Out of Juice

Mileage: 36,630KM
Do It Yourself: Yes
Difficulty: Easy

Today, my car battery was out of juice. I've been using the original battery for almost 16 months. It started yesterday with a single chime and unsuccessfully fire up the engine when switched on the ignition. Today it was totally flat...

The original battery.

Notice the date on self made sticker. My car registered in March 2009. The battery has been in the engine 3 months earlier.

The replacement battery.

The replacement battery is GP-Atlas. A Din 44 maintenance free battery for the cost of RM330. The price tag is in DIN 66 range. The price that I have to pay for a rare battery size in Malaysian automotive scene.

I was not too picky on the brand, anyway, I have another Din 66 GP-Atlas in my other ride. Still good till today, almost 2 years now. Rule of thumb when finding a car battery for me is to buy it from the nearest workshop from my home as it will be easier for me to claim the 12 months warranty (except if I'm stranded in the middle of nowhere).

The workshop owner did asked me what car it is for as he never order this type of battery before. Luckily he managed to source out for me. If anybody wanted a cheaper alternative, a Din 55 is a suitable source which is cheaper but you cannot use the original battery cover thou.

Other Din 44 battery brands that are available in Malaysia are Century and Delkor (happy hunting). Imported brands are Bosch and Varta. Expect to pay a hefty price for the latter (found one in Eneos 1U, a Din 44 Bosch battery is at RM460).

Missing Clip; Missing Holes

Mileage: 2602KM
Do It Yourself: Yes
Difficulty: Easy

Last two weeks, I just noticed that I lost one of the clip which secured the hood air intake. That part is only secured by one clip. It does not gonna loose anyway because when the hood closed it is secured by the rubber seal inside the engine bay. But if you open up the hood, that's the problem because it rattles.

Managed to get the replacement clips from eBay. The ordered clips are slightly different. Looks like they use a new clip for the new 206 nowadays. The one that I bought was for previous batch, but it will work as long as the pin diameter is correct.

eBay No: 05
Ordered: April 10, 2009
Parcel Source: UK
Delivered: April 22, 2009
Cost: 6.44 Pound Sterling

The replacement clips

The lost clip (red circle)

Today, I need to replace the lost clip and also to drill additional holes. As you can see, the part is only secured by two clips. I will show later where are the additional two clips will be.

Before we started, we need to have these items...

• As usual, any flat tool. Medium size flat blade screwdriver will do
• Electric hand drill, cordless type is preferred
• Minimum 8mm wood drill bit (10mm preferred)

Dismantle the hood air intake by pulling out the clip(s) middle button. Unclip washer jet hose. Finally remove it from the hood.

The are four holes to secure the hood air intake but only two were used which are on top left and bottom right

Drill additional holes; There are marks for hole reference

Task done

The left clip is the original, the one on the right is the replacement clip

To fix back, just reverse the order of dismantling. Just remember that now we have additional two holes to fix the clips.

This is how it looks when done.