Miata Mailing List: November 1992, Message #11
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   From: (none)
Subject: that BATTERY
   Date: (none)


I'm in the market for a replacement battery.  The original (now about 2 1/2
years old) went flat when I forgot my parking lights on yesterday.  After a
jump start and some driving it *did* hold enough charge overnight to start up
easily this morning, but I'm not counting on it holding out much longer.

The friendly Mazda dealer wants (gasp) $126.25 for a new Panasonic B6AC-18-520
"gel-type electrolyte" battery.  One parts store guy tells me that his catalog
has no battery group number and no OE crank rating for it; in other words he
can't identify a replacement.  His book did have an interesting footnote,
however: "9 9/16" x 4 3/4" x 7 3/8"; battery vents to outside of car."  My
hasty measurement was 9 5/16" x 4 7/8" x 6 3/8" (to top of case, not vents),
and I did verify that it has two tubes from the vents feeding a tube to the
outside (bottom of boot) through a "Y."  (Hmm, if the electrolyte is a gel
instead of a sulfuric solution, does it really need those vents?)

Has anyone identified a more reasonably priced alternative to Mazda's
Panasonic replacement battery?
_________________________________________________________________

  James Miller -- developing Unix software at (!) IBM -- Austin
_________________________________________________________________

  Internet:  jamesm@voyager.austin.ibm.com   (129.35.131.245)
  ibm?net:   jamesm@lunch.austin.ibm.com     (129.35.129.93)
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