light battery?

[McPatrick]

I would love to get a bit more mechanically inclined and I am gonna buy a voltmeter tonight and start on the VX tomorrow following your instructions Bruce!

[VetteOwner]

or could just take the car to autozone (or just about any autoparts store nowadays) and they test the battery and alternator for free and will instantly tell you if either one is good/bad... takes 15 seconds!

but if you want to learn (good stuff to know) then by all means do it! but if you dont have time/need your car for work, autozone or the like is there to test too.

btw your battery just died on its own probably because of parasidic drains(ecm uses a bit to keeps its memory, radio memory, etc) and if you have a defective trunk light or glove box light switch so its staying on all the time that will kill a battery within a week or so...


btw i doubt most lawn tractor batteries usually dont have enough amps to start the car. the ones ive seen put out anywhere between 150-300 amps. your starter could very well take 200-500amps to start. its not good for the battery to almost completly discharge and then recharge every time you start the car (also hard on the alternator)

saveing 5-10 lbs by using a smaller battery i cant see making any difference on a 3000lb car... might as well remove the carpet headliner and door pannels because they weigh more than the battery itself!

[mrmad]

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

btw i doubt most lawn tractor batteries usually dont have enough amps to start the car. the ones ive seen put out anywhere between 150-300 amps. your starter could very well take 200-500amps to start. its not good for the battery to almost completly discharge and then recharge every time you start the car (also hard on the alternator)

saveing 5-10 lbs by using a smaller battery i cant see making any difference on a 3000lb car... might as well remove the carpet headliner and door pannels because they weigh more than the battery itself!

I was surprised to see people trying lawn tractor batteries, but considering they are putting these batteries in Integras with larger, higher compression engines, it looks like it may work on a Civic/CRX/or Metro sized engine. Might not be a good idea if you don't live in the Sun belt as it may have problems starting on a 20 below morning, and the car probably couldn't be used to jump start other cars, but when my battery dies, I'm going to give it a shot. I'm going to do this to save $ over the cost of the regular battery more then to save weight, plus on my Honda, it will give more room for my intake.

[thisisntjared]

Originally Posted by mrmad

You could try the lawnmower battery shown in this thread. $25 at Wally World

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread....hlight=battery

you beat me to it. i had a lawnmower battery in my civic for 2 years, then i crashed it... chances are i will put that battery in my current civic when its battery dies...

it weighed 12 lbs when the oem unit was over twice that. more weight savings than a cf hood.

[Danronian]

Originally Posted by Telco

Actually, DO worry about tiedown, a hard brake can force the battery to move, and it may move into contact with metal. An otherwise minor incident can turn into a battery exploding under the hood. You can get a tiedown kit that uses a plate with a couple of really long bolts to hold the battery in place, just drill holes in the battery tray, install the bolts, then clamp on the tiedown.

This is true... The battery that came in my VX is too tall for the factory tie-down, and my replacement has been a bungee cord around the battery and tray. Now I see this as a minor threat during an accident.

[pyramid_head]

Lookie what i found. I know it's old, but I hope it's some use to you guys out there.

http://www.stealth316.com/2-dynabatt.htm

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by mrmad

I was surprised to see people trying lawn tractor batteries, but considering they are putting these batteries in Integras with larger, higher compression engines, it looks like it may work on a Civic/CRX/or Metro sized engine. Might not be a good idea if you don't live in the Sun belt as it may have problems starting on a 20 below morning, and the car probably couldn't be used to jump start other cars, but when my battery dies, I'm going to give it a shot. I'm going to do this to save $ over the cost of the regular battery more then to save weight, plus on my Honda, it will give more room for my intake.

well a normal auto abttery you can get for $40 on the cheap end. AND you dont have to go cutting cables to put in new terminals...