Ranger Mods

Having just been introduced to Forscan (Thank you Stewart) one of the things we noticed when he was setting it up was that my battery was only 54% charged. Okay so I had it on a trickle charge overnight and it hasn't improved one iota, any ideas anyone ?? Driving along the voltage sits on around 14.2 volts
The car starts fine, first turn of the key but 54% ?? The sight glass is white with a red dot centre so the low charge would seem to be correct.

Is it the original battery?
If yes then they are not very good quality.

How many klms a week do you do?
It takes quite a few klms to get the original battery charged, average seems to be around 70% capacity.

Is it driven every day?
The OEM battery loses charge very quickly.

Also keep in mind the calcium batteries would prefer a higher charge voltage and is why the AGM like Ross uses tends to charge up quiet well.

Most Rangers only put out about 14.3 volts max which is far from ideal.

RossPat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 19, 2018 3:36 pm Is it the original battery?
If yes then they are not very good quality.

How many klms a week do you do?
It takes quite a few klms to get the original battery charged, average seems to be around 70% capacity.

Is it driven every day?
The OEM battery loses charge very quickly.

Yes, its the original battery, its now a year old (dated from the manufacture date)

On average around 700 k's a week, The Wildtrak has only been registered since March of this year but its now done 29,500 k's (due for an engine oil and full filter (air, oil, pollen, fuel x 2 ) change this coming weekend)

Yes, its driven daily - the distances can vary from over 200 k's to just 5.

As I said, its never not started first turn of the ignition key, the CPU (???) has however turned all the circuits off due to "Low Battery Power" when I've occasionally left the ignition on for some time on at least two occassions. The auxiliary/accessory 135 a/h Lithium battery seldom drops below 13.8 volts - it's charged via a RedArc BCDC charger whereas the main battery has never gone above 12.5 volts.

I guess the next question is what replacement battery do you good people advise - I'd rather change it now than find it to be defective on our next trip deep into the bush. I can always use this one as a boost battery for our 12 volt greenhouse solar powered ventilation and watering system so its not exactly going to go to waste.

My ranger failed to launch a couple of times last month so had the battery checked and was diagnosed as no good. Put new battery in and happy days again. Interestingly the old battery that wouldn't take full charge in the ranger has been happily starting my tractor.

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gordo350 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 10:50 am My ranger failed to launch a couple of times last month so had the battery checked and was diagnosed as no good. Put new battery in and happy days again. Interestingly the old battery that wouldn't take full charge in the ranger has been happily starting my tractor.

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Your tractor probably has a big capacity low compression diesel engine, low revving but with massive torque, normally aspirated and if it is over 30 years old like my old mates will probably run quite well on a mixture of old engine oil and kerro. My old Land Rover Discovery 300 Tdi although turbo would easily start off a run down battery, but then it was just a sophisticated tractor engine and the only electrics on it were the starter motor and fuel cut off solenoid

This is the battery I use @1030 CCA..https://superstart.com.au/ss75ti-high-p ... ttery.html

There possibly are better batteries and definitely worse.

I have no issues charging this battery and the 120amp caravan battery to 100%, and that suits me fine as I don't need a bcdc or dcdc charger.

Using Forscan I change to DBM, too easy.

Super Charge MF77 Gold plus, 750 CCA

RossPat wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:57 pm This is the battery I use @1030 CCA..https://superstart.com.au/ss75ti-high-p ... ttery.html

There possibly are better batteries and definitely worse.

I have no issues charging this battery and the 120amp caravan battery to 100%, and that suits me fine as I don't need a bcdc or dcdc charger.

Using Forscan I change to DBM, too easy.

Hi, did this battery fit straight in? Or are there some mods to do?
Are you still happy with it?
Stewart

It fitted straight in.

Mine is an auto and I was told the manual battery tray is shorter and a small amount of plastic has to be trimmed off the battery to make it fit.

I can't say if this is correct or not.

I am happy with the performance of the battery.

My car has been sitting a bit due to the hot weather, but still holds a charge.

I have the Battery Charge set on 90% because the Smart Charger is crap.

Thanks might look into it.

If you can, leave the car running with the hazard lights turned on for a while. Turning them on forces the system to provide maximum charge to the battery.

This information came from a extremely reliable source but I've not yet had the need to test it myself.

I believe parkers on does similar.

Goochie, interesting with the hazard lights