I've been down this road before but it's so long ago I always forget what to do and test. As always, I'll search YouTube to refresh my memory.

First off, the battery was bought in November 2016, therefore, you might say it's past its use by date.

When the car wouldn't start a few days ago, I charged it back up and the car started without issue. For the next couple of days I used it a few times but on short journeys.

Yesterday, I went to drop something off at newsagent and left the boot up and hazards on because I was in a loading bay. It was only 5 minutes but the car wouldn't turnover when I got back. Luckily I have one of those battery jump starters to get me home.

However, I'm wondering if I have a power drain somewhere, or is it simply because the battery is no longer holding the charge?

In the meantime, I'm looking online to find a new battery but can anyone recommend which one or tell me the specs I must use? Just used my VRN on one website, but can see it's wrong as the positive is on the right side. My Focus is a MK1.5 1.6LX.

Thanks very much.

 

I'd say it's dead.

It is 9 years old, you've done well

Stick a new battery on

Just fit the same one (Ah) that is coming off, cheap as possible

Doesn't it need to be silver/calcium or calcium/calcium for a car of that age?

29 minutes ago, mjt said:

Doesn't it need to be silver/calcium or calcium/calcium for a car of that age?

Silver Calcium has been relegated to the history books I'm afraid 🙁. They were an excellent battery and commonly lasted up to 10 years before just suddenly failing. I suspect that because they were so good, they had to be done away with. It's all in the name of saving the planet, now you get to fit a new battery every 3 or 4 years !!

The Calcium Calcium battery is probably the closest replacement, but still not that easy to find. They only seem to last a maximum of 4 years. It's hard to find a suitable replacement for older vehicles as most batteries these days tend to be EFB or AGM.

Thanks for all your advice.

I've had a look at all the batteries but I'm still a bit confused with which one to get. I'm assuming the battery I put in 2016 was the correct one but I can't seem to find the exact specs. Also, I've realised it doesn't seem to matter which side the positive is as I can always turn it around.

Does it need to be exactly 44Ah or just not lower and what about the cranking power (CCA?) at 420A?

This is the cheapest one that's near me but it has 45Ah with 440 CCA.

Also, is it worth paying an extra £10 for this or £30 extra for this? They're both YUASA and assuming they're compatible?

The most expensive has higher specs but according to their website, it's compatible at 52Ah and 520CCA. Is it bigger the better?

Thanks very much and hope you can let me know, I'll order one of them and pick it up later.

 

 

My suggestions (free to ignore of course) look at Halfords own brand. If it did fail then you can get it replaced nationwide?
Whilst Yuasa are a good make the warranty on all batteries I know of only applies to MANUFACTURING defects (pretty unlikely these days, perhaps), not warranted to start your car for the 4, 5 or whatever years!
I'd go for the biggest capacity possible within whatever price you decide on (especially important for diesels but always a help)

I must be too used to diesel battery specs...  Amazed a 420A battery from 10 years ago still manages to crank an engine fast enough to start!  

You can go bigger on AH & CCA, as long as the physical battery dimensions still fit in the battery box.

That's great, I'll bite the pillow and go for the biggest CCA, afterall...

Thanks again.

23 hours ago, unofix said:

Silver Calcium has been relegated to the history books I'm afraid 🙁. They were an excellent battery and commonly lasted up to 10 years before just suddenly failing

This was why I mentioned it. What are those of us with cars fitted with smart charge supposed to do when we need to replace the battery? I replaced the one in our Mk2.5 in 2020, buying a genuine Ford battery - 52Ah 500CCA - from my local Ford dealer. If you're right we might get another 5 years from it so that would probably see the car to the end of it's life - it'd be 20 years old - or to the end of our driving lives, whichever comes sooner.

Would it be practical to unplug the smart charge connection to the alternator and let it revert to standard for use with an ordinary lead-acid battery?

1 hour ago, mjt said:

Would it be practical to unplug the smart charge connection to the alternator and let it revert to standard for use with an ordinary lead-acid battery?

That's not really an option. On older vehicles with the original 'Smart' charge the best option is to try and find a Calcium/Calcium battery. They do still exist but can be more expensive than what they should be.

The final and last resort would be to use an EFB battery, but these generally expect a charging voltage of 14.6V on the vehicle and the older Smart charge system will usually limit the charging voltage to around 13.95V This will probably mean the battery will need 'topped up' from time to time with a battery charger.