3200 battery help!

Hey

I've had my 3200 on charge for a few days before taking it to Phil Kyle to help with the battery drain. I've noticed that the readout was only 11.6v after prolonged charge on my Oxford charger\conditioner. The car started but very lethargically so I'm thinking that the battery is the issue. I'd rather try that than run up a bill at Phil's for nothing!

It is a Bosch s3 640mah that's fitted. Can anyone tell me the following-

1) can I up it to an 096 as per my GS or should I stick with the current one? Will an 096 fit, the GS is a tight squeeze!
2) what's the code for the current one is it 078?
3) any other wise suggestions?

Cheers all

Athol

It sounds more start motor related if it is lethargic and slow to start.

11.6v is a little on the low side according to the workshop manual.

I think if your battery is in good condition the AH rating on the standard unit is ok for the job. However if you have charged it for 2 days and its not cranking well then you have a problem. If the 11.6 is from the dash voltmeter then this is not an indication of anything, since these meters are terrible. I reckon you can narrow this down to one of three things, 1. The battery is dead and has high internal resistance and many motor shops/garages can test this. 2. you have a problem with the wiring or the starter motor and this is causing the poor cranking. If this is a problem then if you fit a fresh battery it wont make any difference! 3. Your alternator is not charging the battery, when the car is running, sounds like this is not the case as you have been using an external charger and its still not right. If it has an original Valeo starter then these are prone to problems, and I replaced this with a Bosch part which improved the starting day one. Also watch out for a braided earth strip that runs from the starter mounting bolts down the bell housing to the body, if this gets corroded or broken this will also make it crank poorly.

I'd have thought 11.6 under zero load is way too low. Sounds like a dead cell.
640 Ah sounds low as well
I think the Bosch Silver 096 is the current recommended one.

C

Picked up an s5 096 from Eurocar Parts which I will install tonight. It's showing 13.7V pre-install which is much better looking.

Hopefully this is the answer, watch this space!

It's almost certainly the issue, your previous reading was way too low..!!

A fully charged battery should show 12.6v if healthy. Less than that and you have battery issues. I would think a new battery will cure your woes. Italian cars and bikes are finicky when it comes to electricity. I've found that if you can keep the smoke in the wires, all tends to go well. When it leaks out, that's bad.