Yes, it is in the engine compartment but fairly far from the engine and
  low in the compartment with free air space on all sides. It does not
feel very warm to the touch after long drives. Most cars have their
batteries in the engine compartment, mounted higher and with a lot less
space around them than I have.

It may just be a battery quality issue. It had 3 weak cells according to
my hydrometer. The big box retailer swapped it for a new one after only
a small struggle. It has an 18 month free replacement warranty and was
11 month in. Strangely, they gave me a new receipt so the 18 months
begins again.

Mark

Phil Zimmerman wrote:
>
> Hi Mark,
>
> Is this the battery mounted in the engine compartment next to the Z-tek engine?
>
> If yes, a possible contributing issue to the degraded battery capacity are the
> higher ambient temps the battery endured? I cannot quote a number but, for temps
> above ~72F the charge voltage needs to be reduced x-number of volts�.
>
> Strange though, I would expect some loss of electrolyte under these elevated
> ambient temps? Batteries are weird sometimes�. Battery Voodoo!
>
> Cool idea for voltage reduction�. diode�. :>)
>
> regards
>
> Phil Z.
> '87 Westy
> Campbell River, BC
>