original thread. Paid much more for the MX5 battery than I did for the Bosch in my elise, and mondeo. Bosch comes with a 5 year warranty and has never let me down. The expensive MX5 one lasted 3 days, and can't be recharged with a normal charger. i've now had to buy an optimate to charge it.you recharge it. The supplier will only recharge it rather than replace it.

Cost so far is £160 and the car has been off the road for a few weeks!

Hi 98elise,

Can you confirm the part number for the Bosch battery and if it will definetly fit a mk2.5?

As I mentioned, I've already been told 3 different batteries would fit and none of them have.

Thanks in advance.

[MX-5 Lazza]

This is the battery I fitted in my Mk2.5
Fit's fine but the battery tray has to go. Mine was broken anyway. My battery is just sitting on an old sponge now.

[HereBeMonsters]

98elise said:

Yup. It was my original thread. Paid much more for the MX5 battery than I did for the Bosch in my elise, and mondeo. Bosch comes with a 5 year warranty and has never let me down. The expensive MX5 one lasted 3 days, and can't be recharged with a normal charger. i've now had to buy an optimate to charge it.you recharge it. The supplier will only recharge it rather than replace it.

Cost so far is £160 and the car has been off the road for a few weeks!

Did you buy the proper one from the Mazda dealer?

They just need a charger that can do gel batteries, as that is what the MX-5 requires (I had 3 different lead acid batteries in my Mk 1, and they all died). My charger was £40 from Halfords, switchable between lead acid and gel type.

Though of course it will charge off the car when running. If it discharged in 3 days I'd wager there was something wrong with your car than with the battery.

[MX-5 Lazza]

The Mazda one from a dealer is way overpriced though. I agree with you that it's a good battery but you just don't need to pay that much.
I've gone off the Westco as it doesn't seem to last long - which is reflected in it's relatively short warranty but not in the price.

[98elise]

HereBeMonsters said:

98elise said:

Yup. It was my original thread. Paid much more for the MX5 battery than I did for the Bosch in my elise, and mondeo. Bosch comes with a 5 year warranty and has never let me down. The expensive MX5 one lasted 3 days, and can't be recharged with a normal charger. i've now had to buy an optimate to charge it.you recharge it. The supplier will only recharge it rather than replace it.

Cost so far is £160 and the car has been off the road for a few weeks!

Did you buy the proper one from the Mazda dealer?

They just need a charger that can do gel batteries, as that is what the MX-5 requires (I had 3 different lead acid batteries in my Mk 1, and they all died). My charger was £40 from Halfords, switchable between lead acid and gel type.

Though of course it will charge off the car when running. If it discharged in 3 days I'd wager there was something wrong with your car than with the battery.

I bought the westco as its a higher spec than the original.

The old battery would happily sit for more than 2 weeks without a start. I only replaced is as it was the origonal battery, and always sounded weak regardless of how well charged. Another person who bought the same battery says theirs discharges while sat on the bench.

The battery is back in the car now, so we will see how long it lasts.

[The Hypno-Toad]

Thanks for all the advice. But now I will be reviewing this after the other possible problem. (see new thread.)

[The Hypno-Toad]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the advice everyone but I've finally got round to purchasing the Bosch. The car is starting much better, as it should.

[bobcheeseman]

The Hypno-Toad said:

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the advice everyone but I've finally got round to purchasing the Bosch. The car is starting much better, as it should.

Hi Hypnotoad

What did you do about the battery tray and fixing bracket? Any customisation required for the bracket?

[The Hypno-Toad]

bobcheeseman said:

Hi Hypnotoad

What did you do about the battery tray and fixing bracket? Any customisation required for the bracket?

My mechanic friend removed the battery tray and jiggled the bracket a little bit but basically it fits fine.

Starts fine now.

[TobyC]

My second Panasonic battery just died after three years in my 2003 MX5 2.5 - which I've happily owned for 11 years now. To be honest, neither of the batteries seemed to have enough grunt to turn the engine over enthusiastically.

So I ordered the Bosch S5 from Eurocar Parts Amazon store http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005XVU3HQ/

.. strangely £10 less than their own price here: http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/accessories-car-...

It arrived the next day via UPS, despite me opting for economy delivery. The packaging was excellent and included some nice yellow foam/cloth which I used to form a replacement for the battery tray.

There were two small mods I had to make. Firstly, the battery plastic handle needed two small lumps (less than a centimetre) sawn off each end to make it able to sit under the holding bracket. This took 2 minutes with a hacksaw.

Secondly, I followed the excellent advise here and went to my local garden centre in Ditchling to visit their aquatic centre. I bought a small kit of 6mm pipe and the joiners. I had intended to insert a pipe joiner in each of the two battery air vents but opted to use the new 6mm pipe which was a nice tight fit directly in the air vents and connected to the original T junction next to the battery - see photo. Note also that the holding bracket fits into the second hole down, not the third as it was for the Panasonic. It fits very well, feels very secure and the floor is flat on top.

The battery is much, much stronger than either of the Panasonics I had and I can recommend it ….. so far.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

[MX-5 Lazza]

My Bosch S5 063 doesn't have any vent holes. Maybe that's the difference between an 001 and an 063 as they otherwise look the same size.

[TobyC]

MX-5 Lazza said:

My Bosch S5 063 doesn't have any vent holes. Maybe that's the difference between an 001 and an 063 as they otherwise look the same size.

That's interesting. A quick trawl round seems to indicate the Bosch S5 063 and S5-001 are one and the same:

http://www.maxautopartsltd.co.uk/bosch-s5/s5001-06...

http://www.autopointcarparts.co.uk/index.php/bosch...

http://www.nctractorspares.co.uk/bosch-silver-063-...

I certainly ordered the 063 and the Europarts invoice says it's a 063 with a "customer part number S5001" - as displayed on the battery. This doesn't explain why yours has no vents though.

[MX-5 Lazza]

I think the vent "holes" are there but they are blanked off.

[richard at home]

Just been exploring all the posts, after finding that 'just get a new battery' is actually a bit of a minefield...

So just out of interest, does the MX5 have a special charging circuit for it's stock gel mat battery?

My battery tester shows my battery is on the very weak end of the scale and the starter is making odd noises trying to engage probably due to the volt drop.

Options seem to be a eurocarparts one (higher, wider, but shorter in length) for £38 less 25% voucher code and tart about with the bracket/tray/vent pipes or get a genuine Mazda replacement and go without beer for a few weeks...

[richard at home]

I ended up with a Lion brand from EuroCarParts which is a direct swap, no mods needed. It cost £111 though (less 25% discount code).