New battery fitting

[Paul Kelley]

What a PITA this is as a ‘routine’ job! You of course have to remove the power steering pump and slip off its belt, and one of the three bolts is pretty inaccessible. I have the grazed knuckles to prove it. Also, on mine the steering pump bolts are (standard) AF whereas the battery terminal nuts are (non-standard?) metric!

My old battery held an apparently good charge, more than strong enough to churn the engine over as normal. But the voltage level was not good enough to fire up the Lumenition system, witnessed by no spark at the plugs. So, with new battery (Halfords £102) in place it fired up first time and all is back to normal. Now, where did I put those elastoplasts…….
PK

[Tdm]

Just last year after changing the Battery for about the 3rd time for an 80amp one (which just fitted), and having the threads go that hold the Power Steering Bolts, I decided to make the bolts studs permanently sealed in place in the RH Head, with the bracket now held in place by nuts. So much easier now to move the bracket.

[Kithmo]

What a PITA this is as a ‘routine’ job! You of course have to remove the power steering pump and slip off its belt, and one of the three bolts is pretty inaccessible. I have the grazed knuckles to prove it. Also, on mine the steering pump bolts are (standard) AF whereas the battery terminal nuts are (non-standard?) metric!

My old battery held an apparently good charge, more than strong enough to churn the engine over as normal. But the voltage level was not good enough to fire up the Lumenition system, witnessed by no spark at the plugs. So, with new battery (Halfords £102) in place it fired up first time and all is back to normal. Now, where did I put those elastoplasts…….
PK

I thought Halfords fitted new batteries for you ?

[Seaking]

I thought Halfords fitted new batteries for you ?

Have you ever taken a car around Longleat in the Monkey section?? I suspect you can get the same level of fitter there as well lol.

[mole42]

I wouldn't have called fitting a new battery a 'routine job' - perhaps once every ten years if the car is in regular service. The Repair Operation Times book says it takes 45 minutes.
It may be a more regular job if the car isn't used much as car batteries don't respond well to being laid-up.

[DJT]

Agreed. 4 new batteries in 28 years. 45 minutes is a very generous allowance. More like 20 minutes tops. The three steering pump bolts are easily reached with a 3/8" ratchet and long sockets.

[Paul Kelley]

I had thought about asking Halfords to fit it just to see the reaction!! (but wouldn't want them touching it in reality). And yes, decent socket set is a must. Agreed these days with modern sealed batteries the need for removal is very infrequent. But I think I'm right in saying that, back in the day, the battery was supposed to be taken out much more regularly and, er, stuff done to it. I'm sure someone will correct me and/or add in the 'stuff done to it' details!
Paul.

[jbuckl]

Sorry Paul.
It could be worse though:-
A work colleague of mine needed a new battery fitting to the families Q7.
Horrendous price.
Horrendous labour charge.
Master technician required.
Seat needed removing.
IMHO Working on the stag is lots easier than any modern cars.

What a PITA this is as a ‘routine’ job! You of course have to remove the power steering pump and slip off its belt, and one of the three bolts is pretty inaccessible. I have the grazed knuckles to prove it. Also, on mine the steering pump bolts are (standard) AF whereas the battery terminal nuts are (non-standard?) metric!

My old battery held an apparently good charge, more than strong enough to churn the engine over as normal. But the voltage level was not good enough to fire up the Lumenition system, witnessed by no spark at the plugs. So, with new battery (Halfords £102) in place it fired up first time and all is back to normal. Now, where did I put those elastoplasts…….
PK

[rare1]

Just put a new battery on mine after 9 years. Easy job with correct tools. New battery was £60 from bush tyres and got same make. Job done.

[Motorsport Micky]

I thought Halfords fitted new batteries for you ?

At a cost, on a modern starts at £10 for straightforward removal of air cleaners etc for access. I guess a Stag might be outside their experience, if they can change the battery in about 20 mins I guess that might be the cost.

Micky

[richardthestag]

one of the pas pump bolts - inaccessible!

Heaven help us all if you need to get to any of the following

Front offside inlet manifold bolt - known as the Anstead
Bottom row of exhaust manifold bolts - both sides
engine mounting on o/s
bottom steering shaft pinch bolt
cylinder head transfer plate - any of the bolts on either of the heads
Any of the engine plate bolts on behind the nearside head

any more chaps

Glad you got it done though and nope I wouldnt trust Halfords on my Stag but would be prepared to let them struggle with any modern car headlight system for a fiver + bulb

[Kithmo]

Have you ever taken a car around Longleat in the Monkey section?? I suspect you can get the same level of fitter there as well lol.

LOL, true but you could oversee/direct the monkey and let him skin his knuckles instead.

[Stagdad]

one of the pas pump bolts - inaccessible!

Heaven help us all if you need to get to any of the following

Front offside inlet manifold bolt - known as the Anstead
Bottom row of exhaust manifold bolts - both sides
engine mounting on o/s
bottom steering shaft pinch bolt
cylinder head transfer plate - any of the bolts on either of the heads
Any of the engine plate bolts on behind the nearside head

any more chaps

Glad you got it done though and nope I wouldnt trust Halfords on my Stag but would be prepared to let them struggle with any modern car headlight system for a fiver + bulb

Upper half of the bell housing to engine bolts.

[jbuckl]

4 heater bolts on your own?

but all stag work pales in insignificance compared to most 'moderns'

C-class merc 5 cylinder turbo diesel right hand drive downpipe :- support the engine then undo both engine mounts is how that begins, goes on for some time before the engine can be refitted !

Upper half of the bell housing to engine bolts.

[Tdm]

The 2 Spitfires I used to own were pretty easy to work on as the whole front end could be lifted out of the way giving great access to the whole of the engine bay area. There was even a choice of seats to sit on provided whilst you worked on the engine, the left & right front wheels.

Way back when my wife first learnt to drive (at the time I was running my 2nd Spitfire), we bought a Morris Minor Traveller for her to learn in (mainly because she was expecting our 1st child and you could get a baby pram in the back of the Traveller), and that was easy to work on as well, being as it was a small engine in a fairly large engine bay, and was a dead simple design.

The misses didn't like the car at first, but cried when we eventually sold it, as she had become very attached to it by then, and found it easy to drive, and I think she enjoyed driving it just as much as the Spitfire.