What’s the best car (starting) battery for the Vanagon?

[zoti]

I have an 88 Westfalia. The starter battery is dying. Won’t hold charge for long.

The previous owner put a 70ah battery but it is too tall for the compartment.

I have 200ah batteries to run my camping needs so the car battery is used just as a regular car battery. No real loads on it other then regular loads to run the car.

What’s recommended and preferably something I can buy locally.

[kamzcab86]

It's the CCA rating (not amp hours) that's important when it comes to starting batteries.

That said, Group 41 is the factory size, but it takes up the entire battery box making it a bitch to deal with (it also isn't commonly stocked these days). A lot of us with Westfalias have switched to a T5:

I (finally) just installed a new factory hold-down clamp... works splendidly.

🍺
_________________
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子

[markswagen]

i like interstate batteries, i have them in all of my vanagons, and i recommend my customers buy the same.
group 41, is what came from the factory, if that is not available, a group 40R will do, it's slightly smaller, but does the job very well.
2 of my 4 vanagons have the group 41, the other 2, have the group 40R
_________________
markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.

619 201 0310

[DuncanS]

4 of these beasts? I can't drive more than one at a time. 4 has to be a record.

[zoti]

Thanks. I’ll check into those.

[0to60in6min]

In one of the previous posts someone suggested group 91 T6 - 700 CCA, 1 1/4 inch shorter than group 41

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/premium-5598/...rm/6251390

group 41
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/premium-4997/...mj/4742508

[Ahwahnee]

[RGS Paul]

I'm liking my Odyssey 96R-600, I've only had it since last June though. It was a nice replacement for my old Interstate and should pair well with my aux battery (a PC-1200) in the long run. No issues with cold starts (though I think I've only tested it to about 10 °F this year) or multiple short trips in a row.

Paul
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'87 Syncro 7-Pass. Adventure Touring Vehicle
"Simplicate, then add lightness." Colin Chapman

[MyTwete]

Perhaps "the best" starting battery for the Vanagon is a good lithium-ion battery. I recently "built" and installed one for our 81 AC Westy that will be the last starting battery this car ever needs. I have gone thru 3 starter batteries in just 7 years or so. Likely this is because I can go months without driving the van and, well, even when on a maintainer, PbA batteries don't like not being used. What I need is a battery that is perfectly happy for months or years without being fussed with. Lithium fits that bill.

Lithium options have come a long way and folks have talked about using LiFePo batteries as their AUX battery (something I'm doing now too). But LiFePo isn't the best option for a starter battery (and the suppliers note that). Lithium ion options however have extremely low internal resistance and are really "the best" option if you can get one that fits the bill. There are few, if any, lithium-ion options with suitable capacity and in the 12-16v range these days that don't cost up in the $400-1k.

For me, I bid on a high quality 42v, 35ah module made by Enerdel. Having worked with these modules a lot (they power my 2011 THINK and I have some 20 of them powering my boat), I know how they are configured. And so, for about $250 I bought one of these NIB units, reconfigured it for 14v/105ah and installed it as my starting battery on my Westy. All went well except in one dimension it nearly, but wouldn't, fit. Ughh...I could have reconfigured the pack to be smaller but the bad dimension wouldn't change.
Since I never liked how I had to lift/drop the battery into the box under the seat anyway and since the sheet metal there was a bit bent anyway, I cut the vertical face away. Voila...battery slides into place. Built a new lid out of heavy metal and I was ready to go. Will build a face plate for the vertical section soon.

Anyway, I charged the battery up to nom. 14v, hooked up my harbor freight Battery Analyzer to it and read the CCA: 3000.

No more push starting.
No more maintainers or maintenance charge.
I'll check cell balance maybe once a year, but aside from that, this will be the last battery this old van will ever need to give oodles of starting current.

Voltage, min.: 10v
Voltage, max.: 16.4v
Voltage nom.: ~14v (105ah)

Fahrvergnugen.

-Myles Twete, Portland, Or.

[Ahwahnee]

[Mateo83]

Red top optima will fit on its side.
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83 Air-cooled 2.0 Tin Top

[steve244]

[jlrftype7]

I must be living right....
Still have our perfectly working Group 41 from NAPA that I installed in Nov 2018- I keep testing it, and it keeps passing with no signs of Sulfation yet creeping in.
We usually only use the Vanagon on weekends, and not long trips at that.
I agree that Group 41 batteries are getting harder to find. Might have to switch to the T5 battery when our Group 41 does finally die.

I have replaced the main power cable, the main ground cable, added supplemental ground cable at the starter, changed the Altn harness to the GoWesty Upgrade Version, added the Charge Exciter Harness also from GoWesty, and finally, changed the Battery Terminals to the Mil-Spec version talked about here on Samba. So at least my wiring isn't adding stress to the Electrical System.

_________________
'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto

[brickster]

[jlrftype7]

[brickster]

Thanks, I have a Campmobile, so it may be different.

[Crooked Designer]

Definitely time to replace my starter battery, so this thread is helpful. I'm interested the T5 (which appears to be Group Size 90?) as I have a very tight fit in the starter battery compartment and would love some breathing room. A few people mentioned a "good amount" of cold cranking amps and I'm wondering if there is a recommended number on this. I'm currently looking at a size 90 battery with 650 CCA.. This good?
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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit

[Sodo]

[Crooked Designer]

[zerotofifty]

When you buy a battery, check out the date on the battery, buy a fresh one. I have found batteries at store a year old, and as such found that these batteries have been damaged by long term self discharge. A battery will self discharge, and a battery not stored at full charge will become damaged beyond repair, giving a short service life

I have found the Vanagon sized battery is not very common, and with few Vanagons around, some stores or warehouses have old stocks of Vanagon batteries. avoid these old batteries, sure they might make it past the warrentee, but they certainly will not give a long service life.

I look for batteries with a date no more than a couple months past. Once I had to buy a year old battery, last minute purchase before a long trip, only one available locally, I returned it for failing within a couple months, the store had another battery for me, but it too was a year old, so they told me to come back later after they got a fresh one in stock. They told me the old stock ones were sent to recycle.

A good fresh battery may last near a decade, where as one that was sitting discharged for many many months may only last a few years, 1/3 rd the life. at say $200 each, that not fresh battery can end up costing you $400 more dollars over a decade if you need to buy three of them in the time you could have only needed to buy one of them

That leads me to something else, if your car is stored a lot, driven not often, driven short runs, your battery maybe in a frequent state of low charge, this harms the battery life, in that case a trickle charger can really extend your battery life, and thus save a good amount of money for you. Keep your battery at full charge at all times!

A car battery purchase is like buying fish at the market, you want fresh for best results.
Batteries are like fish
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