Car Question

[mrlayance]

Would a battery from a 93' Mazda 323 work in a 91' Toyota Tercel?

 

[notfred]

probably.

 

[notfred]

I should actually clarify that. Almost definitely yes. If you killed the battery in the Toyota, and you need to drive it to the auto parts store or something, I wouldn't hesitate to use the battery out of the mazda. Worst thing that happens is it wont turn over.

 

[N8Magic]

What Tyler said.

 

[Zee]

yea

 

[Marshallj]

Of course it will work.

The only think to worry about is the placement of the positive and negative terminals on the battery. Sometimes the terminals are on opposite sides, and the battery cable in the car might not reach if it's too short.

 

[Scootin159]

Car batteries are almost all 12v batteries, in that sense it will work. But car batteries have dozens of different sizes (just like A, AA, C, D, etc.). There should be a code on each battery telling you what it is, and you SHOULD match that up. But, if you can make it fit SAFELY then I dont' see a problem. Just make sure that none of the terminals are close to shorting out to anything (don't forget hood clearance), and that the battery is mounted securely. If you can move the battery at all, then it's not secure.

EDIT: oh, and you need to make sure that the new battery has the same, or more, CCA (cold cranking amps) and warm cranking amps than the old battery/owners manual says. Otherwise you may find yourself in the middle of winter with a battery that's not powerful enough to turn the engine over.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: Scootin159
Car batteries are almost all 12v batteries, in that sense it will work. But car batteries have dozens of different sizes (just like A, AA, C, D, etc.). There should be a code on each battery telling you what it is, and you SHOULD match that up. But, if you can make it fit SAFELY then I dont' see a problem. Just make sure that none of the terminals are close to shorting out to anything (don't forget hood clearance), and that the battery is mounted securely. If you can move the battery at all, then it's not secure.

EDIT: oh, and you need to make sure that the new battery has the same, or more, CCA (cold cranking amps) and warm cranking amps than the old battery/owners manual says. Otherwise you may find yourself in the middle of winter with a battery that's not powerful enough to turn the engine over.

The amount of cold cranking amps on just about any battery is enough to start just about any engine even in cold weather. Unless you have a huge big block V8 or a diesel engine it won't be a problem.

When I used to work at a marina, we started a big ass diesel forklift with one of those portable battery jumper packs. It was slow, but it did manage to start it.

 

[Marshallj]

The old rule of thumb was to have 1 CCA for each cubic inch of displacement. Considering that even the smallest batteries seem to have over 500 CCA's nowadays, such a battery could start a big block V8.

 

[Scootin159]

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: Scootin159
Car batteries are almost all 12v batteries, in that sense it will work. But car batteries have dozens of different sizes (just like A, AA, C, D, etc.). There should be a code on each battery telling you what it is, and you SHOULD match that up. But, if you can make it fit SAFELY then I dont' see a problem. Just make sure that none of the terminals are close to shorting out to anything (don't forget hood clearance), and that the battery is mounted securely. If you can move the battery at all, then it's not secure.

EDIT: oh, and you need to make sure that the new battery has the same, or more, CCA (cold cranking amps) and warm cranking amps than the old battery/owners manual says. Otherwise you may find yourself in the middle of winter with a battery that's not powerful enough to turn the engine over.

The amount of cold cranking amps on just about any battery is enough to start just about any engine even in cold weather. Unless you have a huge big block V8 or a diesel engine it won't be a problem.

When I used to work at a marina, we started a big ass diesel forklift with one of those portable battery jumper packs. It was slow, but it did manage to start it.

High compression, large displacement engines, especially those with weak starters take a lot more power to turn over. My 2.8L 4 cylinder with an 11:1 compression takes a lot more power to start than my old 2.6L v6 with 9:1 compression.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: Scootin159

High compression, large displacement engines, especially those with weak starters take a lot more power to turn over. My 2.8L 4 cylinder with an 11:1 compression takes a lot more power to start than my old 2.6L v6 with 9:1 compression.

That's still not even close to a diesel engine. We started a diesel forklift with a jumper pack, and diesel engines have CR's of up to 25:1

 

[Scootin159]

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: Scootin159

High compression, large displacement engines, especially those with weak starters take a lot more power to turn over. My 2.8L 4 cylinder with an 11:1 compression takes a lot more power to start than my old 2.6L v6 with 9:1 compression.

That's still not even close to a diesel engine. We started a diesel forklift with a jumper pack, and diesel engines have CR's of up to 25:1

true, and displacement can go huge. So yeah, probalby any battery would be enough in good conditions to start most any engine, but I'm just thinking I don't want him stranded in 10* weather with a battery operating at about 50% capacity and won't turn over his motor. With as close as they cut corners on some cars it wouldn't surprise me if they figured exactly how many amps it takes to start the engine and made the battery to that spec exactly.

 

[mrlayance]

Thanks for the info guys.

Ok, I have another Question. Does leaving your lights on really "Hurt" the battery?

 

[Scootin159]

Originally posted by: mrlayance
Thanks for the info guys.

Ok, I have another Question. Does leaving your lights on really "Hurt" the battery?

Completely draining the battery is not too good for it, but what really hurts it is when you use the car's alternator to recharge the battery afterwards (basically getting a jump start & driving until the battery's charged) charges the battery way too quick and can cause it to heat up enough to warp the plates inside it and damage it.

The best course of action is to either never leave your lights on (it will happen at some point though), and when you do charge it using an all-night trickle charge.