2005 NB2.5 Battery Replacement - Is a HJ-A24L worth the extra cost?

[LeahD]

I’ve noticed the car has been cranking over a little bit more slowly these past couple of months, especially in the recent cold weather.

I’m thinking about replacing the battery and have noticed the original fitment seems to be an HJ-A24L made by Yuasa but they are very expensive - Halfords retail them for £255 (I do have a trade card so most probably can get it cheaper than that).

As an alternative, I was going to get a Bosch S5 063 for approx £80 delivered by tomorrow.

Any thoughts before I commit??? The prime concern is that the Bosch battery will fit without problems.

[MickAP]

Take advice from on here on whats suitable for the NB facelift.
My advice is there are plenty of alternatives at lower prices (wait for advice from NB owners which) I’m not 100% sure if the Yuasa was original fit on the NB anyway.
I bought a Yuasa (two actually for different NC’s) from eBay, no complaints quick delivery perfect fit lower prices, but as said for my NC.

[LeahD]

Just been to have a quick look and it’s a Panasonic rather than a Yuasa as I originally thought.

[MickAP]

That says Panasonic which is an original fit for mazda.

[benfieldl]

I’ve had a Bosch S4 063 on my '99 NB for a few years now that has provided sterling service which replaced a completely useless WestCo. The battery base dimensions are too big for the plastic Panasonic battery tray but I have a absorbing battery mat underneath it and windscreen washer pipe connectors to plumb it into the standard vent piping.

As you can see, the battery clamp needed a spacer, but apart from that it went in without any fuss.

[stubod]

Similar to above, my original Panasonic battery lasted for about 10+ years, then replaced it with a Westco that lasted for just one month after the warranty ran out. I replaced it with a basic £60 odd “generic” battery and it was fine unrtil I sold the car a few years later. I did have to remove the battey tray and change the breather pipes slightly…

[LeahD]

Ah perfect - just the sort of info I was looking for - thank you

Where did you get the absorbent mat from? Just looked on Amazon and cant find one (with the Mail strikes I want to avoid eBay if I can).

I’ve just checked my paperwork and its the OE Panasonic B6AC18520 which is was fitted 4 years ago next week.

[LeahD]

Just ordered the ‘Bosch S5 Car Battery 063 5 Year Guarantee’ with Next Day delivery (£4.95) for £80.94 all in.

I bought 2 of the absorbent mats from www.burtonpower.com for £21.24 with 1-2 day delivery by courier. I bought 2 to ease the pain of the delivery charge!

Will post some pics after I’ve fitted it - thanks again fro your help

[Dipstick]

I hope the battery you purchased has provision for the vent pipes to be fitted. If not acid fumes will collect in the boot and help corrosion. They are also explosive. Always best to fit the Panasonic as fitted by Mazda.

[MickAP]

Just checking, 4 years isn’t a very long battery life, are you sure its been charging properly and how often do you use the car? Sometimes just using a battery maintenance charger to keep to the battery in good order is all that’s needed.

[LeahD]

Dipstick If you look higher up thread the Bosch battery in the pic has vents on.

MickAP: Car gets used at least twice a day for a 15-20 mins commute each way then at least once a weekend for a 100-mile round trip mostly on the motorway.

I thought 4 years was quite good myself ???

[Mazda_mender]

You either want a Bosch S4 or S5 , or a Panasonic gel battery, a bosch drain is slower and far better cranking amps and cheaper than the Panasonic, easier to re-charge if needed, but both will give a good 10 years service.
M-m

[Mazda_mender]

For the MK 1 at the minute but will add in between xmas and new year the MK 2/2.5 section …

http://www.mazdamenders.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=119&t=7988&p=64776#p64776
M-m

[Chris2003]

My Panasonic is the original and still going strong after 20 years on a 52 Reg am I just lucky??

[LeahD]

I must admit it’s new to me folks saying that their batteries seem to be lasting forever. General consensus outside of here is that batteries tend to last 4-5 years.

Pretty sure the AA know what they are on about…

Innovation and technology-the AA battery tester

[MickAP]

They have batteries to sell too.

Must admit my daily drivers battery packed in within less than 5 years. It didn’t have an entirely good start in its life having spent 5 months being a pre reg vehicle. I bought it as the first owner, it only covered 10 miles in to those first 5 months, doubt the battery was ever maintained during that period.
Then only covering just under 30k miles in 8 years it’s hardly been a daily driver, hence my fault for not seeing the battery is kept maintained.

[999to5]

It seems to be the Panasonic batteries that last so well

[Super_7]

FWIW I replaced my life expired (at 20 years old) Panasonic with the same (another Panasonic gell battery) from MX5 Parts, who were much cheaper than Halfords etc.

I’d also repeat what’s in M-m link that you can’t charge a flat gell battery by running it - I found out the hard way pulling on to the A1 after jump starting my car and thinking I’ll give it a quick run to charge it.

[rhino666]

The secret with any battery is keeping the voltage at an acceptable level, say above 12.3 volts.
When it drops to that level through lack of use, cold weather etc, stick the smart charger on it.
The Panasonics can handle abuse that other batteries cannot but at the end of the day none of them like the shock of a significant charge requirement.
Charging with car use is fine when the voltage is at an acceptable level. When the battery voltage drops to a level where it is no longer useable, I suggest a charger is the best remedy.
I see that the Westco battery is still available and more expensive than the original Panasonic.
What idiots buy these? an expensive battery that is very average for the maximum 4 years they seem to last on the MX5. If people did research, asked questions before spending £150 on one of these they would realise the mistakes have been made numerous times before and look elsewhere, beggars belief!!

[LeahD]

Just thought I’d do a little folow up now that my new battery has been fitted…

I ordered mine from Eurocarparts with next day delivery and it came very well packed.

It’s a Bosch S5 Car Battery 063 5 Year Guarantee for £80.94 including next day delivery.

It has vent holes either end with a blanking plug built into the terminbal caps so ypu can plug one of the vents (not needed in the MX-5 as they have vent pipes for both ends).

Once you’ve pulled up the carpet and piece of board with the jackl handle attached it’s pretty straightforward to remove.

First I removed the negative terminal clamp with a 10mm ring spanner (forgot to take photo) then a wrench to undo the retaining bracket bolt (14mm IIRC)

The clamp can then be unhooked from the hole in the frame.

The 2 vent pipes either end just pull off.

Then undo the positive terminal with teh 10mm spanner (again I forgot to take photo).

As you can see the physical dimensions are quite different.

The original plastic tray for the Panasonic tray needs to be removed as well as it wont fit the new battery. This isnt attacjed in any way - it just needs lifting out.

I’d bought a battery absorbing mat since I no longer had the tray so placed that in the hole.

Its a bit of a fiddle to get the bigger battery in place taking care not to catch the terminals in anyway or trap the vent pipes. Once in I attached the positive terminal first, followed by the negative terminal.

Frustratingly the clamp isnt the best fit for the bigger battery. I had to move it up a hole in the series of holes in the frame and due to the postioning of the carry handle you cant quite get the battery to clamp like the original. I tried a few different combinations and pic is the best of the options. It’s certainly not moving about and I will check it in a week or 2 to make sure.

With regard to the vent elbows when I asked at a local parts factor they just gave me 2 spare they add but I did see you can buy them on eBay etc.

After a few trips I attcahed my battery/alternator tester on it and all is looking good

BTW As a few posters have mentioned above if anyone wants a 4 year old panasonic battery and collect from North West (I will NOT post so don’t ask) DM me