[Gobo]

I need to replace my starter battery on my 2002 Insight. I've looked through the instruction manual and found nothing about what the specs are for the starter battery. Anyone know what I should tell my mechanic to order?

 

[dice]

I would just find the biggest, most powerful battery, that will fit in the space provided, that has the same battery post orientation.

 

[b1shmu63]

If you have a habit of leaving your lights on, or pack a monster stereo setup, you probably want a big battery. However, there are three reasons why you might not want the biggest and most powerful battery:

First, it may weigh more.

Second, the battery may cost more.

Third, the battery may discharge at a higher rate due to larger plate area.

My first concearn would be to get a high quality battery. I have a couple of old Panasonics in the shop that just refuse to die. I have no idea where they can be purchased, but they indicate to me that there is a difference in battery quality. I'm still using my 4 year old original Furukawa (or whatever it's called). The 12 volt battery only starts the car in extreme cold. (Having synthetic oil in the engine helps it crank over on these occasions)

 

[Gobo]

My stereo's nothing out of the ordinary, I don't leave my lights on, and I use my car about once a week at most; a super-powerful battery isn't really going to boost my performance much.

My mechanic's battery book only lists Insights from '04 onward, so he's not sure what sort of battery they take. If I call and say "get me a good battery and we'll see if it fits", then I'll have trial-and-error battery fitting. Is there a way to tell him what size battery to order?

Quite honestly, I don't know how starter batteries are classified or sized, so I'm not sure what language to use.

 

[Insightful Trekker]

Try the forum search feature.

See:

Help needed with 12V battery issue
http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/vie ... php?t=3728

(one post of many on the 12v battery replacement options)

HTH!

 

[b1shmu63]

Oh, I see......

All years of Insight have the same battery holder, so if it fits an 04 it will fit all the other years. Although the original battery is smaller than a typical Honda battery, the Insight battery area has been sized to allow for a larger conventional sized battery.

Bottom line.....if it fits and the cables reach without trouble, you're golden.

As John suggested, if you want to get adventuresome and learn about others ideas and experiences, there's the search feature.

 

[Gobo]

Ahh, thanks! Very helpful. That's exactly what I needed.

And yes -- I tried the search first off, but with hundreds of results that often just used the word "battery" at some point (usually referring to the IMA battery pack, not the starter battery), it seemed a good time to try the more direct method

 

[Insightful Trekker]

And yes -- I tried the search first off, but...

Practice makes perfect. And multiple _related_ key words help to narrow the number of superfluous hits too.