Bongo Fury

Hi all I have a 1997 bongo 2.5l diesel

Can anyone tell me what the amps needed to start the vehicle are. I am looking at one of the lithium jump start battery packs

Don't know what the CCA IS
BUT 900 ones have started my diesel van no prob
But with jump starters get the biggest you can afford I suppose

Cold cranking amps??

A 75ah should start a properly running diesel Bongo (which start instantly judging by mine) so maybe look up cca values for batteries of that size?

mikeonb4c wrote:A 75ah should start a properly running diesel Bongo (which start instantly judging by mine) so maybe look up cca values for batteries of that size?

Yup that will start a maintained Bongo no probs.... 068 are the closest to Factory (but 70Ah a little higher than factory fit)..... most are around 620 CCA

Are we all talking about a emergency mobile starting pack??

680-700 CCA

Remember these are old vehicles and you need to allow for engine wear IE compression (on a Diesel).

haydn callow wrote:Are we all talking about a emergency mobile starting pack??

Certainly are. I think the critical issue is how readily a Bongo will start. My diesel is always brilliant and starts at a flick of the starter, but if it were otherwise........

Sometimes I wonder if a spare starter battery might not be a simple cost effective solution. A 60/75ah one is not that big, or expensive compared to lithium, and its low technology.

haydn callow wrote:Are we all talking about a emergency mobile starting pack??

Yes, pretty sure. The new lithium ones are much smaller and lighter.

I'd be interested in how they perform against lead/acid.

Only thing with Lithuim based batteries is DO NOT charge below 0°C, if you do you can throw them away afterwards!

Many battery users are unaware that consumer-grade lithium-ion batteries cannot be charged below 0°C (32°F). Although the pack appears to be charging normally, plating of metallic lithium can occur on the anode during a subfreezing charge. The plating is permanent and cannot be removed with cycling. Batteries with lithium plating are known to be more vulnerable to failure if exposed to vibration or other stressful conditions. Advanced chargers, such as those made by Cadex, prevent charging Li-ion below freezing.

Which is one of the major problems in using Lithuim cells as replacement for lead acid batteries

The current Lithium battery packs do 400cca and was not sure if this would be enough. As for charging it would only ever be charged in the house or while driving.

Its as a backup incase i am out and leave a door open or lights on etc especially now that i am planning on going further afield.

I know i could also potentially hook up my leisure battery aswell in an emergency to get enough amos.

I just dont like the big booster packs

Why not just use your leisure battery anyway?
The occasional start won't hurt it, unless you have to churn and churn away before it starts - if that is the case you have better things to worry about than what sort of starter pack to buy.
Why carry something else as well?

All I have is an old but still good car battery with two short (and large cross section) jump leads hard wired to it. But I rarely if ever cart it around with me all the time.
But seeing as the battery on mine was on it when I bought in in 2007 and looks like a Japanese original, which makes it 2003 (when it was imported) at the very least, perhaps I ought to start.

scanner wrote:Why not just use your leisure battery anyway?
The occasional start won't hurt it, unless you have to churn and churn away before it starts - if that is the case you have better things to worry about than what sort of starter pack to buy.
Why carry something else as well?

All I have is an old but still good car battery with two short (and large cross section) jump leads hard wired to it. But I rarely if ever cart it around with me all the time.
But seeing as the battery on mine was on it when I bought in in 2007 and looks like a Japanese original, which makes it 2003 (when it was imported) at the very least, perhaps I ought to start.

2nd that. I linked lb to sb with jump leads and let it transfer charge for a few minutes before starting, so the main cca pull is from the sb rather than the lb, which is not really designed for high cca. Saved me on two occasions, the second when my ancient lb had failed.

Yup - use the LB with jump leads. As said, leave if a few mins to equalise a bit - taking some of the load off the LB.

But - patch your LB so it powers your lights and other interior electrics, then, you'll never accidentally flatten your starter battery. Sort the cause rather than cure the problem....